The children at Jubilee Wood Primary School were greeted by an exciting new mural in their playground on the theme of books when they returned for the autumn term. This was created by resident artists at Westbury, Joe Little and his daughter, Hanagh, who spent over 100 hours during the summer as volunteers to create the mural.
The commission for the mural, which is the third that Joe and Hanagh have created for the school, arose through conversation that Joe’s wife, who works as the family support officer at the school, had with the new head teacher Matthew O’Brien, who started at the school in 2020.
Joe explained: “The head teacher mentioned his love of art and when he learnt that Hanagh and I were artists he invited us to paint a mural in the style of his favourite artist, Vincent Van Gogh, on a large wall inside the school over the school summer holidays. The objective was to inspire the children through the bold colours used by Vincent.”
The head teacher was delighted and asked us to come back the next summer and paint a mural in the playground on the theme ‘imagination and adventure’. The Pixar movi
e “UP!” was chosen as the subject of the mural which was painted on a large wall in the playground.
Such was the success of the playground mural that Hanagh and Joe were invited back in the summer of 2023 to create a third on the theme of books to inspire the children. Joe says: “I think this is our best so far. We have been asked again to come up with ideas for next summer and mural no.4!”
The positive culture in relation to reading which has been created at the school was noted in the most recent (2022) Ofsted inspection, alongside other enrichment activities, such as visits to art galleries to bring learning to life. It is hoped that the murals also play a role every day in delighting and inspiring the children.
Joe won an award at the 2023 MK Inspiration Awards for Best Creative Arts Male in a competition where the public vote About Us – MK Inspiration Awards
See more of Joe Little’s work Joe Little Artist
See more of Hanagh Little’s work Home | Hanagh Little
The three murals are:
1. Van Gogh – sited indoors
2. Disney’s “UP” adventure is out there which is outdoors in the playground
3. Book ‘inspires creativity & imagination’ which is outdoors in the playgroun
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