Pontefract artist returns to her roots with primary school art project

Rachel List shot to national fame earlier this year with a series of inspiring murals dedicated to NHS staff.

And she has now teamed up with children at her former school to launch a new creative project.

Students at Upton Primary School have been learning about her success as an artist since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Each child created their own design inspired by her work, and Rachel and the school's art teacher, Mr Michael Habberjam, chose the ones they felt would be most suitable to appear in the finished mural.

Based on the winning designs, Rachel then painted a mural in the school’s reception area.

Lynne Willamson, the school's deputy headteacher, said: “During lockdown, we all saw Rachel doing community art work to raise spirits, and as a welcome back project for the children, we thought it would be nice to do something similar with them.

“The mural will serve as a long lasting memory of what lockdown was like and the community spirit that came through it.

“When the children came back, they got involved by designing what they’d like to be in a potential mural, using Rachel’s art style and hopeful messages as a base.

“Rachel took them and put them together with Mr Habberjam and decided what the final piece would look like.

“With Rachel being an ex pupil of ours, it’s been so inspirational for our pupils to learn about her.

“As a school, we looked at ones we felt were most suitable for the finished mural in each class, and Rachel combined aspects of them all into one finished piece.

“Throughout the hardships of lockdown, we are so proud of them all, they have come back and settled in brilliantly and they did so well with this project.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to Mr Habberjam, who organised this project with Rachel over the summer and really got things underway.”

Rachel, 29, is a former Upton Primary School Student.

Her murals appeared all over points of interest in Pontefract during the pandemic and have since received global attention.

Rachel said: “The school got in touch, telling me that they'd be interested in learning about me and my lockdown art.

“The children had made all these brilliant designs for me to judge and I couldn’t pick just one idea to paint.

“I looked for the positive messages and bright colours - one of the kids came up with a brilliant motto, which was ‘Upton Cares’ - I think that’s so timeless and relevant.

“It was kind of a pinch yourself moment - I remember being allowed to help decorate the school as a student to celebrate the millennium with wall displays - it’s ironic that I came back exactly 20 years later to paint a mural about the pandemic.

“They were all so intuitive, one of the pictures that inspired me had a night sky fading into day and some of the ideas were very mature - like the message going from the dark into the light, it's not something I’d expect from a child.

“I myself wouldn't have thought of some of the ideas, it’s great to be a part of inspiring kids and promoting their creativity.”