I've worked at Coachella & the Paris Olympics, now I've teamed up with Crown Paints for this Lancashire mural
For weeks, onlookers have watched as a riot of botanical colour has emerged in the form of a striking new mural in Blackburn town centre.
One of the standout artworks from the successful National Festival of Making, Floral Timekeepers has transformed a small car park close to Prism Contemporary, bringing sunshine on even the greyest of days.
The work is by Morag Myerscough, a globally renowned artist known for her immersive structural installations filled with bold patterns, vibrant colours and a powerful injection of positive energy. Morag has created pieces for the likes of Coachella and the Paris Olympics, and in a huge coup was brought to Blackburn as part of Art in Manufacturing – the festival’s hugely successful headline commissioning programme.
This unique initiative pairs artists with some of the UK’s leading manufacturers – many based in Blackburn with Darwen. And it was a perfect match: Morag being partnered with Crown Paints, a company with a long and proud history of making colours for interiors and exteriors.
Founded nearly 250 years ago as Dob Meadows Printing Shop in Darwen – where its head office remains today – Crown’s team helped select the colours for the mural, and even contributed their favourite flowers, which have been incorporated into the design.
Inspiration
Morag was inspired by a visit to Corporation Park, and particularly the Victorian conservatory there. She wanted the mural to align with regeneration plans for the town and planned investment for the park – encouraging the community to ‘dream’ about restoring its botanical heritage.
At the heart of her vision for Floral Timekeepers is a palette of 49 Crown Paints colours, and the spinning colour clock – representing the clock on the park’s glasshouse. During a tour, Morag explained that it’s believed the clock was added so that industrial workers wouldn’t lose track of time while enjoying the flowers – a brief but welcome escape from the town’s many mills.
Over the festival weekend – which attracted tens of thousands of visitors – the area around the mural, a corner of Barton Street car park, was turned into an urban parklet, filled with large planters and seasonal blooms.
The project has been supported by the Government’s Highstreet Accelerators programme and as with the mural itself, the planters will remain in the town – now relocated to King William Street, providing a lasting splash of colour.
Lauren Zawadzki, Co-Director of the National Festival of Making, said: “We’re always thinking about how the National Festival of Making can have a meaningful impact outside of our Festival weekend and Morag Myerscough’s permanent mural is such a good example of that. It has been amazing to work with Morag over recent months and bring her vision to life with the support of the incredible Colour Studio at Crown Paints.
“Along with the arrival of our festival audiences, a real highlight of our weekend was seeing the bees and butterflies arrive at the planters, almost as soon as the array of seasonal planting went in. A remarkable outcome for Art in Manufacturing with all thanks to artist, factory and the creative practitioners who supported this new work.”
To date, Art in Manufacturing has commissioned more than 30 artists to create exceptional new works, all showcased at the ever-popular festival, now a firm favourite in the national cultural calendar.