Luke Perry

Industrial Artist and Sculptor

Graduated in 2008

With a passion for art and engineering, Luke uses his expertise in both fields to design and build large-scale sculptures that celebrate the Midlands’ industrial heritage. He is founder and director of Industrial Heritage Stronghold, a not-for-profit organisation which aims to “build public artworks which celebrate our industrial heritage in a very real way”.

Luke was the main protagonist in the re-building of the Titanic's bow in Belfast, restoring the Titanic Engineers’ Memorial in Southampton and bringing the Titanic's anchor home to the Black Country. He also co-presented the Channel 4 television series 'Titanic: The Mission', in which he and three other modern-day engineers attempted to rebuild sections of the ill-fated liner, using the tools and techniques of the early twentieth century.

His largest project while at university was 'Steel Manifesto', a two-tonne steel tablet with an inscription about local industry commissioned for Centenary Square in Birmingham as part of his final degree project – and he worked for Bolton Council on the Fred Dibnah Memorial Monument’s concept sculptures.

As part of his BA (Hons) Fine Art degree, Luke also made a number of short documentary films, one of which won the Bronze medal at the London International Short Film Festival. As a result, he worked in the film industry after graduation for a short while but on realising his heart still lay in sculpture, he returned to his native Black Country, where he won his first commissions and set up Industrial Heritage Stronghold. Four years on, the company has gone from strength to strength and, while Luke will now often be approached to carry out projects, he also still spends time looking out for potential opportunities himself.