Street art mural on crime and punishment unveiled in Bury St Edmunds at the Arc as part of project led by artist Louise Gridley

Street art mural banners on the theme of crime and punishment have been unveiled in Bury St Edmunds.

Students from Abbeygate Sixth Form College in the town created the banners, located at Hanchet Square at the Arc, as part of an arts and education outreach project on crime and punishment in and around Bury led by artist Louise Gridley.

The work draws on the crime and punishment collection at the town’s Moyse’s Hall Museum and responds to works from its current Mutiny in Colour street art exhibition.

The unveiling of the banners on Wednesday followed a student showcase at St Edmundsbury Cathedral to mark the culmination of the outreach project.

During the showcase, the nave became a catwalk for students to model their fashion creations, while other students took centre stage to deliver musical and dramatical performances.

Schools and colleges involved in the project include: Abbeygate Sixth Form, Hardwick Primary, Sebert Wood Community Primary, Sexton’s Manor Community Primary, Risby CEVC Primary, Ickworth Park Primary and Howard Community Academy.

Project lead Louise, a teacher of visual arts at Abbeygate Sixth, said: “The outreach project has encouraged students to learn about and reflect upon their local heritage.

“Observations and ideas have been expressed through visual and performing arts, providing young people with a collective voice within their local community.”

In April over 240 students visited the town to learn about themes including witchcraft, murder, criminal trials and places of execution.

Louise teamed up with local heritage partners to deliver the arts and education outreach project including: Moyse’s Hall Museum; Bury Town Guides, who provided a timeline of key local events and happenings; Magic Floor Productions, who delivered a sensitive human story about 18th century celebrity convict couple Holmes and Kable who were deported to Australia; and the local CALSA team (Cultural Arts Leaders in Schools and Academies) developed a range of creative resources to take back to classrooms.

The street art mural banners was a three-week long community arts project led by Louise and involved Year 12 fine art A-level students from Abbeygate Sixth.

Inspired by local stories and artefacts from the crime and punishment collection at Moyse’s Hall Museum, students responded with their own ideas relating to historical and present day social justice.

Student Lauren Wescomb, 17, from Stowmarket, who helped design the mural, said: “I was looking at the types of weapons that were used in medieval England and created a design based on this. It’s been good and fun (working on the project). I think there will be loads of mixed reactions.”

Izzy Woodward, 17, from Bury, said: “We initially made sketches at Moyse’s Hall and my contribution is a three-layered sensor of flames and fire.

“I loved working together as part of a group as it makes it more fun. I live quite close to the mural so I will see it most days. Hopefully people will like it. It’s nice to get your work out there and it’s good that students are creating art for the town.”

The Abbeygate students created massive banners that were the backdrop to the show at the cathedral and then these banners were digitally created and displayed in the Arc, where they will be until October.

Louise said: “We hope that the artworks initiate a dialogue among local residents regarding the ideas communicated as well as the often controversial artforms themselves.”

She added: “Next up, we want to try and work with Grayson Perry. Dream big and anything is possible is my motto.”

Cllr Donna Higgins, who was among councillors who donated locality funding towards the project, said of the showcase event: “It was that consideration of deeper issues that they were exploring through their artwork that impressed me having been a teacher.”

Last summer, there was a parade and performances in the town for the culmination and celebration of students' learning about Bury’s history, and was connected to the wider Abbey 1000 events.