This project was commissioned by Artswork in collaboration with a group of 16 young people from four local secondary schools, The Arun Young Cultural Change Makers. The young people had funding for a community garden, they were given the task of creating a public outdoor space where young people would want to visit, they wanted to combat isolation and improve wellbeing, feel safe and calm but also to create garden where creativity was at the heart of the space. They created a design and included a wall mural, they interviewed the applicants and appointed me to work with them. They sent me some images that helped as a starting point for some inspiration but they left the initial concept up to me to then develop. The young people were keen to develop work that could be a little more environmentally friendly so I focused on a concept that included natural materials and more recycled mosaic tesserae, this also allowed me to teach those I was working with about how to be more resourceful and creating mosaics on a tighter budget. But also the variety in our materials allowed for more interesting surface details which helped to inspire initial designs. The idea of creating multiple pieces that then all fitted as one emphasised individual creativity but only unified our project to show how coming together we could create a beautiful piece of art. As well, the wall space was huge so it helped to created artwork in this way, allowing us to create a bigger impact with covering a large surface area. We looked at using isolated words and short statements within our artwork, each word inspiring a design theme. I held workshops in Bognor Regis over two days, the workshops were attended by Arun Cultural Changes Makers, a local primary school and local families. The mosaics were then carefully transported back to my studio and completed before they were installed with a grand unveiling event, a joyous occasion of all involved.

See below some photos from the workshops, showcasing the creativity and hand on mosaic making by some of the people that were involved in making these mosaics.