Working alongside Creative Gravy, the hugely impressive 12-metre-high building wrap is covering essential repairs being made to the Flagstaff Tower and features a stunning amalgamation of art created by 30 budding artists from across Oxford, aged between eight and 25-years-old.
The design was created as part of Blenheim’s partnership with local charity Oxfordshire Youth. Visual artist Kate Turnbull was commissioned to lead interactive creative sessions at the Palace and assist the young individuals in bringing their vision of this UNESCO World Heritage Site to life.
Inspired by the Palace, the finished mural combines drawings, digital imagery, and text such as poetry, and MacroArt’s studio team worked hard to ensure that the print reflected the high-impact design across over 280m2 of high tensile material. Printed on MacroArt’s Durst 512R, the mural was stitched together to create the ultimate extraordinary vision, ready for its installation.
The impressive mural took the MacroArt team three days to construct – one day to install the wrap and two days to build the framework behind it. Erecting the 12-metre-high banner presented its own specific challenges – least of all the sweltering weather conditions which greeted installers! Additionally, due to there being no boarding on the scaffolding, MacroArt had to get creative, with installers using rope access to reach the top of the artwork and ensure a perfect finish.
With the striking installation exploring issues such as slavery, colonialism and gender through various visuals and text, its launch has drawn national attention and the artwork has already featured on BBC television.
MacroArt’s Group Account Director, Mike Hamling, said; “This is a new high for our partnership with Blenheim Palace. Not only is it our biggest installation to date with them, but it is also fantastic to support such a great cause that is Oxfordshire Youth. Witnessing young artists take inspiration from seeing their designs now in situ.
“Our team worked so hard to bring this to life and I think we’ve created something that we can all be very proud of.”
Samantha Vaughan, Marketing Manager at Blenheim Palace, congratulated the MacroArt team for assisting in making this inspirational project a reality; “What a wonderful project this was! We are extremely delighted with the outcome; our entrance is a definitely a showstopper and we couldn’t have done this without the team at MacroArt helping to create this bold and vibrant artwork.
“It was so inspiring to see young minds talk about such big issues and express these through the medium of art. The final mural looks fantastic, and the project has continued to build our partnership with Oxfordshire Youth to deliver a fitting display for the Palace while we undertake our important repair works.”
