A BEAUTIFUL mural capturing native flora and fauna will be unveiled at Myross Wood House in Leap this weekend.
The mural project, by Iris de Vriees for Green Skibbereen has brightened up a building at Cecas at Myross Wood. The mural shows a chough, a dandelion, a bee and a hare, against a background of oak, holly, birch and ash leaves – all of which are important native species found in West Cork.
The biodiversity mural was developed by Green Skibbereen after receiving 100 litres of paint as a prize in the Colour to Communities paint giveaway run by the Rediscovery Centre in Dublin, last year. The paint was supplied by Relove Paint, located in the Skibbereen Showgrounds next to Cycle Sense, which is part of the national Paint Reuse Network.
The paint has been used in a number of locations around the building – mostly applied by volunteers – but the main purpose was to produce a large-scale educational artwork designed by artist and signwriter Iris, who has her studio at Cecas.
The idea for the mural was developed through a series of science and art workshops with Cecas biodiversity coordinator, Mark Robins, eco-artist Kathy Kirwan, and Iris herself.
Children from Leap and Union Hall national schools participated in the workshops at Cecas. The project was funded by Cork County Council Arts Office and the Green Economy Foundation and some paint was also donated by Thornhills Hardware in Skibbereen.
The project was planned and implemented by Cecas manager Ana Ospina. ‘We’ve been dreaming of creating a mural at Cecas since we moved into the building in 2021. It’s been fantastic working with Iris and the local schools to make this dream a reality. The mural really brightens the place up and we hope it will also encourage our visitors to learn more about their local environment.’
The mural will be officially launched on Sunday October 20th at 2pm and county mayor Joe Carroll has been invited, along with the schools which were involved, and their families, the project partners and building users.
