THE artists behind an iconic sculpture created with the help of Daily Post readers have reached a major milestone in its completion.

All six multi-layered glass columns that will make up the Liverpool Map art work have now been fired.

Each one now has to be polished before it is ready for transportation to the new Museum of Liverpool at the Pier Head, where it will be take pride of place in the People’s City gallery.

Inge Panneels, who was chosen to create the Map alongside US glass sculptor Jeffrey Sarmiento after a worldwide call for submissions, said it has been one of the most complex projects of her career.

The Belgian artist said: “It has been technically and physically demanding at times but we are now ahead of schedule to finish the sculpture.

“It’s just a matter of polishing the edges of the columns which should be completed by August. This has been the most complex and most technically demanding projects I’ve worked on.

“It has certainly changed the way I would like to work in the future.”

Made up of six 2m-tall panels of fused glass, the Map aims to capture a snap-shot of Liverpool people’s living memory at a single point in time – during its 800th birthday year of 2007.

A Daily Post appeal saw members of the public chose the local people and places they wanted to feature.