Wrexham County Borough 132 - Prints in Ty Pawb, on the mural trail and Colin the Caterpillar

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What do print exhibitions , murals on the walls , the next City of Culture bid and Colin the Caterpillar have in common?

On the face of it not a lot. However in our small city they seem to be the normal topics of conversation on a daily basis. It was around two years ago that we lost our opportunity to become City of Culture. In the past Derry , Hull and Coventry had won easily . But notice what is missing . Northern Ireland got their shout at it with a year of activities and the chance to raise the profile of the city . Two English cities Hull and Coventry got their chance with events running through the year . And then this year the contenders were Armagh in Ireland, the region of Bainbridge and Craigavon in Scotland , the whole of the counties of Cornwall and Durham , Southampton and us . What was little old Wrexham County Borough . We pulled our socks up , put events on and probably provided a decent portfolio of events that had occured and those in the planning . We even got to the last four. County Durham to satisfy north of London , Southhampton to keep the south happy, Multicultured Bradford and us . The city which until a few weeks previously was just a market town. We had no massive museums to write home about . We had culture a plenty with the welsh language , welsh culture , a thriving Polish and Portuguese community . But against the other much larger areas with bigger populations our hometown stood very little chance of winning .

So what did they say straightaway? They were encouraged by the judges comments . We received 125K to spend as we wished and the council stated "We shall rise again in four years"

The problem is that there still is needed a lot of work to make the judges notice us . Should we join forces with Denbighshire with its International Eisteddfod and make the bid better ? They did not want to join us last time so why would they change their minds .

So since the bid what has happened and how have we spent the money . I guess more concerts and events at the William Aston Hall as it now owned and run by Theatre Clwyd in Mold. The city has started city tours which are attracting Americans who visit on the back of our football owners. Football walks take in all the important sites concerning our football heritage ending with tours of the stadium. Local venues put on football themed talks and more authors of fiction are visiting the libraries telling their stories . The football ground sadly should have had a new stand opening for the 2024/25 season but that is a year behind schedule. The local museum has closed its door for refurbishment . Reopening probably 2025 and renamed the Museum of Two Halves . The lower floors dedicated to local history and the upper to the History of Welsh football . An honour as the Welsh FA was formed in the town and until the 1970's had their headquarters in Wrexham .

The local grammar school which sadly has fallen in disrepair has been looked at again by someone in South Wales as a base for Welsh art and a national art gallery . The council need to be chasing that one up now. The Ryan Reynolds memorial park needs to be started so outdoor films can start to be shown. The National Trust properties need to be bringing in cultural events to their grounds over the summer . Summer concerts in the park . We have the National Eisteddfod in the city in 2025. A regular Christmas Victorian themed market . The mural trail needs to be increased in size .

So that was where we started . Looking at the new mural of Paul Mullin a Wrexham FC player now painted on the side of the Fat Boar . The old mural of the Welsh team has been painted over and replaced with the new one . We were not that sure about it . It is good to see it but it did not look the best of likenesses .

Our walk took us down to the football ground where the new lights are now beaming bright . Even higher than the old ones they now conform to EUFA standards for European matches and are cheaper to run and easier to maintain. The new temporary stand has been completed and available for home supporters . The new stand has finally passed the phosphate problems and the new drains are being dug. The fencing has been replaced and stencilled with various objects or places from around the area. There is much that has been done but much more that could be done.

We met Colin the caterpillar who was making friend with Wrex the dragon - the mascot of the football team. Colin was accompanied by a rather large fat and chubby pig. So what was that all about ? . The football team had joined forces with the new M & S food hall which had recently opened in the city. Colin was the cake that M & S produced for birthdays . Percy Pig was a chewy sweet that they sold and was extremely popular . The store was now another sponsor of the team . Hence Colin and Percy Pig .

We ended up on our last stop at Ty Pawb with its indoor market, cafes and gallery space . The latest offering was something around prints. This was the 10th anniversary of the biennial print exhibition which would feature 100 artworks from the Swiss Collection, Aberystwyth Printmakers , the Belfast Print workshop , the Glasgow Print studio and finally Kip Gresham Editions .

The gallery space is small. However , despite its size it manages to house an eclectic mix of exhibitions. We have seen exhibitions of bricks from the local long closed factory in the area. Paintings reflecting the fragility of the planet and now this one . A collection of very different prints All for sale . Each print had its own area . Found nothing out about the Swiss collection. The Aberystwyth Printmakers were in 2004 by a group of artists who use a range of printmaking techniques including etching, lithography, screenprinting, wood engraving, woodcut, and linocut. The workshop promotes exhibition around the country and we had some of their collection at Ty Pawb. There were very few visitors which is such a shame given the work undertaken to bring the exhibition to the city and house it in the local gallery. The good things was that we did have the place almost to ourselves so could stop at individual works and see what they were all about .

The Belfast Print Shop had been established in 1977 and had been welcoming artists for over 45 years . Set up in the heart of Belfast in an historic cotton warehouse it engaged with the community to provide equipment and facilities for traditional printmaking techniques and more modern ones. To be fair I cannot remember which prints belonged to which printing house but they were all different in style . Some extremely pretty and old fashioned . Beautiful birds in muted colours . Others were garish in colour and would have looked at home in a medieval cathedral telling the Doom story of hell . From the modern madonna to the bright yellow devil swallowing babies they all gave a different perspective on the artists work. Some we liked but others left us cold . But that is art for you.

The Glasgow Print Studio too had been around for 50 years encouraging artists to work in that medium and finally we came to the Kip Gresham Editions . This was not a collection from one particular printmaker but an outlet for various printmakers to sell their works to the public . Was it interesting ? Yes it was. Would I have bought any? Probably one or two caught my eye . Was it worth the visit ? Yes and I hoped that others thought the same . We need the gallery filling on a regular basis . We need to see exhibitions every month . An ever changing world inside Ty Pawb . Hopefully 2024 will bring in many of these small scale exhibitions to the city.

So what were the stencils on the fencing ? We had got back to those again. Horse racing. A nod to the origins of the football ground known as the Racecourse ground . A homage to horse racing in our small village of Bangor on Dee. St Giles Church - the home of the tomb of Elihu Yale founder of Yale University in the USA. The Acton Park Gates - the home of the infamous Judge Jeffries . The hanging judge . And hints of a new bus station , a transport hub just round the corner and a new Kop for the football ground .

Will we get on the shortlist again next time round for City of Culture ? . Somehow I have a feeling that we will not even get past the first stage and some South Wales region will take the honours .

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Comments

[Home and Away]

City of Culture...
It looks like Wrexham has a lot going for it. Best of luck next time...

[JenGog]

city of culture
Even with all the American and Canadian visitors to the city I doubt we will get a look in again . Always been a dirty old town but with a big history . Talking to a couple from Austin Texas at the football two weeks ago . It is amazing what Ryan Reynolds and Rob |MdElleney have done for the place since they bought the football club . Wish the council had as much interest in the place . Shame it took a Canadian and an American to showcase us to the world .