New Ipswich art project kicks off with mural by Portman Road

On Tuesday morning, residents discovered a ladybug mural painted at the back of Ashton Legal's Ipswich office at Portman House - which was also the former home of the Ipswich Star and East Anglian Daily Times newspapers.

The mural was painted by London-based artist Woskerski, and is the first part of the Wild Walls Festival that will see murals pop up throughout the town. 

Ashtons Ipswich office partner Janette Wand said: “We are proud to support the Ipswich Wild Walls festival and we are delighted with the new mural on our office.

"We are passionate about supporting local causes and I am sure our unique design and all the others will bring inspiration and energy to the town”.

This is a four-week-long festival starting September 6. (Image: Wild Walls Festival)

The Wild Walls Festival will be a four-week street art programme starting September 6, made possible by a collaboration between Art Eat Events Community Interest Company and The Subversiv Collective. 

They received funding of £100,000 from the Arts Council of England, Ipswich Borough Council and Ipswich Central. 

The project will get people between the ages of 14 and 30 to work with established artists and produce new murals.

They have also begun painting the broken telephone box turned defibrillator on Stoke Bridge.

They have begun painting the broken defibrillator on Stoke Bridge. (Image: Wild Walls Festival)

More artworks will continue to appear throughout the town in the coming weeks. 

The largest of these will be a whopping 576 square metres - the equivalent of approximately three tennis courts - on the University of Suffolk’s James Hehir Building on Ipswich Waterfront.

Iona Hodgson is the project manager for this festival. (Image: Wild Walls Festival)

Iona Hodgson, Wild Walls project manager and co-director of Art Eat Events CIC, says: “We invited nationally renowned artists Atma, Nyces, Woskerski as well as KB Design to develop the mural designs with local young people.

"This approach offered participants a chance to take part in an inspiring journey; meeting established artists, and co-designing and painting new murals in Ipswich.

"We are very excited to offer locals and visitors the opportunity to see this work and celebrate the town’s street art culture during the Wild Walls Festival."

Additionally, Nigel Ball, Head of Arts at the University of Suffolk, said that the university is proud to support this art project while adding more colours to Ipswich Waterfront.