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Station art boosts awards ambitions

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By Fiona Reid
Dumfries and West
Station art boosts awards ambitions

STRIKING paintings have been introduced at Dumfries Railway Station — as a bid is made to win a national award.

LOOKING BACK . . . artist Jo McSkimming explains the old railway picture to Mark Jardine from the peoples project, centre, and Louis Wall from the South West Railway Adopters Gardening Group at Dumfries Railway Station on Wednesday
LOOKING BACK . . . artist Jo McSkimming explains the old railway picture to Mark Jardine from the peoples project, centre, and Louis Wall from the South West Railway Adopters Gardening Group at Dumfries Railway Station on Wednesday

The People’s Project are behind the introduction of three new principal artworks which have been installed in the station in Lovers Walk.

Mark Jardine from the project said: “The station is quite remarkable anyway in terms of the floral displays, and The People’s Project have supported the work of the station last year and this year.

“We put Dumfries into the Large Town Awards with Beautiful Scotland in the hope that Dumfries will actually win.

“And there are several things that need to be done — one is obviously fantastic floral displays in your town, and another is public art, and we just felt the station needed a couple of extra pieces of art.”

Jo McSkimming had already produced celebrated pieces for Palmerston Park, and was commissioned for the station project at the start of the year.

Three main pieces of art have been created — one showing the famous Flying Scotsman steam train, another the Dumfries station in 1920 or 1930, and the third is a floral picture featuring a deer.

Talks to bring the project to life began between The People’s Project and station gardener Louis Wall, who is himself immortalised in one of Jo’s paintings.

Mark said: “I think it’s maybe just an extension of the artwork that we’ve already done in the town, to make it that bit more interesting for visitors.

“And I think it’s starting to pay off because there’s more visitors about, which is a good thing.”

Praising the artwork, he added: “I think it’s great.”

Beautiful Scotland judges will arrive in the town on August 10, first visiting Roucan Loch, then the Railway Station, before heading to The Usual Place.

MURAL . . . artist Jo McSkimming with Mark Jardine from the People's Project and Louis Wall from the South West Railway Adopters Gardening Group at a mural created for a wall at Dumfries Railway Station
MURAL . . . artist Jo McSkimming with Mark Jardine from the People’s Project and Louis Wall from the South West Railway Adopters Gardening Group at a mural created for a wall at Dumfries Railway Station
BEAUTIFUL GARDEN . . . left to right: Louis Wall from the South West Railway Adopters Gardening Group in the station garden at Dumfries Railway Station on Wednesday with Mark Jardine from The People's Project and artist Jo McSkimming
BEAUTIFUL GARDEN . . . left to right: Louis Wall from the South West Railway Adopters Gardening Group in the station garden at Dumfries Railway Station on Wednesday with Mark Jardine from The People’s Project and artist Jo McSkimming

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