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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Shaun Keenan

New mural at Derry primary school sharing message of diversity and inclusion

A new mural that has been unveiled at a primary and nursery in Derry is about sharing a message of inclusion and diversity, the principal has said.

Ashlea Primary and Nursery School in the Tullyally area of the city launched the mural on Friday morning with school pupils and members of staff.

The concept comes from the individuals behind Peaball Arts, who were contacted by the school to help "bring their entrance to life".

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The project was made possible through St Columb's Park House and funding from partners, including CFNI, Hamlyn Foundation, and Esmee Fairbairn.

And as part of the design, schoolchildren came up with their own drawings before Peaball Arts brought it all together to create the piece of art.

Alison Burke, Principal of Ashlea Primary and Nursery, told MyDerry: "We work so hard inside of our school to make everything welcoming and inclusive and vibrant, but unfortunately because we're an old build, the building itself doesn't lend itself to people who are coming past and seeing it.

"Actually having the artists here has inspired so many of our young people. So many of them said, 'We want to do that when we're older' so, just having that means so much to them, it's amazing.

"It shows who we are at Ashlea, we're inclusive and shows all of the amazing things that we do every day and the people who pass us now will know what we're all about."

Meanwhile, Donal O'Dohety, Peaball Arts, added: "We were contacted by Alison [Burke], the principal of the school, and she had seen some of the previous work we had done in schools and she asked if we could get together for a conversation and see what we could do.

"When we did come out, they already had a lot of the groundwork done which was great. They had already asked the kids what they would like to see. They drew most of the things that you see and we took that and went back to the studio.

"We did a bit of work and put it all together and when we brought it back they wanted some things added and changed, so it was a proper collaboration between ourselves and the school.

"And for the kids now to be able to see their work reflected back on them can have a real positive effect as well and when we're painting it the kids were here during their breaks and they took a really interesting, being inquisitive and asking questions and hopefully that inspires the next generation of artists to come."

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