An exhibition of peace artwork by the women and young people of Meirionnydd is coming to Holy Trinity Church in Penrhyndeudraeth.

In the week leading up to Remembrance Sunday, there will be an opportunity to see all kinds of art created during the past year as part of the Byw Mewn Heddwch (to live in peace) project, as well as two new peace benches in Penrhyndeudraeth and Minffordd.

Byw Mewn Heddwch is one of the ACW Llais y Lle project 2025-26 and was run by Llinos Griffin along with a group of other female artists all over Meirionnydd with the aim of expressing what peace means to us today. Over 75 people have been part of the project including the young people of GISDA Blaenau Ffestiniog.

Llinos Griffin said: “It’s great to be able to bring this work to the church in Penrhyn. Our peace table full of ceramic work created by our group with artist Alis Branwen will take centre stage, as well as the hats that celebrate the women of the 1923-24 Wales’ Women’s Peace Petition and our protest jackets and a peace jigsaw. It’s important for us to be able to exhibit this work in the run up to Remembrance Sunday to show that the voices of peace within our communities and that there is still a desire for international peace. We’re so grateful to the church for giving us the space to do this.”

As well as the exhibition and by working with Penrhyndeudraeth Town Council, a new peace bench painted by artist Fiorella Wyn from Porthmadog now sits right opposite the church. On the bench, there are 606 peace doves – one for every woman from Penrhyndeudraeth and Minffordd who signed the Peace Petition a century ago. It also features a line of poetry by poet Sian Northey. In Minffordd, sisters Alis Branwen and Lorna Joscelyne have painted the designs of GISDA’s young people on the bench with a piece of poetry by one of the young people too.

“Seeing these benches here is wonderful,” says Llinos. “The one in Penrhyn represents us as local women trying to carry the torch of the women a hundred years ago and the bench in Minffordd focusses on peace of mind – that is so important in the world we live in. They bring hope to the area in the form of art.”

The exhibition runs from 2–7 November, between 10am and 4pm and there will be a chance to hear more about the project on 7 November at the Church Hall at 3pm.