Street artists set to revamp Mansfield Railway Station with student support

The project came from the current state of the underpass and platforms being identified as a barrier to people accessing Mansfield station and the nearby areas of the town.

In hopes to “change this as creatively as possible”, lead organisers have teamed up with artists Megan Russell, known as Peachzz, and Alastair Flindall, known as Kunstity, under their practice Lick of Paint.

The artists are working with Year 5 students from Sutton Road Primary School to come up with a design, inspired by the local area.

The project was funded by community rail network, East Midlands Railway, CrossCountry Trains, Nottinghamshire and Mansfield councils, and the Robin Hood line community rail partnership.

They are working with First Art, an arts charity working across North Nottinghamshire and North Derbyshire.

Peachzz and Kunstity, who said they champion the wider benefits of projects like these, said: “We are passionate about encouraging children to create and experiment freely with art.

“And, by meeting and working with artists, it’s a chance to show young people what’s possible, that they too can follow a path in the arts if they want to.

“It’s so important to bring art into communities where they don’t get the exposure in the same way as the big towns and cities and to introduce them to different mediums and creativity.

“It is proven throughout the world that a lick of paint can transform a space and uplift social attitudes.”

The duo will then create the artwork in situ on the walls of the underpass towards the end of May.

The artwork will also be replicated on 34 Perspex panels that sit on the station platforms, adding some colour to the station itself.

The final artwork is due to be officially unveiled on June 9.

An exhibition of the students’ work for the project, together with recent works by the artists, will be on show at the same time in the First Art shop situated in Mansfield’s Four Seasons Shopping Centre.