Newly Installed Arcade Murals Showcase Vision For ‘OW Peoples Market’

A pair of bright new murals outlining the vision of Wrexham’s multi-million pound arts and culture development, have been painted in the entrances of the Peoples Market.

The murals, which were created by artist Emma Jayne Holmes, are now on display in the South and North Arcade of the Peoples Market.

The brightly coloured illustrations depict the interior of the new OW Peoples Market – a state-of-the-art development which will bring together markets with cultural and creative spaces.

It it thought the new £4.5m arts and market space will be fully open to the public by spring 2018.

The two murals were painted during March following consultation with traders, and form part of a wider effort to revamp the South Arcade, along with cleaning and redecorating work.

As part of the revamp of market’s arcades, the floors have been jet washed, upper windows cleaned, and the South Arcade walls and shopfronts are being repainted, with new signage also to be applied to the shops.

Emma Jayne consulted with South Arcade traders before working on the painting, with their suggestions leading to the ‘trompe’d’oeil’ style design – which gives the impression of the arcades opening out onto the new centre.

Some of the designs featured in the murals include the results of a ‘design your own market stall’ activity, at which children had the chance put forward their own design ideas for some of the new stalls.

Emma said: “After consulting with the stallholders, we opted for a mural that would illustrate plans for the People’s Market, and also to show that the other markets are not closed.

“I’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response to the work – regular visitors have made special detours to view progress on the mural. I’ve also had a lot of support from the South Arcade traders.”

Jo Marsh, Arts Lead with Wrexham County Borough Council, added: “We’re very pleased that Emma Jayne was able to undertake this work in the arcades of the Peoples Market and provide an early look at how the OW Peoples Market will look once work is complete.

“We’re also glad that market traders had the chance to have their input, and thank all those children who took part in designing their own market stalls to give us an idea of how they want OW Peoples Market to look.”

Last month Wrexham Council released new images showing how the OW Peoples Market development could look once complete.