WATCH: Inspiring the next generation to pick up a brush

Saturday 23 March 2019

Local and international artists are partnering up in a bid to create 15 murals on school walls to inspire young people get in touch with their creative side.

The Skipton School Mural Project, launched by ArtHouse Jersey, will see 15 artists visit students in their schools and create murals, inspired by the students and school community, just in time for summer.

The project is a new incarnation of a previous ArtHouse venture where three local artists - Ben Robertson, Abi Overland and Will Bertram - were commissioned to produce public murals in town.

Since this project, ArtHouse Jersey has supported street art in the island by commissioning various murals on a range of properties in St. Helier.

Video: The Mural Project was produced by ArtHouse Jersey as part of the 2017 Skipton Art Series.

Now, the charity has paired local schools and artists with the aim of creating works of art that will be painted directly onto walls. The charity’s aim is to encourage Jersey schoolchildren to embrace their creative side and develop their artistic skills whilst providing a fun opportunity for students to work together as well as  creating a lasting shared focal point for the whole school community.

13 local artists have been invited to take part, as well as two international artists, Matt Dufour and Mark Clure, as part of a partnership between ArtHouse and Wood Street Walls - a UK based visual arts company. They will be visiting the schools over the next few weeks to run workshops with students. The artists will then use the art created during those sessions as inspiration to design and create a mural for their particular school. 

The first workshop took place this week with Glen Fox visiting Plat Douet, much to the delight of the Year 5 students.

Video: Local artist Glen Fox kicked off the project with a workshop at Plat Douet School.

It is hoped that up to 1,000 schoolchildren will benefit from participating, and that the work created will have a lasting impact on them, as well as on their peers, parents and the wider school community.

Tom Dingle, Director of ArtHouse Jersey said: “This project is all about giving children the chance to express, develop and showcase their creativity by working alongside professional artists to create a mural which celebrates their school community.

"It is wonderful to see children from as young as five-years old right up to young adults get the chance to engage with artists who can help them develop their skills and passion for the arts. We can’t wait to see the results of local and international professional artists passing down their expertise to our island’s young people."

Pictured: Glen Fox will be creating a mural inspired by the Plat Douet students' creations.

Aaron Walden, Commercial Manager at Skipton International, added that he hoped the project would have "a lasting impression on the island".

"Art is a fantastic way to achieve both these goals and this project has the potential to inspire the next Jersey Picasso to pick up a brush! We are hugely proud of the Island and our place within its community and so are very excited that we have been afforded this opportunity to touch so many people through the joy that art brings.”