Pupil’s wild at art adorns hoardings

Artwork inspired by the environment and wildlife is now being displayed on hoardings surrounding a new housing development in Marks Gate.

The paintings and drawings by students from Rose Lane Primary school were created as part of a competition run by the council’s regeneration organisation, Be First, with help from Studio 3 Arts.

This week local councillors, Cllr Sade Bright and Cllr Simon Perry, visited the site where the work is now displayed to meet the young artists, Assistant Deputy Headteacher, Lara Marsh, and Elaine Tribley.

Cllr Perry said: “The children’s work is awesome and inspirational. It’s great to see young people getting involved and expressing their love of nature and their local environment through art.”

Beth Cross, Community Engagement Coordinator at Be First, said: “It’s so important to involve the local community and young people with what we’re trying to build here – a great place for all, with quality new homes for local people and an improved and more bio-diverse environment.”

Lara Marsh, said: “The history of Marks Gate has been long and varied. It started with a moated manor house surrounded by three small hamlets at the entrance to Hainault Forest and then blossomed and grew in the 1950s. Since then, the school has been at the heart of the community and this is still our role today.

“At Rose Lane we pride ourselves on the breadth and depth of our curriculum ensuring that our pupils leave us engaged with the society they live in. The creative arts are a hugely important aspect and this project not only encouraged the children to express themselves through art but also developed their knowledge of the community they live in and added something beautiful for them, their families and their neighbours to look at.”

Rosie Ross, Senior Creative Producer at Studio 3 Arts, said: “Studio 3 Arts is delighted to have collaborated with the children from Rose Lane Primary. Their work celebrates the history and natural landscape of Padnall Lake which they developed in responses to artpacks compiled by artist Elaine Tribley during lockdown.

“It’s fantastic that the children can now see their ideas realised within this informative and colourful design and share it with their families and the wider Marks Gate community.”

The artwork is displayed on the hoardings which surround the new development at Marks Gate which will feature 81 quality new affordable homes for local people.