Sunbury
Cross was identified in a Fear of Crime Survey (2000) as having the highest fear of crime in the borough.
This is compounded in the subway system at the Cross by poor lighting, poor signage, poor drainage,
large groups of young people “hanging out,” graffiti and litter. As part of a much wider project tackling
these issues in the area, targeted arts projects have been organised to involve local young people in
creating community art that will brighten and improve the appearance of the subways. The projects also
provide local young people with a constructive and controlled activity.
The arts project is part of a wider crime and disorder project that
aims to improve the Sunbury Cross subway system and reduce fear of crime in the area at a total cost
of approximately £50,000 from county and local budgets. The project involves improved drainage, cycle
barriers, CCTV and improved lighting. It involves many partner organisations including Surrey Police,
Surrey County Council Youth Service, Surrey County Council Highways department, Spelthorne Borough Council
and the Youth Offending Team.
Spelthorne Borough Council has now been named as a Cultural Pathfinder
which means we will be developing more art projects at Sunbury Cross from April 2005 to April 2007.
The Pathfinder scheme is a government initiative in which just 12 council have been chosen (from 88
who applied) to develop innovative ways of using culture to tackle local issues such as the engagement
of young people and the reduction of crime. For more information about the scheme, follow the link below.
Sunbury Cross projects:
Further
information
Aerosol Art Mural 2003
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During Easter 2003 the main Sunbury Cross Underpass was transformed by a mural depicting local sights. Andrew Quammie, a renowned aerosol artist from London, worked with 9 local young people over a period of 8 weeks to produce the mural. He then added the finishing touches to the artwork once the young people were back at school after the Easter holidays.
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The
project was organised by Spelthorne Borough Council and Surrey County Council Youth Service working
in partnership with Surrey Police and with financial support from the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership.
Surrey’s Youth Offending Team have now coated the mural with anti-graffiti varnish to ensure easy cleaning
of the mural should it be targeted by vandals.
Aerosol Art Mural 2004
In Easter 2004, the Sunbury Cross subway become the home of another aerosol mural thanks to an award from Government Office South East (GOSE).
Seven professional aerosol artists from London based company, Signal Project, worked with local young people over a period of six weeks to design the mural. The young people involved chose a theme exploring evolution.
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The
mural depicts a progression from animal and organic themes on the left of the mural, evolving to current
technology and finally through to futuristic designs on the right side of the wall. All of the painting
on site took place during the Easter school holiday.
The young people involved each worked with an individual artist to develop
their art and graphic design skills. While the mural was painted with aerosol, a clear emphasis was
placed throughout the project on the difference between legitimate artwork and vandalism. The project
was organised and managed by Surrey County Council Youth Development Service, Spelthorne Borough Council
and Surrey Police in partnership and the Highways Agency kindly gave permission for the use of the tunnel
wall.
Aerosol Project - Easter 2006
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After the idea of using Heritage as a focus for the design through the mosaic project, we thought that using research and history would give further ownership to the young people involved in the projects. For this reason an application was made to the Heritage Lottery fund in order for a further aerosol mural to be created and also a film on anti-vandalism. This bid was successful and in the summer 2006 eight young people took part in researching Spelthorne in order to help design an aerosol mural.
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The young people were again recruited by the Youth and Development Service who also consulted the Youth Offending Team and Surrey Police. EmmaJane Mathews, lead youth worker on the project, recruited young people who have previously been charged for vandalism within Sunbury Cross and were in need of diversionary activities in order to re engage them within their community.
The notion of joining the library and researching the community led to a sense of belonging from the young people and the reflection of not wanting to destroy the hard work they had completed through mindless vandalism.
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The
design took on the idea of ‘Heroes and Villains’ with a cartoon style showing characters such as Julius
Ceaser who rode through Sunbury, Lord Knyvett arresting Guy Fawkes, film characters such as James Bond
which was filmed at Shepperton Studios and a large section depicting the Clock tower which was once
the centre of Sunbury Cross roundabout.
