TLMP Nominated for Art08 awards

The Liverpool Mural Project has been nominated for the Art08 awards run by the Arts Council North West. Art08 is an annual ceremony now in its fifth year that celebrates creativity and innovation in the arts across the North West. The event will take place at Liverpool’s Novas Centre on Thursday 13 November 2008, just a few minutes walk from The Picket.

There are five categories and TLMP’s ‘John lennon’ mural in Litherland and the ‘Liverpool Irish’ mural on The Picket have been nominated for Inside, Outside and Online - celebrating where great art has found its way into people’s lives in new and exciting ways.

The winner will be awarded The Arts Council Outstanding Achievement Award and receive a cheque for £10,000 which TLMP will use to create another amazing mural in Liverpool. The deadline for nominations is 5pm, November 3rd 2008. To vote for The Liverpool Mural project simply download the nomination form from the website at www.artscouncil.org.uk/art08 and return to the address provided.

If you would like more information or a paper copy of the nomination form, please call Claire Symonds on 0161 827 9268.

The Picket Mural - Artwork of the Week

Leading Liverpool blog for art and culture this week awarded TLMP's Liverpool Irish mural as artwork of the week. Editor Ian Jackson who is proprietor of artinliverpool.com and describes himself as a computer programmer, artist, photographer, urban warrior and keen supporter of The Liverpool Mural project visited the Picket on the last day of painting and was full of praise for the work.

"Its quite a skill, painting such large images on a brick wall, far different from oil on canvas and some of it was done by keen but not necessarily very skilled volunteers but its great that lots of local people were involved."

I once referred on this website to the mural that now proudly adorns the wall of the PICKET in Liverpool city centre as "the difficult second album". In many aspects, I now believe my initial brief description was right - and wrong.

I believe I was right in terms of the scale of the target wall, the logistic difficulties in co-ordinating such a huge work of art, battling with the unpredictable weather conditions, and of course the pressures of delivering a spectacular piece of art that would not only rival the previous Beatles mural, but exceed it in terms of complexity, diversity of themes and quality...

Well actually forget the last point, as the skills of the gifted artists have never been in doubt!! But to use a musical analogy (without at all detracting from the brilliance of the LMP's first work); if the first mural can be likened to a 3-minute rock and roll classic, the second would be more like a sweeping 2 hour opera epic...

Whereas the first mural was a mainly black and white cult classic, this second one was to be more of a techni-colour Panavision Hollywood blockbuster.. Where I can be proved "wrong" is simple: despite all the challenges faced in such a short timescale (1 week), there was from day 1 an admirable sense of unity and determination. This, coupled with an fantastic "can-do" attitude, made the production of the mural a truly memorable and pleasurable experience.

Massive credit must go to all involved - obviously starting with TLMP itself and the "Belfast Boys", who brought their unparallelled vision and craft on board with their customary flair and quiet brilliance which cannot be highlighted enough. All praise also to "Big Phil" and his staff at the PICKET, who were totally accommodating and great fun, and sought to get involved in all aspects of the project. Much laughter and positivity ran through the group, even during the two torrential downpours which at one point threatened to destroy all the hard work. I lost count of the amount of times "not a problem" crept into conversations during that hectic 7 days - 3 words that sweetly summed up for me the collective mood of everyone we had helping out, including vitally, local artists who gave their own time up to be a part of something special. At last count, I think I counted 18 separate elements that make up the final mural, each of which can be considered true works of art in their own right.

What an achievement - something everyone can be truly proud of. Personally, it was a thrill to have a hand in something that will be discussed, studied, photographed and cherished for many years to come, not only by the people of Liverpool but by people from around the world - How many times in your life can you lay claim to something of that scale?

Looking forward to the next one, All the best, Fred

Hello the organisers, Just a few lines to say what an inspiring time it has been as a volunteer painter on the Liverpool Irish mural at the Picket. It has been really impressive to watch the Belfast artists organise everyone and weave their individual skills into a team project and include volunteers with such an open welcome.

A truly awesome team of artists and a great painting we can wear with pride. The organisation of the whole project has been great from the constant cups of tea and coffee, the sandwiches, the assembling of the scaffolding, readiness of paints and brushes and the way the artists could accommodate all the volunteers with "wee jobs". A great creative, community event.

The Culture Company can again be proud to sponsor such a first class event. Thanks for letting me be involved.

Flora Small

The Picket mural featured on BBC Northwest News

BBC Northwest covered the amazing progress of the Picket mural today and ran the story on the lunchtime and evening news, as well as 2 different video versions including interviews on the BBC website. Simply click on the links below to watch.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7612819.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7613500.stm

Roger Phillips checks out the Picket mural progress

BBC Radio Merseyside's top presenter Roger Phillips who has been a long time supporter of TLMP visited the Picket on Wednesday to check out the progress of Liverpool's latest mural. Roger who presents the very popular lunchtime phone-in show turned up after his shift at the radio station and explained that he'd been chatting earlier with a very enthusiatic caller to his show who'd visited the previous day.

