Blog

Newmarket in Colour Mural

We collaborated with Teen Chill youth club in Newmarket to create a striking mural designed by the young people which is featured in the 'Newmarket in Colour' initiative.

September 2023

Back in the Spring we began talking to the young people at Teen Chill youth club – run by Abbeycroft Leisure, Newmarket. We discussed various project ideas that they would like to be involved in and found that murals were of particular interest. We discovered an opportunity to take the project forwards by getting involved with Newmarket in Colour, a creative initiative set up by Discover Newmarket. This initiative commissioned several murals that will add colour to the public spaces throughout the town. 

We organised a visit to the Mutiny in Colour exhibition at The National Horse Racing Museum to inspire the group. They particularly liked works by My Dog Sighs, Banksy and KAWS.

We then spent two research sessions with Teen Chill, mind-mapping ideas with arts educator Hilary Cox-Condron before identifying themes and experimenting with designs. The group were keen to express themselves and give voice to their experiences. Inspired by the Mutiny in Colour exhibition, they were eager to incorporate some of the ideas they had seen into their own work.

During the first week of the summer holidays, the group spent three days bringing their ideas to life with Hilary at The Racing Centre. None of the group had ever worked at such a large scale, but they rose to the challenge brilliantly. They learned new stencilling techniques using templates and by creating their own patterns with masking tape. They worked extremely hard and at the end of the three days their piece, The Human Race, was complete. It has now been installed at the Abbeycroft Leisure Centre on Exning Road for all to see.