Magpie mural adds finishing touches
JOYFUL THEME TO NEW LANDMARK IN CITY
Reporter IT will be party time if Newcastle United hang on to their lofty Championship perch and win promotion.
And a Magpie-inspired work by artist Colin Davies will chime with the celebratory mood in the city.
Colin began work yesterday on his city centre portrayal of a pair of Magpies, titled Two For Joy.
His giant “canvas” is the concrete base of the 1970 high rise Bewick Court block of flats overlooking John Dobson Street.
The Magpies artwork will be also be a link to Northumberlandborn Thomas Bewick , who is best known for his engravings in his book A History of British Birds.
Bewick, after whom the flats tower is named, had his workshop in Newcastle.
Colin’s work will be in the style of the dazzle camouflage which was painted on to British warships to confuse enemy submarines.
It will be mostly black and white but will also incorporate the blues and greens which can be seen in magpies’ tail feathers.
Bewick Court, which is the tallest building in the city centre at 253ft, is owned by Newcastle City Council, which commissioned Colin to tackle the project.
He put forward three options and met local people at a drop-in session in the City Library to talk about the designs before inviting them to vote in person or online for their favourite.
Colin said: “The magpie not only represents a subtle reference to the work of Thomas Bewick, who is known for his engravings of birds, but is also close to the heart of many in the city through its association with Newcastle United.
“We were also very keen to reflect the city’s shipbuilding history by using the dazzle camouflage technique in the piece.
“We worked with local residents and nearby businesses to get their opinion on the design and we had a really positive response.
“We’re really proud to play a part in the transformation of the area and to work together with Newcastle City Council and the local community to create a new landmark in the city centre.”
The council said that the work is the finishing touch to the wider improvement scheme on John Dobson Street, which includes new segregated cycle lanes, wider pavements, better crossing points and intelligent traffic signals, which work in sync to keep traffic moving.
It secured funding for the John Dobson Street project from the Department for Transport’s Cycle City Ambition Fund.
The painting will be carried out over eight days, and because of the work on Sunday, March 26, the section of John Dobson Street underneath Bewick Court from Durant Road to New Bridge Street West will be closed to traffic from 8am and 8pm.