The idea of painting a mural across the interior of the North Stand at Pride Park Stadium dates right back to the formation of the DCCP with the following action included in the 23 July 2003 meeting.
"Members of the DCCP will plan and propose a scheme for painting of murals on the internal walls of the Derbyshire Community Stand concourse. This will involve an experienced muralist in the design and execution phase"
Chris Reynolds took the action, got the project up and running and organised the delivery of the first phase of the mural.
The first phase of the mural has been completed and was installed in January 2005. The second phase should be installed in 2006 with the final phase following afterwards.
The mural is based on the history of photography with images running from sepia, through black and white, then colour, finishing with Technicolor.
The images themselves depict faces, in a crowd, highlighting the history of Derby from Romans through to present day.
The method used to design the faces is posterisation (A deliberate form of banding, in which the increments between gradations are increased to show the changes in shade), which involves taking photos of people or pictures and then turning them into poster images before the outlines are transferred to the panels and the images are painted.
The work with the schools was to educate the children in the history of murals, specifically:
- The work of mural artists
- The difficulties and concerns of large scale design
- The materials, tools and techniques used
- The design content
Red Ted ran a half-day workshop in seven schools deploying several different techniques to explore and develop the design ideas, these included photography, drawing, collage, singing and chanting.
The schools involved were:
- St Martin's School, Alvaston
- Derby St Chad's Church of England Controlled Nursery and Infant School
- Redwood Junior School, Derby
- Royal School for the Deaf, Derby
- St James' Church of England Aided Junior School, Derby
- Grampian Primary School, Sinfin
- St Benedict Catholic School, Derby
The actual painting onto the mural was completed entirely by Red Ted members due to the health & safety implications of the children using the paint.
Red Ted members undertook the physical installation of the mural panels.
The cost of the first phase was £2,850 and was sponsored by St Benedict's School.
The panels are 8' x 4' each and there are 22 panels in the first phase.
A meeting with Red Ted was held on 22 September 2005 to receive their feedback on the first phase and their plans for the second phase.
Further details of the plans for the second phase will added on this page in due course.