"I've been a supporter of the Liverpool Mural Project for a long time and I think the John Lennon mural in Litherland is marvellous, it's great to come down and meet the Belfast artists and all the people behind the project and it's great to see so many people helping out and getting involved. This is the most exciting project of Capital of Culture year and I hope it spreads as far and as wide as the Superlambananas did".

FSB help pay for the paint on The New Picket mural

TLMP is delighted to recieve financial support for our Liverpool/Irish mural from The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The donation will help towards the cost of the paint for this large project.
The FSB is the UK’s biggest business support organisation,
established in 1974 to promote and protect the interests of the self-employed. Non-party political and non-profit making, the FSB provides support and advice to over 215,000 members across the country who run their own businesses. The FSB is supporting the project as part of its “2008 Culture of Business” programme of sponsorship and activity in Culture year. Merseyside FSB National Councillor Alexis Lay who visited the wall on the side of The Picket today to see the start of the work said,

“The FSB is delighted to be able to support the Liverpool Mural Project. The mural will be a lasting reminder of Culture year and this is another great step forward in the ongoing regeneration of this important part of Liverpool’s business landscape. It is great that the project team have used small suppliers for their materials, helping small businesses to benefit from Culture year, and the location is excellent, as the Independent District is creating a positive and lasting legacy for 2008, demonstrating the vital role that the independent cultural sector is playing in the successful regeneration of the city centre”

To find out more about the FSB simply click on the link below

www.fsb.org.uk/mwcw

Work starts on the mural at The Picket, Jordan Street

Amidst a deluge of rain, the Liverpool Mural Project begins work on a major new mural at noted Liverpool music venue The Picket. Commissioned by the Liverpool Culture Company, and part of the city's official artistic programme as European Capital of Culture, the mural will celebrate the historic links between Liverpool and Ireland.

Design and painting is being completed by noted Belfast muralists Danny Devenny, Mark Ervine and Micky Doherty. Crossing the sectarian boundaries of their hometown, the artists have worked on a number of murals that speak of reconciliation and a new dawn for artists in Belfast. Working as part of the Liverpool Mural Project, the artists are now able to take their message of a hopeful and bright future to Liverpool and beyond.

The Picket music venue also has a tale to tell. Formed in 1983, and playing host to a new generation of local musicians, The Picket has been the engine room of Liverpudlian pop and rock for 25 years. Now located in the newly inaugurated 'independent quarter' of Liverpool, The Picket continues to host gigs by new Liverpool bands, as well as more established acts. Throughout its illustrious past, the venue has been managed by music fan Phil Hayes. Speaking to the Liverpool Mural Project, Phil stated,

"I'm so excited about this development, particularly as The Picket has often explored Liverpool's Irish heritage. For example, in 2003, we hosted the Liverpool Irish Festival, in 2007, Elvis Costello performed, and on 31 October 2008, we've got Damien Dempsey, probably the leading singer-songwriter in Ireland. The work of the Belfast muralists is certainly inspiring, and we'll be proud to have one of their murals on the main exterior wall of our venue".

Liverpool author and historian looks forward to mural

The author of the very popular book Liverpool's Irish Connection Michael Kelly sent a great message of support for the Liverpool Irish mural which is planned for next week.
Michael Kelly is a renowned local historian whose previous works include a major biography of Kitty Wilkinson, which is scheduled to reprint in the New Year. Michael Kelly has also written about other Liverpool Historical figures and events and gives talks on Liverpool History and contributes to many publications.

"It’s great that such a mural is being created in the city and your hard work is coming to fruition. I can't wait to see the work in progress. If your great project helps to build bridges in Ireland then its a great plus for Liverpool, All the people on the island of Ireland are wonderful people and they deserve their place in the sun."

"Michael Kelly's writing is driven by love of his native Liverpool, which reaches back to his ancestral Ireland. In this collection of short biographies, Michael becomes the friend of his subjects, rather than a mere researcher. He writes of them because he is one of them, an Irish Liverpudlian in the grand old tradition."
(David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post)

The Picket wall is ready for the Liverpool Irish mural

The wall on the side of The Picket, Jordan Street, Liverpool was painted this weekend in preparation for TLMP's second mural of 2008.
A team of volunteers worked on Saturday and Sunday managing to avoid the rain to give the 66ft x 13ft wall 2 coats of brilliant white paint and create a blank canvas ahead of the arrival of the cross community Belfast artists who will lead the project.

Local artist Freddy Rylands was on hand to make sure everything was done right and brought along his own tin of EFC royal blue paint to finish the job by adding our website name.

"I'm made up to be involved with another mural project and made up it's on The Picket which is easily the best music venue in the city. I had a great time working on the John Lennon mural with The Belfast artists in Litherland earlier this year and I'm really looking forward to this one. The Picket is a much bigger wall and the Liverpool and Ireland design is much more of a challenge than the first one, for me its a bit like when a band makes the difficult second album".

The real painting is due to start on Monday September 8th and TLMP is busy replying to all the people who answered the call to get involved.