Readers of the Keswick Reminder are to get the chance to choose which giant piece of art is put up on public display at one of the busiest locations in the town.
So far, three local artists are in the running to pick up a £2,000 commission fee for their work to be installed on the main wall inside the new stone-built bus shelter at Wivell Park, on Penrith Road.
But more can add their names to the list before this month’s deadline, after which images of all entries will be published in the Keswick Reminder, with readers voting for their favourite mural.
Jonathan Hunter, Rika Suzuki and Paul Wilmott, who all live in Keswick, are the trio of artists to have put themselves forward so far after two others dropped out.
The chosen image will be on an 8ft x 4ft framed wooden graffiti-proof board in the new shelter, which now also houses the control unit for the nearby flood pump installed underneath Penrith Road earlier this year.
The art project, along with seating in the bus shelter, is being paid for by Cumbria County Council, whose Keswick representative Tony Lywood gave an update at last week’s parks trust meeting.
“It will be as if it is a window to look through,” he said.
The chosen artist will be required to work with St Herbert’s School headteacher Shelagh Hughes to ensure there is some input from pupils ahead of the finished version being installed by mid-November.
Fellow trustee, councillor Sally Lansbury, described the scheme as exciting, saying: “It is going to be really good.”
Anyone wanting to enter the competition should email town clerk Lynda Walker at [email protected] and have their piece of art ready to submit before Wednesday, 30th September.
