The Broadway Plymstock has commissioned talented local artist Ellie Johnson, known as Mrs Murals to create new public art for Plymouth in honour of World Earth Day.
World Earth Day is an annual celebration on 22 April that aims to raise awareness of the need to protect the Earth’s natural resources for future generations.
The first Earth Day was in 1970, organized to educate participants on the importance of environmental conservation. It’s since spread throughout the world, with over a billion people coming together to protect the planet from things like deforestation and pollution. This year’s theme is Invest in Our Planet.
Mrs Murals has created designs that celebrate the beauty of nature but are also thought-provoking.
As you enter The Broadway from the car park, the paintings are of butterflies and bees, with an interactive mural of butterfly wings for people to stand in front of for photos.
The butterfly Mrs Murals has used for these wings is the ‘Large Blue’ butterfly – an endangered UK species on the red list for extinction, but which has promisingly moved recently from ‘critically endangered’ to ‘endangered’ due to conservation efforts.
The far end of this wall includes a large sunflower head with bees surrounding it.
The second wall is inspired by World Earth Day’s aims to protect the planet and its environment. It shows hands holding the Earth, with a trail of birds emerging from it, growing larger along the wall, leading to a large image of a Turtle Dove.
Mrs Murals: “I chose to paint a Turtle Dove to symbolise love and peace, but also to raise awareness because they’re on the RSPB red list for UK endangered birds.”
The artwork will brighten the shopping area and hopefully help people to consider nature and the beauty of the environment all around them, especially on World Earth Day.
Sara Smith, Centre Manager of The Broadway Plymstock said: “We are proud to have commissioned Mrs Murals to create a new piece of public art for Plymstock and we are thrilled to see it come to life, pride of place at our main entrance. In addition to a constantly evolving line up of new independent retailers, creative projects like this are part of a whole host of initiatives we have planned here at The Broadway in the coming year, to significantly improve the visitor experience and engage with the community we serve in new and exciting ways.”
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