New mural to celebrate town’s frontline workers
A NEW mural is to be installed in Leamington town centre to celebrate the efforts of frontline workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Creative Leamington, a recently-established community interest company, is spearheading The Frontline Project which will see the piece of public art go up in South Town as a lasting tribute to local key workers.
The image, which will depict varying frontline roles, will cover a three metre by three metre wall in Spencer Yard and will be brought to life with first-hand accounts of heroes working in those positions during the pandemic.
Chris Knight and his wife, Martina Bussi, co-founders of Creative Leamington, came up with the idea and worked with Danny Coyne, a local illustrator and motion graphic designer, to create the artwork which will be painted by local street art organisation BRINK Contemporary Arts.
Chris said: “The idea for the mural
came from us wanting to transfer the energy that we all had clapping on our doorsteps to creating a lasting tribute to the frontline workers which would acknowledge and maintain our huge appreciation.
“We wanted the image to be interactive so people could access the stories and testimonies of local people who had worked so hard through the pandemic.”
The mural will be part of a series of murals to be painted in Spencer Yard in a collaboration between Creative Leamington and BRINK Contemporary Arts to turn it into a street art gallery.
Ahead of the mural going up in September, pavement stickers will start appearing around the town centre featuring QR codes which will take people to The Frontline Project website where they will be able to read the personal stories of local key workers.
They include a radiographer, doctor, respiratory consultant, carer, social worker, delivery driver, teacher, refuse collector, pharmacist, security guard and postal worker.
BID Leamington has been supporting Creative Leamington with the project and is sponsoring the floor stickers which will pave the way from the Parade and through the town centre to the mural.
Stephanie Kerr, executive director of BID Leamington, said: “We are proud to support Creative Leamington with The Frontline Project and will be providing some of the floor and window graphics and literature that people will begin to see around town.
“The project is hugely relevant to our town centre business members, many of whom have been hugely impacted by the pandemic, and the challenge of managing our response is still very much at the front of our minds.
“The mural gives a tangible representation and as well as celebrating our local heroes, the personal stories give them a voice.”