PROJECT STORY
weston favell shopping centre anniversary murals
july-august 2024
Weston Favell Shopping Centre is a place I know well. I used to visit here as a child with my Mum and sister as our dentist was round the corner. My Mum would ‘bribe’ us with a visit to the cafe after we had had our check ups and so I remember the Centre in it’s early days very well. I have painted for the Centre a couple of times before, so when I was approached for this larger project, I was on board right away.
The Centre is linked to the church, Billing Brook school and most of the local community by an underpass, so we decided to paint a mural either end. The school as it happens, is also celebrating it’s anniversary this year, so we decided to hold a series of workshops in the school and get the students to come up with ideas of what they would like to see.
From the Centre to the school, the mural depicts the nearby river, and flora and fauna that the children like to see on their way to and from school, and from the school to the Centre, I focused on the town, the Centre and more ‘commercial’ themes. Both murals are painted in a 1970s style, with bright colours that are easily visible from a distance.
The children from the school came to visit me as I was painting, to see their ideas come to life and were very excited to see the painting in action. The staff of the centre are also delighted (apparently it looks great from the cameras situated on the roof of the Centre building!). But perhaps most pleasing is the reaction that of the local community.
It’s not an affluent area, but young and old have been universal in their praise of the project. They feel valued and loved as a community, they are grateful that the Centre has taken the time to have the murals painted and they love that they are so bright and colourful and reflect the local area. I had people bringing me water, coffee, cake, helping me with traffic control and with my paint trolley, it really has been wonderful.
The Centre are already thinking about where they can have another mural painted and by the sounds of it, they won’t get any objections from the locals.