First World War Commemorative Mosaic - St Paul's Walk, Newport

St Paul's Walk is a public realm space that was created at the lower end of Commercial Street in Newport. To acknowledge the First World War centenary, a commemorative mosaic funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund was made by youth groups and local people. The mosaic was designed to help rejuvenate and establish a more attractive environment in this space for both residents and visitors. The contents depicted showed the important, but often unknown, roles of women during the conflict, focusing upon and remembering eight women from Newport who lost their lives whilst contributing towards the national war effort. As part of delivering the project and engaging the local community, an exhibition was held at Newport Indoor Market, along with a local History day which took place at Newport Museum and Art Gallery. This enabled local people to learn about the contributions of the women, and for them to share their own stories about their relatives' involvement in the war. A series of workshops were undertaken with young people that introduced them to the roles that women played during the conflict. Artist Stephanie Roberts was commissioned to lead the mosaic's creation. She worked closely with Newport Youth Council, The Bigger Picture organisation and the Fusion Project, in order to encourage and empower participation and engagement within arts, culture and heritage. The mosaic was unveiled on the 17th December 2018, with the opening attended by over 60 people, including members of the public and the Mayor of Newport. Importantly, Sylvia Mason, author of a book that helped inspire the mosaic's commemorative design, spoke at this launch. The great nephew of one of the women remembered within the mosaic was also able to attend. The event was completed with a medley of war songs by the Gwent Music Youth Brass Band. We digitally captured the project vie a QR code that links people to additional information displayed on the Newport Explorer Website.