Young people's Art display on Botanic Road / Wavertree Road junction

I confess I don't really know the full story behind this wonderful art exhibition, but what I can tell you is this:

It was supported by Riverside Housing Association and My Place

It was created by young people from various local youth clubs and schools, very creatively assisted by professional artists. I think I am right in saying that it was also helped along the way, possibly financially through our devolved budget, by the Picton ward councillors.

It was unveiled on September 16th 2011 at 1pm, but I didnt get there until 1.15pm so I missed all the speeches that would have told me more....

I am hoping that Councillor Tim Beaumont or RHA staff will come and comment on the entry so that they can give you more of the facts. I would like to be able to name check the artists and the young people.

The artwork shown here is a series of large framed pieces, attached to the hordings around a cleared site where a pub used to stand, on the corner of Botanic Road and Wavertree Road, more or less opposite Matalan.

I will start with a photo I have taken from Google Street View, showing what the site looked like a year or so ago.

The site is now completely fenced in and these wonderful pictures are displayed right around the fence.

Each painting or picture, all of which have a 3D aspect, depicts local history, geography and culture which I will endeavour to describe for each image. They dont photograph well as they are behind perspex which reflects poorly for the camera, I do hope that you will go and have a look at them for yourself so that you can truly appreciate them.

The art work was unveiled about six weeks ago and driving by every day, I have yet to see any graffiti or damage, which shows how much the local community value it.




I tried to photo the paintings and images obliquely to minimise the reflection, but you can still the trees that were behind me, in Botanic Park, in each image. The actual images do not have the trees within them...  You can click on any image to see a much bigger version (this applies for every photo on my blog by the way)

This painting shows The Beatles, the Superlambanana, Kensington Picture Drome (now Wetherspoons) and displays the words "Edge Hill Youth Club", our first clue as to possible artists.

This image shows the Anglican Cathedral, the Aviary from Botanic Park, now long gone (or is it the aviary from Sheil Park, also long gone?), the Everton FC  banner and a Tag Art image, which may be our second clue about the artists.

I took this photograph to show where the art is displayed, to give you an idea of the location and the scale.

This image shows Joseph Williamson, an early 19th century retired tobacco merchant, sitting in the entrance of a tunnel. These tunnels lie underground in the immediate vicinity and go nowhere, They are a great feat of engineering and yet serve no obvious purpose. Many have speculated as to the reason for their construction and philanthropy is often cited - that Mr Williamson paid men who were otherwise out of work to construct these tunnels, so that he could keep them in gainful employment when times were hard.  This truly remarkable story and more can be found at the Friends of Williamson Tunnels website. The image also shows the street sign advertising Edge Hill district, Smithdown Primary School shield (more clues) and a glass conservatory which I am guessing once housed the city's Botanic collection in Botanic Park - is it all coming together for you now?

 

I love this one. Ice skaters at Kensington Silver Blades, the Littlewood's Building - the home of the nation's wistful dreams for over 50 years, St John's Radio Tower and the emblem of Liverpool City Council.  The hands of the clock on Littlewoods are in 3D relief.

This image shows the Wavertree district sign, along with a Riverside HA emblem, the shield of Liverpool FC and the wonderful Kensington Library.

Now I am challenged by this picture. Not being a native of Liverpool, or even a native of Edge Hill, Kensington, Fairfield or Wavertree, I am not familiar with these images. We have a priest, but is he is a local priest from St Anne's perhaps, or Sacred Heart, or St Sebastians, or is he an ArchBishop or Bishop? We have the Liver Building, 100 years old this year, happy birthday old lady! We have a Your Place emblem - who are part of Riverside Housing Association and you may know them better as the Clean Team and we have a statue of a woman and child that I think sits outside of Liverpool's Women Hospital.

 

Now I am back on familiar ground. This piece shows the bandstand from Newsham Park (well I hope it does, I guess there may have been a bandstand in Botanic Park, but I keep my fingers crossed), the RC Cathedral, an image of the Kensington district street sign and the emblem of St Anne's RC Primary School.

And we come to our final image. George Stephenson's Rocket - he had his engineering works at Edge Hill - the oldest passenger station in the WORLD!  The Boating Lake in Newsham Park, and trains going in through the tunnels at Edge Hill Station that take them on to Liverpool Lime Street . (The history of the Railways owes a lot to Edge Hill and Liverpool and George Stephenson - although as a former Teessider I will still have to give a plug to the Stockton and Darlington Railway which was the world's first publicly subscribed railway)