New mural to appear in town centre as residents encouraged to take part in art project

Residents are being encouraged to take part in an art project set to come to the town centre soon.Discover King’s Lynn is leading a new pilot project called Art in the Streets, which hopes to generate a sense of pride and belonging to the area thanks to £10,000 of funding from the government.The first piece to appear will be a mural on the hoardings around the former Argos site at Baxter’s Plain designed by artists Adrian Riley and Annabel McCourt.

Over the course of the week beginning June 3, the mural will be brought to life by sign writer Kayleigh and accompanied by window vinyls in businesses around the town.The project’s theme was inspired by the shape of the witch’s heart on 15-16 Tuesday Market Place, said to be the mark of Margaret Read (Shady Meg) who was burned at the stake in 1590.Legend has it that Margaret’s heart burst from her chest, smashed into the spot above the window and fell to the ground before bouncing off to the River Ouse. “We loved the simplicity of the heart motif and it’s a fantastic local legend that connects the town to the river and back again,” Annabel said.Adrian added: “We loved the part of the story where the witch’s heart bounces and how in a contemporary understanding, ‘witches’ are now often thought of as being unfairly accused because they had knowledge that wasn’t understood, such as being able to heal people.“Her heart bouncing appears to be one last joyous thing.” The idea for the project is to find out what people in Lynn love about the town and what makes their hearts bounce.Now the public is being invited to join in with free drop-in sessions, which are being held at The Place on New Conduit Street on May 29 and 30 from 10am until 3pm. Families, students and people on their lunch breaks can pop in and design their own tote bag using a bespoke heart motif stamp or try their hand at creative writing with the Toast Poetry team or design and decorate a heart biscuit to take home.Evening sessions for adults are also available where there will be a chance to try lino cutting and printing a heart motif on Wednesday, May 29 from 6.30pm until 9pm.Places must be booked in advance hereDo you have a story for Lynn News? Email newsdesk@lynnnews.co.uk