A dark and unloved corner of and island town has been turned in to a colourful and inviting open-air public gallery, featuring work from some of the island’s well-known artists.
A series of bright, eye-catching murals have been put up on display in an alleyway next to the Castletown Civic Centre, forming both a public display space and an energetic and inviting walk-through into the centre of the town.
The six murals were painted mid-way through 2021, as part of the inaugural ’Mural Fest’, which formed part of the Isle of Man Art Festival, during August 2021, and were created by local painters Jimmy Duggan, Karolina Powlowska, Beth Coole, Grainney Sheard, Fenella Logan and Alice Armstrong.
The murals, which included images of Manx myths and folklore, large scale portraits huge fantasy landscapes, sea creatures and supernatural visions, were painted together over a single weekend at the Pooil Vaaish workshop in Balthane in a public creative event.
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The paintings will now be available to view in what the organisers of the public art space hope will be the first in many displays there.
The murals were put on display by Lee Wylie, from the Castletown Commissioners, who hopes that the paintings will bring to life a fairly unremarkable part of the town.
’Public artwork is a huge thing for us at the moment and something that we are very keen to promote in Castletown, and we are happy to have something that helps bring the town to life,’ said Lee.
’We’re really delighted to have these murals on display.
’They have transformed what was a dreary and pretty miserable cut-through into to somewhere bright and colourful, where people are happy to stop, chat and spend time looking at the fabulous art work.
’I think it looks great and is a really boost to the town.
’We can all see a massive benefit from having public art on display through the town, whether it is making the town centre brighter for everyone, or just putting a smile on someone’s face.
Also I think it makes a big difference to the arts and culture on the island having these pieces of art work on display for all to see freely.
’Its something I would like to see take on a develop over time and it would be nice to always have something different to be seen.
’Ideally, we’d like more artists to come and put their work on show, and we can make that space a permanent open air gallery.’
More details are available by emailling lee.wylie@ castletown.gov.im