Belfast mural artists return to Liverpool » Housing » 24dash.com

The Riverside Group officially celebrated the completion of the Litherland Beatles mural, painted by artists from each side of Northern Irelands political divide on the worlds first Beatles day last week.

Belfast artists Mark Ervine, Danny Devenny and Mickey Doherty returned to Liverpool to answer questions from supporters of The Liverpool Mural Project from the worlds of business, culture, education and media, at an event for guests at the Lathom club in Litherland.

The artists completed the mural depicting a 14ft image of John Lennon, the Beatles, Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe last month to celebrate The Riverside Groups 80th anniversary, which coincides with Liverpools Capital of Culture year. Located on the gable end of a Riverside Group property in Croxteth Avenue, the mural faces one of Merseysides busiest traffic islands.

Hugh Owen, director of policy and communications at The Riverside Group was delighted to meet the artists and supporters of The Liverpool Mural Project again.

Hugh said: We had to overcome a few hurdles in planning Merseysides first mural of its kind. The dogged determination and enthusiasm of the Liverpool Mural Project and the artists has paid off. The finished result is a cultural icon for peace for everyone to enjoy.

Professor Bill Rolston of the University of Ulster shared a history and presentation of the Belfast murals with guests including the famous Bobby Sands imagery painted by Danny Devenny.

And artists thanked the Riverside Group and the Liverpool Mural Project for having the vision to back them in producing the Beatles mural: Mark Ervine said: We really love Liverpool. Everyone was so friendly when we were painting the mural. There are many similarities between Belfast and Liverpool. Not only in terms of the humour and warmth of the people, but also industrial and historical links.

The Liverpool Mural Project is planning to work with the Liverpool Culture Company to create the second in a series of murals to represent the links between Liverpool and Ireland.

Peter Morrison of The Liverpool Mural Project said: Mark, Danny and Mickey worked with local Liverpool artists to pass on their skills. The murals represent public art that is accessible to all. We hope to represent the communities in which we work in future mural projects, so that people can take ownership of their murals as local works of art.
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Notes to editors:
Established in 1928 as Liverpool Improved Houses, Riverside started out with 15 houses with rents of just 6 shillings (30p) per week. The organisation expanded rapidly in the 1970s in the wake of 1974 Housing Act, and in 1996, following growth outside of the original Merseyside heartland, the association was renamed Riverside Housing Association. The Riverside Group was formed in 2001 and is recognised today as one of the largest and most dynamic housing and regeneration organisations in Britain, managing and owning more than 50,000 homes from Carlisle to Kent.

The Riverside Group is planning a host of activities to celebrate its 80th anniversary under the umbrella of 08/80 including a year long fundraising campaign with homelessness charity the Whitechapel Centre and an exhibition to provide a celebration, in words and pictures, of places in Liverpool, identified by residents past and present.

Riverside collaborated closely with Open Culture (part of the Liverpool Culture Company) to support the first mural of The Liverpool Mural Project, under the Cultural Clearing umbrella. Cultural Clearing aims to help Merseyside individuals, groups and businesses find each other, by sharing resources, skills and ideas giving new creative projects life. It is not a funding scheme, but an ongoing process. Cultural Clearing offers or ideas can be found or added on http://open.culture.org.uk

Open Culture is led by Phil Redmond and is a collaboration between Radio City, BBC Radio Merseyside, Liverpool Echo and Daily Post, ICDC and supported by the Liverpool Culture Company.