Artists transform playground wall

Community spaces provide powerful places for making connections. St Paul's Playground in Nenagh is such a place where each day, young people, meet up to kick or shoot ball, some exercise their dogs while others just walk the parameter and talk. All of us need these public spaces for our connections and wellbeing. However, the passage of time ages such community spaces and the current playground is no different from others before it.

One of the most powerful ways to transform a space and build community is through collaborative artistic projects, such as mural painting. Murals for communities are increasingly being seen as a valuable tool for community building. They can be a testament to renewal and transformation of a public space. They provide a talking point and for some an identity of whom we are.

The North Tipperary Artists Collective is a group of both professional and amateur artists in the local area who see this space as a blank canvas that could be transformed with energy and vision. Spearheaded by Edwina Knight, she hopes that over the next few months the powerful work of many artists will bring the wall back to life. The initiative is driven solely by the voluntary action of the collective, who wish to give back to the community and enhance the playground once again.

The theme is biodiversity and each artist will tell their story of how that theme and visualisation is represented in each panel of the wall. At present, the end of July is the completion date but, in the meantime, please feel free to call to the playground and talk with any of the artists while they work.