Walter Kershaw thanks students for local tribute

Walter Kershaw, Rachel Whittington, Jane Bennett, Tom Dodgson, Katie Lennon

The 20ft tall street art that a group of students from Hopwood Hall College created as a tribute to local artist Walter Kershaw was shown on the BBC One Show tonight (12 February 2013).

The nine students worked for two days on the house in Ramsay Street, Rochdale, deliberately close to the site of the renowned Walter Kershaw mural ‘Inside out House’.

The time lapse video, was shown on the BBC One Show tonight along with Andy Kershaw’s interview with the artist, shows the students working on the three large scale pieces including recreations of two of Kershaw’s famous street art including ‘Pansies’ and ‘Inside out House’ plus a Lancaster bomber which was influenced by his spitfire works.

The infamous street artist, known as the ‘Banksy of the North’, was so thrilled with the students’ work that he invited them to his studio in Littleborough recently as a thank you. He showed them some of his artwork, gave them tips and treated them to tea and cake.

Commenting on the visit, Walter said: “I wanted to meet the students who completed the mural on a personal level and say thank you.” He told the students that the mural painting had been a complete surprise: “On the day the BBC production team took me to the site I was so shocked. It was a great honour to be recognised in this way.”

Whilst there the students, all studying a Foundation Diploma at Hopwood Hall College, were able to see lots of Walter’s work first hand and get some great tips and advice on painting techniques from the artist himself. As they are all in the process of applying to University to further their Art studies they found it extremely helpful.

Rachel Whittington, 19 from Rossendale, who is hoping to study Fine Art at Sheffield Hallam University, said of the visit and meeting Walter: “This has been very inspirational; Walter talked to me of how he has travelled the world to make his art. I now plan to travel as much as possible.”

Rachel is hoping to visit Iceland in the next couple of months as part of a volunteer group who will be restoring a historic farm house. She said: “Travelling to Iceland will be a wonderful opportunity for me to experience another culture and find inspiration for my work.”

The visit to Walter’s studio was made extra special for 20 year old Tom Dodgson, from Newhey Rochdale, as he had just heard that he’s been accepted at the University of Central Lancashire and also at Leeds College of Art to study a Degree in Fine Art.