Eight students from Swansea Metropolitan University have completed a public art project, which has been unveiled at the City’s railway station.The students, who are in their final year on the BA (Hons) General Illustration course, volunteered to take part in the project funded by Arriva Trains Wales. The objective of the project was to improve the appearance of the approaches to the railway station while giving the students valuable work experience.
The theme of the project was ‘destinations’ and the murals reflect iconic scenes from around the rail network such as Pontypridd, Wrexham, Llandudno, Mumbles and Llandrindod.
Speaking at the unveiling, course tutor Duncan McLaren, said: “During their final year, students were required to liaise with an external company in order to gain experience of working with a client and gain valuable feedback and insight into working in the ‘real world’.”
He continued: “All the students working on this project have enjoyed the experience and have learnt a great deal through working on a real project with particular production constraints, specific deadlines and the requirement to elicit pertinent information from a client. This project has allowed each student to produce artwork of an individual nature, which will be displayed with every other students work for passengers and staff to enjoy. While the paintings are in situ, they will be an enduring showcase for Swansea Met.”
Jez Williams, station manager at Swansea, said: “We’re delighted with the standard of work, which has certainly improved the approaches to the station. It has been a pleasure to offer the students the opportunity to illustrate their talent, which will also promote the many destinations accessible by train from Swansea.”
Upon graduation, illustration students, in the main, become freelance practitioners after graduation and work in all areas of publishing, advertising and design.
Notes for Editors
1. Pictured at the unveiling is student Ali Luck with Jez Williams, Station Manager and the students who participated in the project
2. In February 2010, plans to revamp Swansea railway station into a bright, accessible, clean and secure station fit for the 21st century were unveiled. The scheme, which is part of the Department for Transport’s national station improvement programme, is jointly led by Arriva Trains Wales, Network Rail and the Welsh Assembly Government.
3. More than 1.6m passengers who travel through the Swansea station every year are set to benefit from better journey experiences from the revamp.