COMPLETION OF THE NEW STORK MURAL
Job done! Storrington gains a bespoke community driven and community funded new artwork.
Place Villerest is the heart of our village. It is a prominent location where the stork town emblem already features. Two adult storks and their fluffy chicks now jump out and engage you from their nest when we walk or drive through the village.
With the paint now baked hard in the sun, the final invisible protective layer could be added. This will offer the mural better longevity with its UV screen. Horsham District Council’s team made swift work of fixing the interpretation board to the stone pillar and it’s all in position now.
Many of you will have seen the mural in creation, or the end-product adorning what was a blank canvas of the GL & Co local business wall. It’s lovely that so many of you have paused your daily schedule to take pictures or stopped by for a chat with the artist or photographer. We’ve been careful with our ladders and intervention in the stream as we watched the wagtails safely brooding in a corner. They are now back feeding their young in earnest. Thankfully we can leave them in peace to raise their family and continue to enchant us. BTW does anyone know why they do their bouncy tail thing??
Some of you may even have come to the official opening on 23 May before the White Stork & Nature Festival. This was a community gathering in the shade of the big old tree at Villerest.
Guests included:
- Patrick Barkham, The Guardian’s writer on Natural History
- John Milne, MP for Horsham
- Cllr Collette Blackburn, HDC Cabinet Member for Climate Action & Nature Recovery,
- international visitors, and other HDC and Parish Councillors.
Local ecologist, Tony Whitbread introduced the select speakers. Isabella Tree, co-owner of the Knepp Wildland Project, spoke of street art having a powerful association with activism – where nature has the power to inspire creativity and action. We were privileged to have Lady Emma Barnard, Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex from the Parham Estate, join us to reveal the lovely new wooden information panel telling the story of storks and their close link to Storrington. Neil Moore from GL & Co estate agents expressed how pleased they are being part of this local community initiative. The artist, Sinna One, who travelled from Brighton, gave his personal take on the warmth and friendliness he’d experienced on his visits to Storrington.
The fact is we’ve loved being involved with this rather quirky project.
The crowdfunder will run for a while longer. Please follow this JustGiving link to donate what you can if you wish to be part of this new and uplifting public artwork. A big thank-you to those who have already contributed.
Written by mural coordinator and Storrington resident
Submitted to the Storrington Community Website using the News Item contact form.