Calling all artists for school wall project

Sunday 13 January 2019

A newly-launched mural project bringing together local artists and students hopes to prove that what’s taught in the classroom is not just another brick in the wall.

ArtHouse Jersey have announced their largest community wall-art project where artists will collaborate with schoolchildren in order to develop up to 15 different murals at schools across the island.

The Skipton School Mural Project, which is a new incarnation of a previous ArtHouse venture where three local artists were commissioned to produce public murals in town, hopes to “inspire young people to engage with art”. 

Since this project, ArtHouse Jersey, formerly known as the Jersey Arts Trust, has supported street art in the island by commissioning various murals on a range of properties in St. Helier throughout their annual Skipton Art Series.

Pictured: ArtHouse Jersey is taking their long-running mural project to schools and is looking for artists to get involved (Holly Smith Photography).

Commenting on the outreach programme, Director of ArtHouse Jersey Tom Dingle said: “This is a very accessible project that is rooted in our community, giving children the chance to express, develop and showcase their creativity and forge connections with professional artists in the island. We’ve seen the impact that the recent wave of increased public murals has made upon St. Helier. 

“Some of the artists who took part in our 2017 and 2018 Mural Projects had never created murals before, but they all rose to the challenge of developing their skills in this area, and many have since been contracted by local businesses and landowners to paint more. It will be great to extend this benefit now into local schools, and encourage artists to pass down that expertise to our island’s young people.”

ArtHouse is asking artists and schools who want to get involved in the initiative to get in touch and submit their applications by 4 February. 

Lead picture: (Holly Smith Photography).