Empty Shop in Yeovil Gets New Artwork
Released On 12th May 2021
Love Yeovil have recently been awarded funding from South Somerset District Council to help brighten up Yeovil’s Town Centre by bringing art and graphics into the empty shops.
Love Yeovil is working with Yeovil Art Space and Yeovil College and Yeovil College University Centre to install pieces of artwork, graphics and photographs all with the unifying theme of ‘Together we are Stronger’.
The latest piece has been installed at 96 High Street, the former St Margaret’s Hospice Charity Shop. Permission had been granted by the property owner for this very inspiring piece of artwork to be installed on the exterior of the building.
The artwork consists of a vibrant series of posters, printed with quotes from the ‘Together We Are Stronger' podcast, created by artist Natasha Rand with Yeovil Art Space as a core part of this compelling intergenerational community project. Natasha interviewed residents and staff from Somerset Care and local elders from Yeovil, to ask how they have been coping and to share life experiences of difficult times from their past and encouraging resilience in others. The podcasts have inspired further creative projects with all ages facilitated by Natasha and Yeovil Art Space, and a selection of inspiring words from those original interviews have been used to create this striking and thought provoking installation. Natasha comments on the window installation:
''The art piece gives value to the words of our older generation and offers positivity and encouragement passers by''
There are still many more windows in the town centre that Love Yeovil would like to fill with artwork and graphics but there are some hurdles that need to be overcome before any more windows can be decorated. Alice Edmonds from Love Yeovil advised that “getting landlords to reply was the hardest part of this project, which is a shame as making the town centre a nicer place will benefit them in the long run, more people using the town centre and being welcomed with a nice atmosphere will only be good for businesses”.
Photo credit to Len Copland
