Art Students Make A wave

Sixth form students are creating a mural masterpiece that shows Boscombe is where the art is.

Emblazoned across the entrance to the Sovereign Shopping Centre, the 10m by 2.5m wall painting will celebrate life in Boscombe and is being created by five talented students from Avonbourne Sixth Form.

Their artwork will be a key special feature of a summer urban arts festival, which takes place in Boscombe in August. And it has been made possible thanks to funding from Green Goals – the joint AFC Bournemouth and Bournemouth Borough Council community fund.

CEO of Avonbourne Trust, Debbie Godfrey-Phaure, said: “We are very proud that our schools serve the Boscombe community and are committed to supporting regeneration projects in the area. Our students have done an amazing job in their initial designs and I am sure that when their mural is completed it will be an amazing new feature in the town.”

The mural cost £2,000, with Green Goals providing a grant of £1,000 for the project. Students across Avonbourne Trust raised the remaining £1,000 for the project through a series of fundraising events.

The wall art has been eight weeks in the planning and will depict all the things the young artists associate with Boscombe. A key feature will be the beach and pier with sea creatures whose long limbs represent the exciting regeneration taking place in Boscombe. The growing digital industry will also be represented by waves made from pixels and the sea constructed of computer circuits. A line of young people reflect the multi-ethnicity and youth of the Boscombe area, unified and looking out into the world. And finally the wall will feature Mary Shelley and her famous creation Frankenstein’s monster. Mary Shelley’s son Peter built a house in Boscombe for his ailing mother who sadly died before she could live there.

Students have begun work on the mural in conjunction with MBN Arts and received support from artist Mirek Lucan who created AFC Bournemouth’s mural at the Vitality Stadium.

Avonbourne Trust has been working in partnership with the Sovereign Shopping Centre management to make the mural a reality.

Peter Ruscoe, Centre Manager for the Sovereign Shopping Centre, said: “We’re keen to support the vibrant local art scene in Boscombe. Located in the car park, this mural will be seen over 10,000 times a week. Thank you very much to the talented students from Avonbourne Trust for such a wonderful piece of artwork.”

The Avonbourne Trust mural will be officially unveiled as part of the Great Boscombe Exhibition’s new summer urban arts festival, which takes place on August 27-29.