Artists vie for Seacole sculpture

A portrait of Mary Seacole hangs in the National Portrait Gallery

Eight artists are to submit plans for a memorial statue to nurse and Crimean War heroine Mary Seacole.

The artists are Maurice Blik, Georgia Boyd Russell, Martin Jennings, Susan Stockwell, Bill Woodrow, Kenness George Kelly, Joy Gregory and Etienne Milner.

The Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal, which announced the shortlist, was set up to create a permanent reminder of the 19th century nurse

It will sit in the grounds of St Thomas' Hospital, in London.

A selection panel, chaired by Baroness Amos, will make the final choice in the Spring.

Earlier this week it was announced that the only known painting of Ms Seacole had been bought by the The National Portrait Gallery for £130,000.

Jamaican-born Ms Seacole was painted by London artist Albert Challen in 1869.

The painting was found at a car boot sale and has been on loan to the gallery since 2004.

It was discovered in July 2003 after being bought at a boot sale in Burford, north Oxfordshire.