Brewers News - The Hive: Beecroft Primary School Mural

Bringing vibrance and optimism to Beecroft Garden’s Primary School

Patricio Forrester, Project Leader

Artmongers are a non-for-profit organisation with the intention to create art that makes a difference. They were commissioned by the school in Brockely, London to create a participatory mural on their music block building.

With the help of keyworkers’ children, a design for the mural was created through some workshop sessions. The initial concept for the mural was based on the title ‘The Music Box’ but it later evolved into ‘The Hive’. The title provided a great starting point for the children to work from, using visuals to come up with two different designs.

‘Thanks to the generous discount we were given by Brewers Peckham we were able to be more ambitious with the project. Initially, we were only going to paint two walls, but thanks to Brewers we were able to paint the whole building!’

Patricio Forrester
Artmongers

For the front of the building, a striking geometric 3D illusion was decided upon in the form of two spheres, conceptualising the idea of ascension through learning. The design also resembles that of a sunrise so the design will fill the children with positivity and new beginnings when they all return to school. The side of the building has much more of a free composition comprising of hexagons and the children designed their own bees and other six-legged friends to decorate the building.

Twelve parents of the school children also contributed much of their free time to help paint the mural; this meant that the project was completed in just seven days!

The mural has had a very positive response on social media so far and the parents were very pleased with the result.

Local photographer Helen Murray also donated her time to take some beautiful pictures of the progression of the mural.

Brewers Peckham were more than happy to provide materials at a discounted rate for the mural, using 32.5L of Albany Smooth Masonry paint allowing all four walls of the building to be painted compared to only two sides as previously planned.

The mural is a perfect example of how art can bring a community together, especially in times of uncertainty.