FINE art students have demonstrated their creative skills and commitment to the local community by volunteering to produce a mural at a Chester day centre.
The group, including recent graduates and current students from the University of Chester, designed and painted a mural reflecting life at the Canal Street Day Centre with the help of service users.
The design covers a wall at the Centre and has taken several months to complete with up to six students taking part throughout the project.
Fine art student Estelle Morris, 24, said: “It’s been a great project to get involved with and we’ve enjoyed it.
“We met with David Kennedy, a member of the staff team, who as part of his role initiates art, craft and drama projects, and the service users to discuss ideas for the mural. They had taken part in the Chester Watch Parade so we incorporated images of them in their masks into the design. We also incorporated images of their immediate surroundings that are meaningful, so included a canal barge and the garden.
“The service users have been fantastic to work with. They’ve painted big blocks of colour for us and stencilled leaves and flowers. They’re so enthusiastic and every time we see them they ask us what they’re going to do that day.”
David said the work of the students has made a real impact.
He said: “The idea came from a discussion with another team member Julie Hanby Rowlands. We’ve worked closely with students at the University as one of our aims is to forge working partnerships with other groups as a means of encouraging social integration, to develop personal skills and talents and to work on projects where people can feel a sense of achievement.
“The people from Canal Street, who have various degrees of learning disabilities, have worked well with the students who in turn have been great. They’ve worked really well, encouraging people from Canal Street throughout the project.”
