Over the last three months Devonport Regional Gallery’s young members, the Droogs have been working on the design for a new mural at the back of the Devonport Bookshop with street artist Katie Houghton-Ward (aka KT Hollywood). Katie and the Droogs started installing their work over the weekend, with many passers-by stopping to check out the progress and provide positive feedback.
Devonport Bookshop owner, Tim Gott, invited the Droogs to create an artwork that covered the store’s back wall in an effort to reduce graffiti in the area. Under the mentorship of artist Katie Houghton-Ward, the Droogs have developed an artwork inspired by literature, fiction and fantasy.
The artwork has been drawn from the concept of a bookshop: a place which contains myriad fictional and non-fictional characters, landscapes and emotions, and a place that inspires and captures the imagination.
Each Droog has contributed something personal to the mural, either creating their own book cover, character or poem, reflecting something of themselves and the literature that inspires them.
The mural depicts a bookshelf with selected covers facing the viewer. Amongst the stacks of books and pages, characters come to life, as they do for any reader.
See the mural’s progress over the next two weeks as Katie and the Droogs complete the work.
L-R: Artist, Katie Houghton-Ward; Droog, Ashleigh Butler
Devonport Regional Gallery’s Droogs are a group of young volunteers aged between 15 and 30 who assist with a variety of arts projects and events in Devonport, namely Reclaim the Lane, Four 8 Film Festival and The Sketchbook Project. New members are always welcome and inquiries can be made at the Gallery.
