Community Mural Project
The title Water Is Gold emerged from a series of creative workshops with young people at Child Dynamix in Hull. Delivered in collaboration with Shorelines Project and Rights Community Action, this project explored local experiences of flooding, climate change, and how these issues can be expressed through art.
The workshops began with a collaborative brainstorming session centred around a large, hand-drawn map of the local area. Participants explored their proximity to the Humber Estuary and discussed what flooding means for their community. Using markers, they responded visually to these conversations—drawing, doodling, and sharing ideas—which were then layered with coloured tissue paper. By spraying water over the surface, the colours bled and blended, creating unexpected patterns that reflected the fluid and unpredictable nature of water.
Rights Community Action introduced hands-on experimentation using clay and water, allowing participants to explore movement, texture, and absorption—further deepening their understanding of water as both a creative material and a powerful natural force.
Additional sessions focused on spray paint and stencil techniques. Using low-VOC, water-based spray paints, participants learned how to work safely and professionally with stencils. They experimented with layering shapes, patterns, and colour combinations to produce striking visual effects. These individual pieces were either taken home or displayed within the youth club.
The final stage of the project brought everyone together to develop a unified mural design. Drawing on key elements from each participant’s work, the group collaborated through discussion, compromise, and shared decision-making. These ideas were then refined into a final mural design, capturing the collective voice and creativity of the group.
Paint Days – As the youngsters only had a short time after school to help paint the mural, I prepped the 14 metre wall and scaled up the design in preparation. Thankfully we were really lucky with the weather on our paint days and the warmth dried the paint quickly to apply second coats. The Youth Club Leaders brought out food and everyone had a music choice played while painting. The paint session had a chilled out respectful energy and gave them a positive creative project to have been part of from beginning to end.
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