‘Our Hometown Stromness’ and ‘By the Sea’ are two large colourful murals which have transformed the bland walls of the school's bin store into bright and engaging spaces that will be enjoyed by many for years to come.
Find out the story behind these marvellous artworks!
Our Hometown Stromness
As part of the Stromness 200 celebrations in 2017 and to create a lasting memory through creativity, a collaborative project between the Stromness Museum and the Stromness Primary School saw a commemorative mural produced. It’s focus: the town buildings.
Janette Park (Curator) and Norna Sinclair (Exhibition Assistant) from the museum delivered a brief workshop to the P7 class which highlighted the town`s distinctive architectural features. Following this, the pupils were taken on a walk down the street to discover and record particular features they liked by drawing, photographing and writing notes.
Inspired by this, the pupils were given the task of incorporating these details onto their own houses making them recognisable as Stromness but also individual to them.
Local graphic designer Iain Ashman assembled these drawings into a townscape which creatively captured the P7's hometown.
The finished mural portrays the iconic townscape of Stromness and includes each of the buildings designed by the P7 class of 2017/18. The result is a colourful interpretation of their hometown Stromness and will become part of this P7's legacy.
By the Sea
Following on from the commemorative Hometown mural, a further addition for the bin store wall has been created. Themed around the harbour of Stromness and it's marine life, the new artwork was developed in partnership with Stromness Museum staff and the P2 class of 2018/ 19.
A workshop run by Norna Sinclair and Katy Firth, highlighted the fishing heritage of Stromness and the marine creatures which live below the sea.
Inspired by the colour and textures of marine creatures, the pupils enthusiastically decorated individual herring fish using rubbing plates and drawing techniques demonstrated in the workshop.
Iain Ashman (graphic designer) arranged the completed fish shapes into a tessellation, forming a unique pattern which adorned the hull of a fishing boat.
This special mural is a welcome addition to the school's playground and will become the backdrop for a multi-functional outdoor art space that will be used by the school in future projects.
The important working relationships between museum, schools and community is showcased in these artworks. It brings alive the rich heritage of Stromness in a fun and accessible way. A big thank you to all the pupils who participated in the workshops and helped create a special place for all future generations to enjoy.
Both murals have been generously funded by the Co-op Community Development Fund and kindly installed by Andrew Sinclair Ltd.
