Do Fest Experiment #6: Paint Dudley sign writing

Published in

CoLab Dudley

3 min readOct 2, 2019

We love it when people get in touch to ask to meet for a cuppa and a chat about an idea they have. Little did we know that when Kerry O’Coy, co-founder of Fused Magazine and Eye Candy Festival popped over from Stourbridge for a coffee in early January that it would lead to beautiful bright signs appearing on the High Street just six months later!

Kerry and Dave O’Coy were keen to collaborate with CoLab Dudley on a participatory arts project with a focus on sign writing. They became regulars at our Gather & Create dinners which were a focus for Do Fest co-design. They quickly engaged everyone, generating curiosity and excitement with images of examples of the kinds of works they wanted to be developed with local people in Dudley.

Paint Dudley launched a month before Do Fest, inviting local doers and people curious to explore the town to free workshops with three different artists. Tom Hicks led two Saturday morning photo walks to discover type around the town (as well as a number of other wonderful things people may never have noticed). Sign writer Jim, of Seven 9 Signs hosted three workshops in Dudley and mural painting illustrator Dan Griffin-Hayes ran three workshops on an introduction to sign writing. An additional activity was added to the Paint Dudley programme which proved to be a great opportunity to experiment with doing in the market place in the run up to Do Fest; Kerry and Dave hosted an Exhibition in a Day. They set up a stall on the market and invited local people to create art, and submit it to an open exhibition which would be launched the same day. Through these 9 opportunities over 90 places were filled, bringing together local people with an abundant diversity of talents, interests and knowledge.

During the sign writing workshops participants were asked what their favourite Black Country sayings were. These were used to inspire new artwork that was created live during Do Fest by Jim and Dan.

Here’s some of what was captured by passersby, doers and the team as the signs were created in public during Do Fest, and some quotes from the creatives and artists who bought Paint Dudley to the town.

You get people talking to each other that never met … the photography invites conversations, stories … it gives them an excuse to share and interact

Coming here to Dudley for a creative activity — which you wouldn’t usually come here for — that is why it is important. The town needs other stuff going on not just retail and not just stuff you have to pay for — especially now.

A project like this speaks to me to be able to get involved in the visual landscape of a small town High St & try to change it, subvert it a bit, promote a dialogue, so one day people see a barren desolate closed shop, and then they walk past and it is no longer there. … it can change their perception & how they interact with their landscape.

And here’s a video made by James D Clarke, having just shared and learned smartphone video making skills in another Do Fest activity.

Do Fest Experiment #6: Paint Dudley sign writing

Written by Lorna Prescott