Dramatic new Tullamore mural celebrates identity and inclusion

“Wow, what is that?” was the question on everyone’s lips in Tullamore last weekend when they spotted a dramatic 24 metre high mural towering high about the town at Tullamore railway station.

The spectacular installation features the beaming face of a young woman from Zimbabwe, Amanda Nyoni, who is living in the direct provision centre on High street in Tullamore and was only granted refugee status last week - three years after she first arrived in Ireland.

The magnificent mural was created by former art teacher in Tullamore College, Joe Caslin, whose artistic skills came to national and international prominence when he created a striking and highly-acclaimed mural for the Yes Equality marriage referendum campaign in 2015.

The Roscommon town native and social activist says he is “delighted” with the mural of Amanda, which he created to celebrate the twin themes of identity and representation.

The giant artwork was created as part of the Spectacular Vernacular ‘In the Open/Faoin Spéir’ arts programme which was instigated by a number of groups in Offaly in response to the Covid crisis.

Joe Caslin says when he first met Amanda Nyoni he knew that he wanted to create a mural that would depict “the richness that diversity and inclusion can bring to all our lives.” Having a strong social conscience he is critical of the direct provision system and feels that everyone “should be given a chance” at contributing to their society and community.

Amanda Nyoni has been very heavily involved in human rights advocacy in Tullamore, and Joe Caslin says the more he got to know her back story the more determined he was to create a mural of her that would “depict joy and hope” and would radiate the rich contribution that other cultures and nationalities can bring to a society.

Recalling when he first started teaching art in Tullamore College in 2011, Joe says it was “very rare” to encounter a student from a different culture, and he is greatly encouraged to see how Tullamore and Ireland has changed to embrace people from all over the world. “When I first met Tolu Makay as a student, she was probably the first student I had who was not from an Irish background and look how successful she is now,” he says of the singer, adding that it was this rich and diverse landscape that he wanted to depict in his mural of Amanda Nyoni.

“I think we are all enriched by the ‘new Irish’ and we ourselves are going to be a better community and better people as a result of embracing diversity,” he says.

Having met with Amanda Nyoni in Tullamore and Dublin, Joe Caslin started creating a pencil drawing of her face last month, and he says it took him “roughly two and a half weeks” to complete the drawing. The massive piece of artwork, which was printed in Dublin, was made up of 24 different sections, all of which had to be transported to Tullamore last weekend.

“We hired a cherrypicker on April Fools Day and hoisted ourselves up on the structure at the train station to install the mural, and we finished on Sunday around midday,” recalls Joe, who adds that they were “very lucky” with the weather as the rain only began to fall when the job was completed. He also points out that he “hates heights” but says he has had to get used to them over the years!

The renowned artist was assisted in the job of installing the mural by Scottish native, Stephen Winstanley, who has been working alongside him for the past ten years and has helped to install many of the giant pieces of artwork that now adorn many public buildings around the country.

Having looked at “a number of sites around Tullamore” it was eventually decided that the mural should be installed at the train station as it “depicts the transitory nature of travel, where people are always on the move, and that ties in with those living in direct provision, as they are also transitory and on the move.”

Since the mural became public last weekend, Joe Caslin says he has received “brilliant feedback” from everyone who has spotted it. “You can even see it from the middle of the Town Park, which is brilliant, so I like to think of it as Amanda looking over the whole town of Tullamore and celebrating inclusion, identity, integration and representation,” he says.

The next big project on Joe Caslin’s busy list is in the German city of Cologne where he is working with 24 members of a small community in the east of the city on creating an installation that will capture the meaning of Irish culture from a German perspective.

While Covid has impacted very negatively on the overall arts sector, Joe Caslin feels the “one positive” to emerge from it has been “a renewed appreciation for the arts, and for artistic endeavour” and he is hopeful that this can continue into the future.

“I think everyone took a step back over the last two years of Covid and really tried to focus on the important things in life, and for many people they found solace and comfort in art and creativity,” he concludes.