We are working with The Brick Project to create a community art project for Fountain Square this autumn.
The giant mural made up of hundreds of individually painted bricks will bring a splash of colour to our Fountain Square wall opposite The Folk of Gloucester museum.
The organisers want everyone in the area to help decide on the theme of the mural and to design and paint a brick each. They are working with the Westgate Residents Group to collect ideas and to invite local residents to paint a Mandala piece.
The Mandala is made up of tiny paintings on small wooden circles mounted in a hexagonal frame. It will be permanently displayed at St Mary de Crypt Church. This will be an opportunity for anyone who can’t physically access the brick project to record their identity in a permanent artwork.
“There’s no such thing as bad painting” say The Brick Project team. They will provide all materials and have planned a series of events being held across the summer and autumn for everyone to get involved:
Phase One - Saturday 20 July to Sunday 15 September 2024
The Brick Project will run their portable Mandala painting workshop in and around the city centre to get people involved and ensure everyone knows about the project. This will connect with other events organised by partners. They will also be hiring local people for paid roles during the whole Westgate Street Brick Project. Please contact The Brick Project for more information.
Phase Two - Wednesday 18 to Sunday 22 September 2024
This phase of the project will begin the outdoor brick painting activity, focusing mainly on the Fountain Square wall. With a team of local facilitators, The Brick Project will spend two days priming each individual brick, followed by five days inviting the public to paint, getting everyone in the area used to the drop-in public painting activity.
Phase Three - Sunday 29 September to Friday 11 October 2024
The wall will be open again for painting, this time focussing on organised painting sessions with local schools and organisations. Over two weeks they’ll book protected time for groups to paint at the wall and the public can drop in to paint between these sessions. There will be a post-varnishing celebration event on Saturday 12 October.
Phase Four - Thursday 17 October to Wednesday 20 November 2024
When all 1548 bricks are finished, many people may still want to paint, so they’ll continue the portable Mandala painting workshops until mid November. This means anyone who hasn’t yet taken part can be represented, including clients of homeless drop-in centres. The final Mandala piece will be displayed in the St Mary de Crypt Schoolhouse Cafe.
Bristol-based social enterprise The Brick Project has led the creation of many similar community art projects across the UK and abroad.
The Westgate Street project is being delivered by the Brick Project with local partners including ourselves, Inclusion Gloucester, Folk of Gloucester, All Nations Community Centre, The Raven Centre, Gloucester Cathedral, The Railway Garden and St Mary de Crypt, with funding from Arts Council England and Barnwood Trust.
To find out more about the project and how you can get involved, visit The Brick Project website.
