Now Then Gaol Street Mural Project.
Oakham Town Council have successfully gained funding from Arts Council England, to develop an
public art project on Gaol Street.
The project, in the form of a tiled mural, will celebrate the industrial heritage of the town, as well as reflecting the present and future. It will be interesting to see if the town council get the correct history. Oakham does not have much industrial heritage. plenty of farming history, Is clock making industrial? it has a heritage of clothing and rope making and many work houses.
The project organisers are calling on local residents to contribute their creative ideas, via a series of workshops, drop in sessions and online platforms.
The site of the artwork, at Central England Co-operative Funeralcare, was previously home to a mural, and public opinion and consultation has confirmed that local audiences want to see something creative happen in the space again.
The project, led by Oakham based artist Monica Fernandez, is titled Now Then.
Organisers are inviting local residents to a series of workshops to be held in the town centre, where they will be supported to bring and develop creative ideas in the form photographs, memories, and letters. Social media will also be used for sharing ideas and developing the content of the mural.
Monica, who has led many high profile public art projects to date, says “This will be a great opportunity for residents of all ages to take part in the creative process, and share a sense of ownership. Working together we will create a mural that Oakham can be proud of for many years to come”.
The finished artwork will be installed in September this year.
The main funders of the project are Arts Council England, Oakham Town Council, Rutland County Council and The Midlands Co-operative. Main partners of this project are Arts for Rutland, Oakham Town Partnership and Oakham School. Local sponsorship includes
Hambletons Food
Rutland Plastic Limited
Tim Norton (Ford Dealership)
Travis Perkins. (Oakham)
“The support from the local sponsors is fantastic, the enthusiasm and drive from all those involved is indicative of the fact that Oakham is rightly so one of the best places to live as was recently reported in the national press.
I am looking forward to the completed Mural, I believe the fun part is the creative bit though and I would ask that the people of Oakham take advantage of and engage with the workshops with Monica”. - Oakham Mayor, Adam Lowe.
The first public envent will be the launch event and will be held in Victoria Hall on Saturday May 11th
form 11.00am until 3.00pm residents of Oakham are encouraged to do the leg work for the artist by taking along photographs, etc that may be incorporated into the final design.
Restricing this to Oakham only residents is foolish. I know people who worked in Oakham's past industrial times came from out of town and have many photographs of former companies.
Like many Rutland Projects it has a facebook page advertised, unfortunatley like the organisors Oakham Town Council its happy to take and spend vast somes of public money and then restrict public access by making the page a closed group. That could explain the reason the group currently has one member the Artist who will receive thousands of pounds (12.04.14)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/524177541025359/
Looking forward to seeing the completed project, although I do not believe the price tag placed by the artist is justified.
It is also a shame the Co-op went public with their original plans to fully pay for the work, to be created
by Oakham Primary School Children.
Photographs of the old murial now land filled.
Oakham Town Council have successfully gained funding from Arts Council England, to develop an
public art project on Gaol Street.
The project, in the form of a tiled mural, will celebrate the industrial heritage of the town, as well as reflecting the present and future. It will be interesting to see if the town council get the correct history. Oakham does not have much industrial heritage. plenty of farming history, Is clock making industrial? it has a heritage of clothing and rope making and many work houses.
The project organisers are calling on local residents to contribute their creative ideas, via a series of workshops, drop in sessions and online platforms.
The site of the artwork, at Central England Co-operative Funeralcare, was previously home to a mural, and public opinion and consultation has confirmed that local audiences want to see something creative happen in the space again.
The project, led by Oakham based artist Monica Fernandez, is titled Now Then.
Organisers are inviting local residents to a series of workshops to be held in the town centre, where they will be supported to bring and develop creative ideas in the form photographs, memories, and letters. Social media will also be used for sharing ideas and developing the content of the mural.
Monica, who has led many high profile public art projects to date, says “This will be a great opportunity for residents of all ages to take part in the creative process, and share a sense of ownership. Working together we will create a mural that Oakham can be proud of for many years to come”.
The finished artwork will be installed in September this year.
The main funders of the project are Arts Council England, Oakham Town Council, Rutland County Council and The Midlands Co-operative. Main partners of this project are Arts for Rutland, Oakham Town Partnership and Oakham School. Local sponsorship includes
Hambletons Food
Rutland Plastic Limited
Tim Norton (Ford Dealership)
Travis Perkins. (Oakham)
“The support from the local sponsors is fantastic, the enthusiasm and drive from all those involved is indicative of the fact that Oakham is rightly so one of the best places to live as was recently reported in the national press.
I am looking forward to the completed Mural, I believe the fun part is the creative bit though and I would ask that the people of Oakham take advantage of and engage with the workshops with Monica”. - Oakham Mayor, Adam Lowe.
The first public envent will be the launch event and will be held in Victoria Hall on Saturday May 11th
form 11.00am until 3.00pm residents of Oakham are encouraged to do the leg work for the artist by taking along photographs, etc that may be incorporated into the final design.
Restricing this to Oakham only residents is foolish. I know people who worked in Oakham's past industrial times came from out of town and have many photographs of former companies.
Like many Rutland Projects it has a facebook page advertised, unfortunatley like the organisors Oakham Town Council its happy to take and spend vast somes of public money and then restrict public access by making the page a closed group. That could explain the reason the group currently has one member the Artist who will receive thousands of pounds (12.04.14)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/524177541025359/
Looking forward to seeing the completed project, although I do not believe the price tag placed by the artist is justified.
It is also a shame the Co-op went public with their original plans to fully pay for the work, to be created
by Oakham Primary School Children.
Photographs of the old murial now land filled.
