By Noah Roberts
A striking community mural commissioned by Project Farsley has been completed this week by artist Zoe Power.
Zoe describes her work – From Furze we Bloom – as “figurative, colourful and graphic”. She has spent last week painting the mural onto the side of a house on Charles Street, close to Town Street in Farsley.
Zoe said she felt it was very important that the mural’s graphics stay open to people’s own interpretations. The mural is painted with bold vibrant colour and shows a pair of hands open, with threads running underneath, above and alongside the hands are gorse – yellow plants, with bright flowers at the top of the space between the hands.
She said that image will be seen in many ways by different people observing her work.
Zoe, 37, told WLD: “I wanted to link together past heritage and the future”. She said the painted threads bring together the history of the site, with its links to historical links to wool and fabric production.
The hands are a symbol of creativity, they can be used to creating things, but also could be seen as a symbol of care. The mural itself is a symbol of community pride taking a space that lacked feeling and making it into a vibrant talking point.
In carrying out research, Zoe found out at Farsley is referenced in the Domesday Book, under the spelling ‘Furze’, which means a ‘gorse clearing’. It is possible that before the houses were built that a space that would have been filled with Gorse.
Zoe said she had “worked within the parameters of the wall” – which had been gloomy grey – to create something “joyous”.
Her aim was to bring some colour to the space. “People love pretty plants. They bring optimism, joy and colour”.
Zoe’s inspiration for the mural had been inspired by the hard work of the local community, who had contributed their ideas during consultations over a year ago.
Project Farsley is a community collective of volunteers, who organise local arts projects. Three years ago the collective started a crowdfunder with the aim to “transform the streets with vibrant colours, creativity and the dash of community pride”.
The crowdfunder raised over £5,500, and in 2024 West Leeds Dispatch reported on the project’s first mural, on Croft Street.
In November 2024, Project Farsley announced that Zoe had been selected to bring their second mural to Farsley.
The mural is on the gable end of a property on Charles Street, taking a prominent position next to the Sunny Bank Mills, Grumpys and behind St Jude’s.
Zoe was able to complete the highly anticipated mural on Saturday in the glorious bank holiday sunshine.
The physicality of the task and the heat had been a challenge for Zoe, but she had had a lot of support from locals, including Christine Joplin of Scrap, who had volunteered to paint. She had also been kept refreshed with food and drink from local eateries.
Photographer Suzanne Wright, from Stanningley, kindly donated her time to Project Farsley to take photographs of Zoe at work.
Project Farsley hope the mural will become a community focal point and gives people a sense of pride in their community, creating a diverse landscape for people commuting to work, walking, cycling and travelling around their local communities.
- Check out Project Farsley’s Facebook page for more information and to get involved, or e-mail projectfarsley@gmail.com.
Sponsored content
