Northampton Through People – community art project
Northampton Academy Art Department has successfully forged links within the local community, by helping students take part in creating a large scale mural for the Weston Favell Shopping Centre. The mural, funded by Kevin Legg the Site Manager, consisted of 10 life size figurative shapes made by students.
These shapes were made by students drawing around themselves on large sheets of ply board before cutting these out and painting them with a combination of logos, patterns and colours that they felt expressed the theme “Northampton through People”. The artwork conveyed aspects of Northampton’s life and history with local landmarks being spray painted onto the figures, combined with painting techniques inspired by Jackson Pollock and Pop Art.
The finished artwork is now in place on the ground floor of the shopping centre and serves as an attractive feature for local shoppers to admire. Plaques to commemorate the students’ involvement are also on show.
Peter Hullah, our Principal and staff from the Art Department, Mr Hunter the Programme Leader & Mr Ambrose who coordinated the project, supported the unveiling of the work with Kevin Legg and the students who had been involved in making the work. Local press from the Chronicle & Echo newspaper covered the event as did “Academy Eye” our own media publicist.
Students were able to increase their appreciation of art by taking part in a project outside of the classroom and understand the wider reaching appeal and function that art has to play within the community.
