Students build business skills in Bolton One creative design project
University of Bolton students have been honing their professional skills, developing a series of creative features for the new Bolton One health, leisure and research building.
Swimmers will see the centre-piece of the student work - a stunning eight metres wide by three metres high, tiled mural which shows one of the last swimming elephants, Rajan. The leisure facilities at the £31million Deane Road building open on 1 February 2012.
The mural was created by Cat Taylor Cummins and Sandra Bouguerch, who were second year Fine Art students when they won the commission, part of their professional development work within the course's art and the urban environment module. Winning the commission included presenting their idea to a panel of representatives from all Bolton One's partners, the University, Bolton Council and NHS Bolton. Now final-year students, Cat and Sandra plan to work together to bid for more commissions.
Said Cat, 49, from Bury: "To see the work up and see Rajan in all his glory, we felt a great sense of achievement. Rajan is one of the few swimming elephants left in the world and so to be a part of Bolton is something extraordinary.
"When we originally had the idea we thought a unique aspect of Bolton was its association with elephants.
"The town has a long association with elephants, which some people believe dates back to the cotton trade with India. The official town crest has an elephant on top of a castle and there are colourful elephants dotted around the town centre. So we thought it was an appropriate continuation of the theme that people from the town would know."
Said Sandra, 45, from Bolton: "The fact the elephant is swimming is also very important - obviously, because it's the swimming pool area - but also because we wanted the image to inspire people and represent people who might not usually go swimming. As Bolton One is for the entire community we wanted an image that would inspire all members of the community. The idea was that if something as big, cumbersome and bulky as an elephant can learn to swim then anyone can, whether they be children, people with disabilities or just unfit."
Head of Fine Art, Alan Buckingham, who ran the project at the University, said: "These projects give students real skills in working out the logistics of working professionally, the demands of a commission and how they work together and develop synergy. Cat and Sandra are extremely strong in their individual talents and how they use them to work as a team."
