Telford-themed mural from graffiti artist in Arts Alive Gallery
Work has begun on a new mural that sums up what people think about Telford.
Graffiti artist Neil Willis is creating the Made In Telford mural in the Arts Alive Gallery at Telford shopping centre and passers-by are being encouraged to chip in with their ideas as the artwork takes shape.
Johnty O'Donnell, of Radio Shropshire, is helping to organise the project. He said: "I want people to suggest people, places, clubs, landmarks – anything really that they would like to see included."
"The idea is to celebrate Telford and Shropshire.
"The classic things will be in there, like the Iron Bridge and The Wrekin, and there are probably going to be 20 to 30 items on a 6ft high, 16ft wide, massive canvas.
"The idea is that people will come down and say 'you should have such-and-such on there'. The beauty of graffiti is that it can change.
"There will be some things in my opinion – and I'm kind of in charge – like the Iron Bridge that will be sacrosanct, but other things can be changed. It can be a moveable feast, ever changing, ever evolving."" Neil is a Telford lad from Telford company Auniqueart. He has a tattoo parlour in Trench Lock and has been doing graffiti workshops and things like this since the 1980s.
The mural will be completed towards the end of the week, and as to what happens to it then, Johnty said: "It's a good question. We would be more than happy for the council to have it if they could find space for it – it's massive." The Arts Alive Gallery is next to Poundland.Work began on the mural on Monday and it is expected to be finished on Thursday.
