This ugly duckling is the last remaining wall of the old Queen's Hotel on Queen's Parade in Bangor. It sits to the right of the Project 24 site.
It took an afternoon of digging to clear the rough ground and 20yrs of litter. Then another day to get the roughest breeze blocks ever base coated.
But doing so was worth it, as it connected it to the marina and
the wonderful Project 24 site with its artists' pods.
Masking off first, to create the comic strip outline that Bethany came up with.
She had the honour of putting the first paint on the wall.
And once the gloves were on, we were full-steam ahead... until rain stopped play.
So it was back to the college to make sure all our stencils were ready for an early start next day.
Wallpaper block colour went on.
Ryan added future cities of hope. (His interests lay in architecture and planning.)
SERC tutor, Michelle, was eager to get in on the spraying, too.
Marie steps in for Zara and uses the two most difficult types of spray paint - metallic and glow-in-the-dark.
Her very accomplished bunny stencil glows in the dark - perfect for the Day into Night event at project 24 on the 24th August. And it even says Hi in Danish!
Elvis began to add vines that would tie the panels together.
Brain and Curtis got masked up ready for their big stencils.
Bear and tiger colours going on.
Bethany's cherry wallpaper was quite a task!
Girls together getting Bangor's message across.
Meantime, new master of the stencil artform, Brian is laying down his bear colours.
Paige stays true to her surname and adds a lot of love to the wall.
Lesley jumps in to lend a hand in pink.
Curtis' tiger being in town is casing a giggle. Curtis Tiger... geddit?
The work these two guys put into their stencils was immense.
Never underestimate the skill and discipline involved in making such complex stencils.
It was go, go, go! There were threatening clouds, but the graffiti gods were on our side (and Andy was wearing his lucky red socks...)
Elvis's personality shone through with the bright and vibrant colours he chose for his flowers.
No fear of luminous pink here!
The students were constantly making decisons about the colours and composition of the piece.
Brian being careful not to obscure Zara's fashion stencil.
We were having so much fun, even the critters wanted in on the act.
Onlookers were kept back from the action with a wet paint tape, but the general opinion was delight at the colour and vibrancy cheering up the dilapidated eyesore.
Andy gave the students on-the-job tutoring on spray-can dexterity.
Spray cans down for a quick break to celebrate Ryan's birthday with toffee and chocolate cake!
Then it's back for the big reveal.
Too cool for old skool.
Inga had the honour of adding Bethany's lettering, as it was at height.
Michelle struck a pose.
Curtis added tiger tails stripes.
Brian painted in grog detail on the T-shirt sporting Lesley's dog stencil.
Everyone was enjoying it so much they were queueing to paint.
Ryan filled in for Elvis and added a few more flowers.
Is this the biggest birthday card ever?
Supergirl popped by.
Almost there...
A progress visit from Donna Mackey and Felicity Atwell, from North Down Borough Council and Peace III to see how we are going. They brought sunny smiles under the cloudy sky. It's thanks to them that this whole project happened.
Not much to do, just a signature wall added.
Brian surprised everyone with his extreme patience, tenacity and attention to detail.
Andy made sure Queen's Parade passers by knew there was a new hidden treasure in town... just enough to intrigue them.
So what are you waiting for? Follow the arrow!
To see the finished article.
Mayor, Andrew Muir, did. Don't worry, he wasn't allowed to spray without the mask on!
He's very impressed that a group of young adults should be projecting such a positive message..
and for picking up the graffiti masterclass skills so quickly.
Name check time.
Everyone
is really pleased with the finished mural. It encapsulates the humour
and styles of ten different teenage personalities.
We're very proud of everyone that took part. We hope they are too! We are immensely impressed that they embraced each others ideas, and learned so much whilst tackling such difficult issues and working so hard.
Congratulations to all of you.
It's been a pleasure working with you.
Good luck with your futures and we hope that some of the skills we taught you come in handy one day in life.
xxx
