Village Mosaic Project

ARTS COUNCIL GRANTS DAVENHAM PLAYERS £10,000 TO CREATE DAVENHAM VILLAGE MOSAIC 

Arts Council England has awarded a grant of almost £10,000 to Davenham Players so that it can work with professional artists and village residents of all ages to create a giant mosaic showing favourite scenes of local life for permanent exhibition on a wall outside the drama group’s theatre.

The grant will be used to fund the design, materials, and equipment needed to make 15 panels - each measuring  about 1.2 metre x  60cms (4 feet x 2 feet) -  and to run a series of artist-led workshops for villagers at the theatre, in the village primary school and in other local venues.

When complete, the panels will be mounted together to create an artwork covering 11 square metres (120 sq ft) for fixing on to an external wall at the building in Church Street, Davenham, near Northwich, where the Players put on their shows and host a wide variety of other cultural events and activities including live music , art exhibitions, craft fairs and book talks.

Welcoming the news, Bob Almquist, the chair of Davenham Players, said:  "We are thrilled by Arts Council England’s decision to support our mosaic project and excited at the opportunities getting the go-ahead presents for the community to come together, gain new skills and friends and create an artwork which will not only add colour and character to one of the village’s oldest streets but which will also be, if archaeology is a guide, a lasting testament to the village of our times.”

The idea for the project came from the theatre’s next door neighbour, Jan Johnson, who took up mosaic-making in 2010 and who has since gained a Master in Mosaico diploma from one of the world’s top-rated mosaic schools, in Venice.

Jan is now set to lead a series of hands-on community workshops, starting the first weekend in August (August 1st/2nd) at Davenham Players Theatre (59 Church Street, Davenham, CW9 8NF) between 10am and 4pm with follow-up workshops at the same times on subsequent weekends in August (August 8th/9th, August 15th/16th, August 22nd/23rd, August 29th/30th). The workshops are scheduled to run most weekends for the rest of 2015 and then will continue running regularly until early next year.

"I would like to see as many Davenham residents as possible play a part in the completion of the mosaic. With the guidance and support we offer to all participants it is well within the reach of everyone to contribute regardless of age or artistic ability.  The nature of mosaic making means that it is possible for participants to decide for themselves how much time they commit. It can be anything from fifteen minutes to literally hours.  I am sure that everybody who does get involved will get a buzz for years to come when they see the finished mosaic installed and remember that they helped to make it."


The original drawing was by Tony Jeffs of Davenham with additional artwork and direction by Tony Harman. Sandiway-based artist Tony Harman will be co-running the workshops with Jan and  is also producing the detailed panel-by-panel grid drawings that workshop participants will follow. Support for the workshops will also come from local author Mike Beddard and from Jan Lambert who began mosaicing four years ago when she started by cutting some tiles for Jan after she fell and broke her arm.  Jan Lambert has been an enthusiastic, and very talented, convert ever since and Mike has been a constant presence at the worktable once he discovered how therapeutic mosaic-making can be.


In addition, one of Britain’s leading mosaicists, Mark Kennedy -  examples of whose work can be seen at the Lowry at Salford Quays, Afflecks Palace and on the front of the Doc Martens’s superstore in Manchester -  has agreed to be the project’s mentor.

Among the aspects of Davenham depicted on the mosaic will be the stone bridge at the boundary of the village, the river which gives the village its name, the parish church, a row of historic cottages and the village’s distinctive war memorial.


In all, the mosaic is expected to require about 27,000 tiles. Some have already been donated by residents, local builders and Northwich DIY stores but Jan and team are keen to receive more – partly to save on costs but also to give residents an extra way to get involved.

Jan Johnson explains: “The beauty of a mosaic of this size is that we can incorporate unexpected materials. So as well as asking residents to give us any stone, ceramic or glass tiles they have left over from DIY jobs, we can also accept donations made of other durable materials  – Granny’s favourite china teacup for instance; a piece of brick from a favourite place or even small items of jewellery.”

To find out how to make donations, book a workshop place, or get involved with the mosaic project in other ways, please use one of the following contacts:-

• Visit Facebook page The Davenham Village Mosaic Project at https://www.facebook.com/TheDavenhamVillageMosaicProject 
• eMail Jan at mosaicopia@gmail.com
• eMail Bob Almquist at dsp.blog1@btinternet.com