Arthur John Dooley was an English artist & sculptor born right here in the Dingle area of Liverpool. Each year we host a celebration of Arthurs life & work here at The Florrie on his birthday 17th January. Unfortunately this year we are not hosting our usual celebration but we thought we’d post out a few photos from our archive that we’ve never shared before.

About Arthur Dooley:

Born in the Dingle area of Liverpool, after leaving school at 14, Dooley began work as a welder at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead. In 1945 Dooley enlisted in the Irish Guards and became a piper in the regiment’s band. At one point he went absent without leave, joined the Palestine Liberation Organization and subsequently served a prison sentence for his absence. After leaving the army, Dooley worked as a cleaner at Saint Martin’s School of Art in London and enrolled in a drawing class at the Whitechapel Art Gallery. He became a student at St Martin’s in 1953. Dooley had his first exhibition at the Gallery of the same name in 1962. Having decided he wanted to be a sculptor, he left London for Liverpool and set up a tiny studio; to support himself financially, he worked in the Dunlop Rubber Factory at Speke. In 1956, he set up a studio in Slater Street where he began to sculpt in earnest. An early notable work was the Fifteen Stations of the Cross in St Mary’s RC Church, Leyland.