RE-SELECTED Labour parliamentary candidate for Halesowen and Rowley Regis Ian Cooper has posed for a portrait as part of a Black Country arts project celebrating the voluntary sector.

Hosted by the Art Yard in Cradley Heath, the project is touring Dudley and Sandwell to create 24 character portraits of local people who have contributed to the community.

Ian was nominated to take part in the project due to being a “very strong supporter” of Cradley Heath Creative and The Art Yard since their inception.

The artists chosen to create the portraits, who will be using a wide range of media, include professional and internationally renowned artists, art tutors, art graduates, gifted amateurs and students and will interpreted their sitters in their own unique style.

Ian said: “In my case the finished picture will at least keep the kids away from the fire when hung up, but seriously it is a great honour to take part in such a wonderful project, which brings our two boroughs together through art.

“It was a privilege to be sitting as part of the wider Cradley Heath Arts Festival. It was wonderful to see so many people stop by to see how an enormously talented artist like Martin Harris copes with such challenging subject matter.”

The project is taking place across the summer and will end with a premiere event attended by all participants and their guests at the Salvation Army Hall, in Cradley Heath, in September.

The premiere will showcase the completed portraits, with performances of character poems and movie screenings, and will be followed by an exhibition of the portraits at The Art Yard which will be open to the public for one week in October.