Shoppers are sitting pretty in Newport town centre now as 3 benches became the unlikely blank canvas for a new mural that celebrates Newport’s place at the heart of the Isle of Wight UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Local artist, Alice Malia, was commissioned to create a vibrant piece of art that visually unites a busy stretch of the High Street.
Working by torchlight, Alice and her team of painters completed the colourful depiction of a flock of swifts over 2 evenings.
The design incorporates colours inspired by the sky as well as the 3 rivers that flow through Newport. There is also a nod to this weekend’s Tour of Britain cycle race in the lines and shapes that sweep across the seats.
Alice trained in London in set design for theatre and has worked internationally, painting large scale murals and designing stage sets. Talking about her latest artwork, she said:
“I designed a graphic and colourful background based on the colours of rivers and sky, with a strong sense of direction, that pulls your eye down the street and links the three benches.
“The artwork features a flock of swifts; they are following an abstract pattern of dots made with fingerprints, which represent a swarm of insects the birds are feeding on.
“Swifts are amazing birds that migrate from central Africa to the south of the UK every summer. They form fast moving feeding flocks in the sky called ‘screaming parties’.
Article continues below this advertisement “We have some ideal habitat for swifts in our local biosphere reserve, and ideal nesting and feeding habitat for them here in the Newport area.
“They come here specifically to feed off mosquitos and other flying insects living around the Medina and its tributaries all through Newport. Swifts only nest in human made structures and Newport has a wealth of old buildings that provide ideal habitat for them.
“Like many bird species, sadly swifts are in decline too. People can help them continue to migrate here by installing swift boxes, and property developers can even add swift bricks to new building projects.”
The project was led by Shaping Newport with funding from the government’s Welcome Back Fund, the Newport High Street Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) and Isle of Wight Council.
Shaping Newport is a partnership between Newport and Carisbrooke Community Council, the Isle of Wight Council and Newport Business Association.
Councillor Shirley Smart, chairman of Newport and Carisbrooke Community Council, said:
“We were delighted to support the creation of this wonderful new mural in the heart of our community.
“It has certainly brought a splash of colour to the high street and will hopefully put a smile on many people’s faces. A big thank you to the super-talented Alice Malia and her team for this striking art installation.”
Eye catching?? I thought it was graffiti when I first saw it, and wondered when island rds were going to paint over it!
Nice, but I give it a week before it’s been covered in graffiti.
I doubt it. We don’t have a graffiti issue here
I am not going to comment on the artwork, as they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what concerns me is that money was paid for it to be constructed, and the object behind it as I understand it was to get people back into the high street. Firstly would anyone go into Newport to see a street painting, and two, high streets are dying because of the alternatives, perhaps they could have used the money they spent on this artwork to suspend parking charges for a month.
Eye catching for all the wrong reasons.
What a load of rubbish
Wow people are literally flocking back into the high street due to this. NOT.
What a total waste of money and an eyesore to boot up, another reason not to go to Newport
Is this to help cover up our failing towns?
Adds to the general run down look around town. It looked better before
Not knocking the art work, thats quite good, but what a load of crap, looked far better before. Surely there were better things to spend money on!
I also noticed it didn’t say what it cost to do even if it was from a fund