Ad Astra

Annabel McCourt's new commission, Ad Astra, opens at the Lincoln Arts Centre Gallery on 12 November and runs through to 3 December. McCourt is an internationally recognised artist living and working right here in Lincolnshire, and she's one of the Arts Centre's Associate Artists. Her work spans photography, installation, public art and architectural intervention, often on an ambitious scale, and she's exhibited across the UK and internationally in countries like Brazil, Australia, Senegal and China.

Ad Astra grows out of her earlier piece, Per Ardua, which looked at the experiences of LGBTQ+ personnel in the RAF affected by the historic ban on homosexuality. That title came from the RAF motto 'Per Ardua Ad Astra' ('through adversity to the stars'), but Per Ardua deliberately crossed out the Ad Astra, turning the motto into a loop of unattainable stars. Ad Astra opens that loop back up. McCourt is inviting members of the wider community to share their own stories through conversation and photography, gathering voices shaped by injustice, stigma or erasure into a companion artwork that makes space for dialogue, reflection and collective healing.

Her practice often blends gritty social realism with humour, folklore and political commentary, and this project sits right in that territory—taking personal stories and turning them into something shared. If you've followed her work before, you'll recognise the way she works with real people and real histories. If you haven't, this is a good place to start, especially since it's built on the voices of the community.

Ad Astra runs from 12 November to 3 December at the Lincoln Arts Centre Gallery, part of the University of Lincoln.