New Painting Highlights Guildhall’s Role in Wrexham

A piece of artwork documenting the role played by Wrexham Council’s Guildhall in day-to-day life in the county borough, has been unveiled.

Created by London-based artist Niloufar Bakhshalian, the painting of the Guildhall will hang in on the first floor corridor of the Guildhall, near the registry office.

The painting shows the front of the Guildhall from Llwyn Isaf, with a wedding scene in the middle.

The picture was produced as part of a collection of artwork showing town halls and landmark buildings across England and Wales, including Alexandra Palace in Haringey, Kent County Council Headquarters and Ealing Town Hall.

The collection was put together by Martin Reddington Associates (MRA), which worked with Wrexham Council back in 2015 to put together a survey on employee’s experiences.

The painting hasn’t cost the council anything, and was produced as part of the survey work.

To produce the work, Niloufar visited the Guildhall in the winter and interviewed staff, asking them about their impressions of the building and putting together the information and images required so she could represent it.

She said: “The buildings represented in art form provide a means by which to explore pictorially the people, the culture, the challenges and the level of progress made over the years, because it is the location at which employees are physically gathered on a daily basis.”

“The lawn stood out as very scenic and when I was introduced to the history and traditional aspects of it, it appealed to me even more.

“The main thing that stood out to me was the emphasis on the people as an important aspect of the Council. I was introduced to the culture of holding wedding ceremonies and registrations for births in the building.”

Cllr Mark Pritchard, Leader of the Council, said: “We’re very pleased to have this painting and to be able to show the final work at the Guildhall itself.

“It’s particularly nice to see a wedding depicted in the painting because the Guildhall plays an important role in the lives of a lot of people in Wrexham – especially when it comes to the registry of births, marriages and deaths.

“These are all incredibly important subjects and the Guildhall plays a front and centre civic role in each of them, so I’m very pleased Niloufar’s work has captured that.”