Mosaics Project
A further Sunbury Cross art project was run in Autumn 2004 by Spelthorne
Borough Council and Surrey County Arts, funded by the Surrey County Council Local Committee in Spelthorne
with strong personal support from County Councillor Rosemary Scott. This involved around 700 pupils
from all three local secondary schools who created mosaic tiles as part of a short artist residency
in each school, with artist Miriam Zadik Gold.
Following the installation of CCTV in the tunnels the tiles were installed
in November 2004 by local firm J Clarke Ceramics. Tiles were supplied by Tiles of Wisdom. An official
opening was held on December 10 2004, led by the Mayor of Spelthorne Cllr George Trussler. Certificates
were presented to Bishop Wand C of E Secondary School, St Paul's Catholic College and Sunbury Manor
School to thank the students and staff for their involvement.
Mosaic Project 2005-2006
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After the successful mosaic schools project in 2004, Spelthorne decided to bid for funding to produce community mosaic art pieces to be installed in tunnels at Sunbury Cross. With funding approved from the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, artists ‘inspired Mosaics’ were employed to take on the exciting task.
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The design for the piece was to reflect the community of Spelthorne
with particular reference to residents of Sunbury. The idea of how Sunbury Cross had changed both socially
and physically led to a community Memory competition with members of the public sending in short stories
and images of how they remember the area. Memories of families dancing around the clock on New Years
Eve and bus rides for 2 pence were amongst the wonderful stories that were sent in. The winner of the
competition Mr McAllan received a voucher for WH Smiths worth £20!
Liz De Ath of Inspired Mosaic used the memories and through further
research at Sunbury Library created a portfolio of information to inspire her design.
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The professional artist ran mosaic workshops in St Pauls Catholic College and Kenyngton Manor Primary school where the children learnt the history of mosaic, took part in further research on Sunbury, expressed their own thoughts on the area and their family history and took part in designing and creating sections of the final piece.
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The design has resulted in a series of large round mosaic pieces which reflect historical facts about Spelthorne for example, the first domestic flights from Heathrow, The Lagona Car being designed in Sunbury, the Linoleum and Candle factory and the Millenium Embroidery. All of these pieces have been placed in the first tunnel and another collection of large triangular pieces which reflect the diverse culture of the young people, their interests and the energy that they all brought to the project which have been installed in the second tunnel.
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The
triangular mosaics featured links to the West Indies, Africa, Europe and depicted children dancing alongside
sporting symbols, sweets and musical instruments. The children created these dancing figures by drawing
round friends in poses onto brown paper. The mosaic tile pieces were then stuck straight onto this paper
with the colour facing towards it. Once all the pieces were added to the paper they were then grouted
in place and then the whole mosaic turned over and the brown paper peeled off. This is an ancient way
to make mosaic panels except that back then it would have been cloth rather than brown paper!
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Liz De Ath then took all the half finished pieces back to her studio in Brighton and spent two months carefully placing each tiny tile to create 20 major mosaic panels. The panels were then installed into the tunnels of Sunbury Cross in April 2006 along with over a thousand tiles!
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In
order to deter vandals from defacing the art pieces advice was taken from Surrey Police and together
the artists and Spelthorne Arts and Heritage officer Faye Munns developed a series of techniques to
try to deter vandals. The plain tile between each mosaic piece is the sheet tiles of small mosaic tile
so there is less surface for vandals. These tiles are also flecked with a colour so are less attractive
to ‘taggers’ as their markings will not show up as well as on plain wall. The mosaic panels were installed
on wooden panels and bolted to the wall. The outside tiles were then applied to be flush with the edges
of the mosaic so that they are more difficult to be chipped out. Also the artist incorporated small
pieces of mirror in the panels to reflect the lighting within the tunnel so they are brighter and more
user friendly.
For more information about the Sunbury Cross arts projects, please contact Faye Munns, Youth Arts Officer on 01784 446306
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