Students at King James I Academy have been invited to be involved in a project at Shildon railway station called Shildon Smart Art. The collaboration between our academy and Shildon railway is designed to give our Year 9 students an opportunity to take part in a community project.

This collaboration has occurred because the local community of Bishop Auckland and other areas surrounding it, have noticed a deterioration in the railway’s appearance, especially the footbridge, which unfortunately has a high level of graffiti sprayed onto it.

Together, King James and Shildon Smart Art will be choosing five students from our school to give the bridge a makeover using artwork inspired by the ideas of our Art students. Artwork will challenge anti-social behaviour and change the station into a proud and welcoming place. Furthermore, as Shildon railway station will be celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2025, local residents and rail enthusiasts would like to prepare the station and give it a positive makeover incorporating our student’s artwork within it.

As part of the project, our students will also work with local street artist, Dan Walls, who specialises in graffiti and has a company named ‘Illumination Wall Art’ where he shares his designs; working with Dan will be hugely beneficial for our students as they will gain exciting new skills and knowledge from this artist.

Written by Lola Stretton