Young people make their mark in Springhill

AN impressive mural created by the young people of Springhill aims to highlight barriers between communities.

The mural was created during lockdown as part of the Playhouse Street Talk Youth Art Project.

Four youth groups participated in the project including Springhill Park Area Residents and Youth Association Strabane, Lincoln Court Youth Club in Derry, and Streetbeat and Yeha both based in Belfast.

The cross community project enables young people to use the arts to address issues relevant to them in their own communities. Law, order and policing, understanding the legal system, and breaking down barriers between communities are all addressed.

Springhill Park Area Residents and Youth Association and Lincoln Court Youth Club joined together to design two interconnected murals to be painted in each community.

The 16 young people from both communities who had never met before shared their feelings and expressed ideas during zoom workshops which were facilitated by professional artist educator and graffiti artist Karl Porter.

The young people made friendships, learnt new creative skills and techniques, and they also co-designed a hoodie as well as a mural.

They then gained inspiration from visiting international artists who lead workshops from California, Philadelphia and Colombia.

Transported

During those workshops the young people were transported from their homes in Strabane and Derry to the streets of California where they saw gigantic murals created by Alex Poliaka Manone or Pablo Cristi’s artist’s studio or the Colombian landscape during Hector Aristizabal’s workshop. 

The young people wanted to create murals which were positive, vibrant and future orientated – they didn’t want it to focus on the darkness of the  Covid pandemic.

Karl Porter created a design based on their  ideas. They selected bright bold colours with patterns and shapes which were woven through their profile images. They wanted the mural to inspire hope and imagination, and bring positivity to their streets.

Brian McNamee, project co-ordinator at Springhill Park Area Residents and Youth Association added, “We have created this project in partnership with the Playhouse to help young people from Springhill express their views on Covid 19  and to let them express their artist talents through graffiti and the new mural.

“We also have the opportunity to work over zoom with new area such at Lincoln Court and meet people from Columbia, USA and Italy through our journey.

“The new mural shows the hard work and commitment from the young people of Springhill over the last nine months of lockdown. We are proud of them and excited for the future.”