Artist and studio member Jenny McNamara’s exciting new mural at Shieldfield Castle Nursery is now available for our neighbours to view!
Jenny McNamara’s mural with Shieldfield Castle Nursery
Posted: 29 November 2024
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Artist and studio member Jenny McNamara’s exciting new mural at Shieldfield Castle Nursery is now available for our neighbours to view!
Jenny McNamara is an artist/designer from Dublin who lives in Newcastle. She’s pattern and colour-obsessed and works across a range of media, including LED light and sculpture.
We were thrilled to continue collaborating with Shieldfield Castle Nursery to co-develop a mural for their garden. With a strong emphasis on promoting a home-from-home environment, Shieldfield Castle Nursery offers outstanding specialised care for babies and children under two years.
Staff and children at Shieldfield Castle Nursery collaborated with Jenny to create a mural during a series of fun and exploratory workshops focused on shape-finding, mindfulness, and our local environment.
“I hoped to have fun working with the nursery children and to make a piece of work that I’m proud of. It’s my first permanent public artwork, so that has had a big impact on my practice and my confidence as an artist.
I learned how to use workshop output as inspiration for the design. This was a little bit tricky at first, but I think I got the hang of it through doing it. A highlight was the first workshop session – the pattern-finding walk around Shieldfield, the children drawing on the ground with chalk.
I had a lot of fun working with the children from the nursery on pattern and shape-finding and making activities. Doing this project has made me feel more confident in taking on other commission opportunities.”
Photo credit: Matt Denham
The NewBridge Project is a charity, registered charity no. 1173849.
We are grateful to our funders, including Arts Council England, Newcastle City Council, Garfield Weston Foundation, Jerwood Foundation, Community Foundation North East, Newcastle University and the The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.
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