Festival of Making

As a natural meeting point between Morag Mysercough + Crown Paints, colour is queen in a project that remains as a legacy in the townscape, long after the festival weekend.

Along with colour, the project celebrates a second synergy between the artist and her partner factory, Crown Paints, who have a long history of making colour for interiors and exteriors.

Together they shared a passion for the home and our gardens, and the importance of being surrounded by natural and green influences.

Through the collaboration, Mysersough brought a riot of botanical colour to Blackburn, chiming with local regeneration plans where special interest is being paid to exploring the future of a greener high street. Interest too was focused on the Victorian-built Corporation Park, where the artist took inspiration from The Glasshouse – currently not in use but with a community dream to renew it to its former botanical glory.

At the heart of her vision was the mural Floral Timekeepers. Huge abstracted flowers, made with a Crown Paints palette of 36 colours, rise above Barton Street Car Park in a permanent public artwork. Standing four metres high, the colour clock is a nod to the clock at The Glasshouse, and the building of Victorian parks to provide clean air spaces and exciting planting away from the city.

Graphic flowers in the mural were selected after discussions with the Crown Paints team about their own desktop gardens, combined with flowers found in Myerscough’s garden and home studio.

Ever present in the artist’s work is the commitment to dramatically transform, encouraging visitors to transition from the reality of the built environment into another space that surrounds and encloses them in arresting visual colour. During the festival weekend, visitors not only enjoyed the new wall-based work, but found the car park transformed into an urban parklet. For the duration of the Summer, the planters found a new home on the highstreet, with seasonal planting attracting pollinators back into the urban landscape.

Throughout the festival, visitors were also invited to select a colour swatch from the 36-colour Floral Timekeepers palette created by Crown’s technical team, and to contribute to an evolving colour chart at Prism Contemporary Gallery. Additionally, visitors had the opportunity to craft bold and playful floral masks with Let’s Make Art, inspired by Myerscough’s vibrant palette.

The Artist

Born and bred in London, Morag Myerscough is known globally for creating immersive structural installations characterised by boldness, vibrant colours and a high level of positive energy.

The artist’s installations, which have appeared all over the world, have a profound impact on public spaces, transcending the limitations of traditional approaches. Her vibrant and invigorating works disrupt existing architectural lines, introducing irregular shapes, colours and words.

Myerscough’s approach to work is integrated and participatory, wherein she collaborates closely with communities to generate art that responds to their unique requirements. Her generous approach instills a sense of pride and belonging in people, creating a strong and meaningful narrative for the spaces she transforms. The core motivation behind her work is to bring people together, fostering joy, well-being, and a sense of community.

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The Manufacturer

Established in 1777 in Darwen as Dob Meadows Printing Shop, Crown Paints have more than 200 years of knowledge, passion and expertise that goes into each and every tin of paint they produce.

Today they are made up of over 1100 colleagues, from their head office in Darwen, Lancashire over to their manufacturing site in Hull and an ever-growing network of Crown Decorating centres.

Under the mantra “It’s not just paint, it’s personal”, Crown Paints are committed to sustainability and are delivering on this through Project Possible, an ambitious programme of actions that places sustainability and community at the heart of their work.

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