Ballykeel mural is 'society statement'

A massive new mural at Ballykeel is shining some light into the dark shadows of mental health issues in the Ballymena area.

The mural, adjacent to the roundabout at Ballykeel, is thought to be one of the largest artscapes in Northern Ireland.

And for the young artists involved in its creation, the mural has most definitely been a labour of love.

Carly Wright and Sam McAleese were drafted into the project by the chairman of the 'Ballykeel 1 Moving Forward' group, Chris Bowyer.

Chris had been keen to use the empty grey concrete expanse for an art project for some time but was pondering on the ideal subject matter.

"I was speaking to my son, Chrissie Bell, about it and he suggested the mental health and wellbeing angle.

"These are issues which really impact on local communities - especially on young people. We've had a fair share of tragedies in this area down to mental health issues in recent times so it was decided to do a mural which demonstrated that local people really do care about what is happening in our society

"Chrissie knew how talented Carly and Sam are so he put their names forward and I'm glad to say that they accepted the challenge."

Having received community support in cleaning up the wall in prepararation for painting, Carly and Sam came up with their idea for the mural which essentially shows a person reaching out in search of help and a helping hand being offered.

"Sam and I have been working on art projects for quite a while now," says Carly. "But when we realised the scope and scale of this mural we just knew it would be a great thing to do."

Sam adds: "Both of us have experiences with mental health issues. To be honest, a lot of the problems are associated with drug abuse which is a huge thing in this town. The mural really highlights the need to seek help rather than bottling things up."

The entire project took two weeks to complete after permission was granted by various statutory authorities.

Carly said: "It was a fantastic experience. Sam and I had been looking for a major challenge which we could work together on and as collaborations go, it doesn't come much bigger than this!"

As for Sam, he pays tribute to Carly for sparking his love of art.

"She gave me the encouragement to get into art so working with her on this project was brilliant," he says.

Chris Bowyer reckons that the finished artwork is a 'society statement' on a grand scale.

"This started off as a Ballykeel project but it's so much more than that now. People from right across the area have come to see it being painted and it's a fantastic talking point which was the whole purpose in the first place. It is a genuine piece of community art which deals with issues which affect all creeds and classes."

The mural will be officially opened on Monday afternoon.