Arthur Dooley was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

 and sculptor

Sculpture

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

. He was born in the city of Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, Dooley commenced employment as a welder at Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...

 shipyard in Birkenhead

Birkenhead

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...

, he also worked at the Dunlop

Dunlop Rubber

Dunlop Rubber was a company based in the United Kingdom which manufactured tyres and other rubber products for most of the 20th century. It was acquired by BTR plc in 1985. Since then, ownership of the Dunlop trade-names has been fragmented.-Early history:...

 factory in Speke

Speke

Speke is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, close to the boundaries of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley. It is south east of the city centre and to the west of the town of Widnes....

, before his ambition took him to work as a cleaner at St. Martin's School of Art, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, (later incorporated into Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design). He became a student there in 1953 Dooley had his first exhibition at the Gallery of the same name in 1962.

His medium was usually scrap metal or bronze. He sculpted mainly religious works including the Risen Christ in the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Christ the King is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Liverpool and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool. The Metropolitan Cathedral is one of two cathedrals in the city...

, Redemption (a collaborative work with Ann McTavish) in Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral The Resurrection of Christ at Princes Park Methodist Church in Toxteth

Toxteth

Toxteth is an inner city area of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, Toxteth is bordered by Liverpool City Centre, Dingle, Edge Hill, Wavertree and Aigburth.-Description:...

 and a Madonna and Child at St Faith's Church in Crosby

Crosby

- Geography :Canada*Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario*Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the town of Markham, OntarioEngland*Crosby, Cumbria*Crosby, Lincolnshire*Crosby, Merseyside**Crosby...

. He also produced a tribute to The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 in Mathew Street, Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, depicting The Madonna and The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 with the tribute "Four lads who shook the world". His studio in Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 was notoriously untidy, and is reportedly untouched since his death.

Other notable works are the fifteen Stations of the Cross in St Mary's RC Church, Leyland, and a sculpture entitled 'Splitting the Atom' (depicting the creation of the atomic bomb) at Daresbury Laboratory

Daresbury Laboratory

Daresbury Laboratory is a scientific research laboratory near Daresbury in Cheshire, England, which began operations in 1962 and was officially opened on 16 June 1967 as the Daresbury Nuclear Physics Laboratory by the then Prime Minister of United Kingdom, Harold Wilson...

, Cheshire.

Sources

• http://www.arthurdooleyarchive.com (The official Website)
• http://glasgowsculpture.com/pg_biography.php?sub=dooley_a
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2006/11/15/arthur_dooley_studio_feature.shtml
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7225075.stm
• http://www.cleo.net.uk/resource/stations
• http://www.liverpoolcathedral.org.uk