Artist Frank Styles joins children to create giant mural at Sunderland school

Sunderland Echo

Barnes Junior School children and headteacher Simon Ward join artist Frank Styles to create a giant mural representing the school's values.

Transcript

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00:20 Okay then Mr. Warg, what was the rationale behind getting the mural done?

00:22 Well, we've had a lot of building work

00:24 going on at our school

00:26 over the last 18 months

00:28 and this September

00:30 brought the whole school back together

00:32 in our beautiful refurbished

00:34 building that dates back to

00:36 the early 1900s.

00:38 We wanted

00:40 something a bit special

00:42 to commemorate that

00:44 and something that was going to be long lasting

00:46 that children and the

00:48 school community could

00:50 refer to for

00:52 many years to come.

00:54 Through our art curriculum

00:56 we chose to look at local artists

00:58 and hearing about

01:00 Frank and his previous work in the

01:02 Sunderland community

01:04 we decided to get in touch with him

01:06 and see if he could

01:08 put something together for us, something a bit special

01:10 that would reflect our school

01:12 reflect its values

01:14 as we start this new chapter

01:16 of our school's story.

01:18 Okay, and Frank, what was it like

01:20 working with the kids and how impressed were you with their ideas?

01:22 I was very impressed with their ideas

01:24 it was great to see all their drawings

01:26 about the four themes

01:28 the school's four

01:30 themes

01:32 and

01:34 I did a spray painting workshop with them

01:36 and that is always good to see

01:38 people who pick up a spray can

01:40 for the first time and watch what they do

01:42 and let loose a bit, so that was

01:44 brilliant and I felt so welcomed

01:46 in the school

01:48 everyone's been so welcoming

01:50 and happy to see me in here

01:52 painting and I've really enjoyed

01:54 painting and I think the

01:56 final product has come out really well

01:58 so I'm happy.

02:00 Are you impressed as well with the final result?

02:02 We love it, we can't stop looking at it

02:04 it hypnotises us a little bit

02:06 every time we come into this room

02:08 it makes everybody happy

02:10 reminds us of what's

02:12 important in our

02:14 school and in education in the 21st

02:16 century, we're really proud of it.

02:18 Will it be here for years to come?

02:20 We certainly hope it will be here for years to come

02:22 I think Frank might have to come and touch up a little bit

02:24 now and again, but we're happy

02:26 to have Frank back in

02:28 because he really brought the school to life

02:30 in the early part of this new academic year.

02:32 How does the mural represent

02:36 the school's values then?

02:38 Kind is

02:40 taking the thought out of the lion's paw

02:42 which is being kind

02:44 and respect is like the

02:46 respect in certain hands

02:48 so the

02:50 Martins are always ready

02:52 because they can't land because they don't have legs or feet

02:54 and the bull

02:56 is safe, so it's a safe

02:58 distance away from you.

03:00 And Lucas, how pleased are you with the final design?

03:02 I'm really pleased

03:04 because I like how it's come together

03:06 and all the colours

03:08 I like how it's showing all the values

03:10 in art.

03:12 Oliver,

03:14 what's your favourite part of the design?

03:16 Probably some lion

03:18 like the whole thing

03:20 and the elephant taking out the thing

03:22 and pulling up the

03:24 lion's paw.

03:26 And Zach, we understand there's some workshops

03:28 for Frank as well, did you enjoy them?

03:30 Yeah, really good.

03:32 What did you do? What did you create in the workshop?

03:34 We created space themes and stuff

03:36 and it was really cool with rockets.

03:38 Do you like the final design?

03:40 Yeah, it's really good.

03:42 [sanding]

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