Bournemouth, Culture, Education | Posted on September 9th, 2024 | return to news
Dorset’s largest mural opens in Bournemouth
Designed and painted by Arts University Bournemouth students, the mural is under the Braidley Road flyover.
Bournemouth can now boast that it contains Dorset’s largest mural.
It was officially opened to the public by Bournemouth Mayor, Cllr George Farquhar, the chairman of BCP Council, Cllr Lesley Dedman, acting vice-chancellor of Arts University Bournemouth (AUB), Lisa Mann, and Vincent Larkin, course leader of the Illustration course at AUB.
It was completed in just five weeks by a team of staff and students from AUB who applied their impressive design to the space under the Braidley Road flyover on the way into the town centre from Meyrick Park.
It is a collaboration between BCP Council, LUSH and AUB, and directed by Bridie Cheeseman and Jake Williams from Studio Studio.
The intention was to celebrate the ‘Creatives of Dorset’ by showcasing 15 local and varied creatives who have lived in, or have connections, to Bournemouth and the wider area.
Cllr Lesley Dedman said: “This beautiful artwork has transformed this whole area and has created a delightfully warm and colourful welcome into Bournemouth town centre. Not only visually stunning, it is wonderful to discover that it’s celebrating local artists and painted by our local art students, a fabulous project.”
Lisa Mann said: “We’re all very proud of this collaboration; this is what AUB is all about, working with stakeholders from our community and inspiring young people. “We know that many of the local schools are already planning trips down here to find out more about the incredible creatives who are from our home county.”
Vincent Larkin said: “This project is all about advocating the power of creative practice located within our community. We’re showing off what culture in Bournemouth and Dorset can do, telling positive stories about the local area.
“Just on this one pillar you can see a piece celebrating Mille Bobby Brown who spent some of her early years in Winton. She’s known for Stranger Things and Enola Holmes, this is the hat from Enola Holmes, a hit Netflix movie. And this is a quote from one of her interviews ‘Philosophies of women, for women’.
“At the top, you can see a painting of PJ Harvey, an amazing artist and singer-songwriter from Bridport who played at Glastonbury this year. And then we have internationally renowned art photographer and AUB alumni, Wolfgang Tillmans, who lived near Meyrick Park.
“The final one at the top of this pillar is Adama Jalloh, another AUB alumni and an award-winning photographer for recording artists and fashion shows who’s worked with titles like the New York Times, New York Magazine, TATE, NIKE and more. It’s amazing that we have all this talent with links to the local area, and lots of AUB alumni or AUB Honorary Fellows too; it’s a real celebration of local creatives.”
Cllr Andy Martin, portfolio holder for Customer, Communications and Culture at BCP Council, said: “BCP Council is honoured to have been involved with this project, which, through the exceptional talent of AUB’s artists, will help to further benefit and bring light to Bournemouth’s town centre while celebrating the historical importance and cultural richness of our region.”
Bournemouth Mayor, Cllr George Farquhar, said: “The amount of work that’s gone into this project is vast, and the results are incredibly impressive.
“This giant canvas instils pride in our local area, recognises the talent we have within AUB and in Dorset, and celebrates these fantastic creatives.”
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