Hey all....firstly we want to say an absolutely mammoth THANKS to everyone who has helped us create an appropriately big hullabaloo after we discovered that ALL of our hard, hard work on the BURGER KING mural had been whitewashed overnight. We're all completely gutted - as are all of the people and kids who came along on freezing cold winter days to help us paint. Please spool down to read our press release in the post below and check out the links and uploads from the brilliant local journalists who are helping us get our message across.
The more than everyone can do to let BK and their landlords know just how out of order their actions are the better and here's what we suggest:
And here's what you can do straight away. Undettered by this week's whitewash nightmare, we're all set to transform the horrid old bus station site. And we need YOU!!
We have just received the positive news that Newquay Junior Academy in Edgcumbe Avenue will donate its hall for our half term ‘Challenge Newquay’ painting mission. We recently announced that after an ongoing process, we had secured one of the town’s most hated sites – the dirty and dragged down old bus station. Thanks to the offer of a ‘home’ for the week, every day from Monday 21st February until Sunday 27th February you will see lead artist Mat McIvor and our MAKN team hard at work in the Newquay Junior hall.
And we're all challenging everyone in the community – kids and adults alike - to join us and help get this major mural work nailed in just a week. It’s a huge site with 87 panels and it needs all hands on paintbrushes to make it all happen and transform this dull, and much maligned, area of the town. This week’s news about Burger King UK’s appalling whitewashing of the first mural means that we really need everyone’s help to keep us all upbeat and on track!
So we're inviting you all to get involved on each of the days at the Edgcumbe Avenue site between 10am and 5pm daily. Please come with an old shirt or some sort of a cover to keep you celan from the paint and bring a snack and a drink. Also if you;re under twelve, you will need to be accompanied by an adult but if there's a good few of you then one adult will do (you can share :-)) To manage numbers, it would be appreciated if you could please text or email your plans for attendance to Rhona Gardiner on 07740 410052 or rhona@excessenergycomms.com. SEE YOU THERE!
We'd also like to take this chance to give a big, grateful shout out David Chadwick, Chris Cooper-Young and Phil Mason of Cornwall Council, local fencing and hoarding company I-Site - Innovative Site Solutions based in Hayle, and Sarah Pym of the Real Ideas Organisation for all of their help in securing this exciting bus station canvas for our work. To see more news of the project and take part in a key evaluation questionnaire about the value of the project please see below.
Thank you from the My A’th Kar Newquay.
BURGER KING’S LANDLORD ‘DELETES’ CORNISH COMMUNITY’S HEART-FELT ARTWORK
Young people and the community throughout Newquay in Cornwall have been left reeling after the landlords of Newquay’s Burger King ‘deleted’ a major community artwork. Late last week, under the cover of darkness, it is understood that painters instructed by the landlords working with the new owners of Burger King UK, whitewashed a major mural recently created to support Newquay Safe, an ongoing campaign to address the many complex and varied issues that the town is currently facing.
Just over a year ago, two teenagers died in Newquay and since then the local police, residents, councils and businesses been working together to promote safety and minimise the risks to young people. The My A´th Kar Newquay group has been financially supported by FEAST, an Arts Council and Cornwall Council partnership programme to make great art happen across Cornwall, and a number of local businesses who have stepped in to offer invaluable sponsorship.
My A´th Kar Newquay means ‘I Love You Newquay’ in Cornish and in the last six months the group of enthusiastic and committed teenagers have created and led their own voluntary project to find fresh, standout ways of projecting a positive message about Newquay. Their stated aim is to transform local eyesores and use their artwork and campaigning methods to show why they love living in the town, and to encourage locals and visitors alike to treat Newquay with respect and to behave appropriately.
The crew was delighted when the Newquay Burger King team got in touch to offer a huge, dirty wall space on the edge of their store and once all formal permissions were in place, the enthusiastic team got to work. Hundreds of hours of creativity, painting and lobbying time were put in.
This was all done voluntarily by the committed young people and their appeals to the local community and calls through the media brought children and adults alike down to help put their painting skills to good use. Undeterred by the freezing weather, the mural was completed in late December and has been so well received that a host of local businesses and civic organisations have offered further walls as canvases.
