Swansea Railway station has a dashing new look thanks to the 90-foot mural gracing Platform 4. Read on to find out all about it.
Next time you visit Swansea Railway Station, don’t miss the fabulous new mural gracing Platform 4. Admittedly, it’s hard to miss, being 90 feet long and 10 feet high.
The new mural, which welcomes people to Swansea, was dreamed up during a shared vision we held with people from the local community and from businesses near the station. They agreed that the station needed to provide a better arrival experience. This has resulted in two projects: the station planters, delivered by local artist Owen Griffiths, which have brought a burst of colour and foliage to the station forecourt, and now the mural on Platform 4.
Transport for Wales (TfW) and Great Western Railway (GWR) kindly funded the mural, which was painted by local mural specialists Fresh Creative Co.
We wanted to involve as many people as possible in designing the mural, so we held a series of meetings in which designs were discussed by people from 10 local community organisations, a home-schooling group, and our funders.
Gradually a concept emerged: the mural would move from Swansea’s past to its present and future, featuring some of Swansea’s most famous sights and achievements. It would also move from night today: Swansea’s past would be depicted by night, moving to bright daytime colours for the city’s present and future.
We were delighted to have two very talented artists to bring the mural to life: Fresh Creative Co artists David Long and Twm Williams. They worked hard for five days solid to complete the mural, and it was brilliant to watch them at work. As we’re headquartered at Swansea Railway Station, we were able to see the project unfold from start to finish.
The work was carried out by the not-for-profit arm of Fresh Creative, which focuses on providing creative opportunities for children, young people and members of marginalised and disadvantaged groups.
They run art workshops, including graffiti letter and spray can art workshops; they also design and deliver art projects in collaboration with schools and community organisations, with a focus on bringing creative opportunities to as many people as possible.
It was important to give local people and organisations a say in the concept for the mural, which is a reminder of all the things that make Swansea special – and it fits perfectly with our mission to enhance the railway stations on the South West Wales rail network and to enrich the communities and businesses that exist near our railway stations.
The mural has transformed the arrival experience at Swansea Railway station. It gives a warm welcome to Swansea and we hope it brightens the days of the thousands of people who pass through the station each week.
Stay tuned for more opportunities to get involved in making the stations on our network exciting and attractive places to visit.