Project Scope
Heritage mural featuring carved wooden objects and overmounted historical plaques. Size approximately 32ft wide x 8ft high.
Overview
This and the North Riding Infirmary mural, completed at the same time, are two of the largest murals we have designed to date. We were commissioned to design this mural to depict the hospital's 126 year history, as the staff of Middlesbrough General relocated to the bright new James Cook University Hospital.
In the beginning the hospital was a workhouse, a place for the town's poor and homeless. The sombre backdrop to this first section helps to convey the austerity of the institution. Shades of turquoise and blue are colour-washed to subsequent background images, to create a brighter more positive feel. Lifesize photos of staff members and other large imagery including a famous 1930's footballer, giant hands with test tubes, and an enormous, fearsome looking syringe, are dramatic attention getters. The footballer just had to be included as the hospital had a fantastic view of Middlesbrough Football Club before it was demolished. The Club and its famous footballers have always done their bit to help fundraising for the hospital.
Photos, newspaper cuttings and all the other features that illustrate the history overlay the background, or blend into each other to form a multi-layered effect. These images have never just been simply cropped and placed, frames have been added, colour-washes and painterly effects have been carefully combined. Without these visual enhancements the first part of the mural would have been very monotone, as all the images were of course black and white.
Feedback
"Patients, visitors and staff are being given the opportunity to take a step back in time on the new hospital mall. Two life-size murals charting the histories of Middlesbrough General Hospital and North Riding Infirmary now adorn the walls and feature a historical timeline, photographs of staff – past and present – and buildings, equipment and original plaques. The murals were produced by Woodgate Design, a husband-and-wife team which specialise in providing large permanent displays portraying the history of hospitals.
‘We hold a great deal of affection for these hospitals and were determined they would not be forgotten. ‘Tony and Karen’s brief was to create two murals that would be informative, stimulating and entertaining and they’ve certainly achieved that. ‘Every time I go down the corridor someone is looking at them and there’s so much in them you find something different every time. We’d also like to thank everyone who sent in their treasured photographs and memorabilia – they’ve really helped to bring the murals to life."
a
Margaret Baily, Commissioning and Healing Arts Co-ordinator
|