However the move by the landlord of Burger King to simply ‘delete’ the initial mural has cost the project the equivalent of at least £3,000 and has immediately wiped out all of the hours of energy, time and commitment that hundreds of local people have put in as well as causing obvious upset and anger. These sentiments are already being communicated on social networks.
Sarah Pym of the Real Ideas Organisation, the leading body helping facilitate My A’th Kar Newquay, says, “It is our understanding that the national owner of Burger King changed half way through our project and that the building’s landlords and the new owners have decided that the mural had to go. The work of all these amazing young people has been so well received and the local Newquay Burger King team has been majorly supportive throughout this work and behind us all the way. This project is all about these youngsters communicating the type of respect that they want people should show for Newquay so these whitewashing actions couldn’t be more ironic or appalling.”
Sarah continues, “We are now appealing to the landlords and Burger King nationally to pay back the My A’th Kar Newquay costs of more than £3,000 for this work so that we can recreate the fabulous design on another site. However no amounts of money can bring back the time, work, energy and thinking that the young people and local community put into actually painting the piece. This is the greatest shame but these young people are fired up and just want to keep their campaign strong.”
Fifteen year old Kasha Miller is one of the MAKN team members reacted to the news of the whitewash saying, “This is very upsetting for all of the My A´th Kar group because we all put a lot of time into that painting. I honestly think this is totally out of line, the mural wasn´t an eyesore for these companies - it actually made them more popular and we thought better of them as companies for it. It´s totally unfair as well because we all put a lot of time and effort into and it´s such a shame to see that they just destroyed it in a matter of hours as they have now painted over it in all white. It´s so annoying that they have and after all the positive feedback we received from starting this project is absolutely appalling.”
The MAKN crew is appealing to the community to show their support for their campaign by following these steps:
The opinions and info here is a reflection of the views and opinions of the My A’th Kar Newquay team and not any of the other organisations. Please contact them directly should you need further comment. Thank you from the My A’th Kar Newquay team for taking the time to read and to support our campaign.
Plea for big space to make mural happen
The fresh and exciting collective of determined local young people, My A’th Kar Newquay, has just scored a major coup in their campaign to blast away all Newquay eyesores. The team of youngsters have just announced that after an ongoing process, they have secured one of the town’s most hated sites – the dirty and dragged down old bus station. The team will now be calling on the local community to help them transform the exterior of the space with a huge, colourful, 87 boarded mural masterminded by themselves and lead artist Mat McGivor.
My A’th Kar Newquay means ‘I love you Newquay’ in Cornish and the team of determined young artist activists have already transformed the grimy wall between the train station and Burger King and a number of panels will shortly go up on the Newquay Police Station and at the Blue Reef Aquarium. All of the artwork reflects the pride that these young people feel about their town and messages about how they would like visitors and tourists to see and treat the place.
However the team faces a logistical challenge. They are keen to take a ‘Challenge Newquay’ type approach to this piece of work and along with Mat McGivor, spend the week of half term getting the 87 boards painted and ready for erection. However they need to find a large hall or venue to be able to work in and are asking the local community to respond and make any relevant spaces available. Ideally the space would be within easy walking distance of the centre of town and have access for all of the days of 19th – 27th February from 10am til 5pm daily. Anyone who has access to a large enough space and can help should get in touch with Rhona Gardiner at Excess Energy Communications on 07740 410052 or rhona@excessenergycomms.com. The team are envisaging a school or church hall type space but suggestions on any available spaces that could work would be greatly appreciated.
The My A’th Kar Newquay crew would also like to thank David Chadwick, Chris Cooper-Young and Phil Mason of Cornwall Council, local fencing and hoarding company I-Site - Innovative Site Solutions based in Hayle, and Sarah Pym of the Real Ideas Organisation for all of their help in securing this exciting canvas for their work. To see more news of the project and take part in a key evaluation questionnaire about the value of the project please go to iloveyounewquay.blogspot.com
