Turning vandalism into art

WESTPORT has a long and proud record in the national TidyTowns competition, winning it outright on three occasions (2001, 2006 and 2008).
In the past year, its reputation came under serious threat when a web of graffiti began to spread throughout the town, everywhere from bike shelters, to alleyways, to the skatepark, to the greenway bridges.
These weren’t the sprawling kaleidoscopic vistas you might see underneath a bridge in suburban Los Angeles.
You can judge their artistic merit for yourself from the photos accompanying this article.
Eithne Larkin, Chairperson of Westport Tidy Towns, had two words for it: “sheer vandalism.”
“If someone came to us and said ‘Listen, I love graffiti. I love to paint, I’d love an area to paint’, we’d find a wall for them to paint. We’d only be happy. There’s loads of old walls that they could paint with good graffiti. This is just sheer vandalism,” she told The Mayo News a few months ago.

Action
THOSE weren’t just words - they were backed up by action.
Removing the scribbles alone wasn’t on the cards, as it was believed that they would simply reappear shortly afterwards.
Catching the perpetrators wasn’t going to be simple either.
Instead, through collaboration with local secondary school students in Rice College and the Sacred Heart School, much of the scruffy scribbles have been scrubbed and replaced with more visually pleasing designs.
“We have incredibly talented young people in Westport, and we really appreciate all their combined efforts,” said Eithne.
“These budding artists are taking on the challenge of painting murals on the tunnels of the High Street and Skatepark bridges, and we couldn’t be prouder of their creativity and dedication.”
One of their most eye-catching works can be found under the bridge near the skate park out at the Leenane Road.
The design, imagined and painted by the local secondary school students with the help of their teachers Gearóid Ó Riain and Sinéad Breslin, was chosen to reflect the local area.
Gone are the warped hieroglyphic words that ranged from illegible to obscene. In their place now shines a mural depicting three silhouettes walking, cycling and skating against vibrant mosaic-like red, yellow, green and blue backgrounds.
“This idea can be extended to other areas bringing vibrancy to blank, dark, and dull spaces,” suggested Eithne.

Voluntary effort
THAT’S not even half the work that has gone on.
All the greenway shelters have been re-roofed, repainted and restored by students from Ms Kenney’s class in Rice College and local Men’s Shed volunteers.
“Each student came up with ideas to redecorate the shelters on the Greenway which were in a terrible state of disrepair,” explained Eithne Larkin.
“They were covered in graffiti and overgrown with weeds and branches. The council cleared around the side of the shelters and between the Tidy Towns Team and Westport Men’s Shed, both shelters were re-roofed. One student even decided to continue the work after the school year had ended, which finished the painting and design on the inside of one of the shelters.”
The work has been driven, first and foremost, by a huge voluntary effort by the students and Tidy Towns volunteers.
Like local stonemason Paddy Murray who has ‘spent endless hours power-washing pavements and monuments around the town, executing projects such as the ‘pallet project’ in the James Street carpark, assisting with the flooring in the shelters and, of course, creating the beautiful waterfall along the greenway near the High Street bridge’.
As well as Elsie Higgins, who the Tidy Towns describes as being an ‘instigator, motivator and hands-on in almost every project Westport Tidy Towns undertakes’.
Westport Tidy Towns are also keen to thank Mayo County Council for funding some of the work, as well as the local TÚS, CE and RSS Scheme workers for their hard work on the Golf Course Road and all over town.
All going well, all the work will be completed by the end of the year.
“We must emphasise that all this work has come from an incredible team effort,” said Eithne.
“To every single person who has used their own time, from litter picking to painting, creating, designing and everything in between - we thank you and commend you on your contribution to making Westport such a positive, vibrant and welcoming town to work and live. The future is very creative and bright!”
Now you see that with your own eyes.