Muddy Park Mural Makes A Splash! 

A colourful new mural at Muddy Park on Waldhof Court, Blaenymaes has been finished. 

Community Artist and Blaenymaes resident, Joel Morris has turned a dull brick wall into a vibrant, eye-catching feature that can be seen all the way up Woodford Road.

Joel, of J M Studios, was commissioned by Codi, as part of the park’s refurbishment, to produce two example designs back in June 2025. The final design was chosen by local residents, including children and young people, through community conversations about the re-design of the park, facilitated by Swansea Community Farm.   

The striking design consists of a multi-coloured geometric backdrop and as requested by locals during the consultation, there is the addition of some greenery and flowers, and the mural is topped off with the Penderi regeneration logo at the top of the stairs. 

As part of the Summer Activities programme in 2025 we saw this as an opportunity to include ‘Mural Painting’ workshops.  These were held during at Evolve Blaenymaes, were well attended and some of the same local young people were regular helpers on site. 

Joel said; ”At first the idea of a workshop within a project made no sense until, with encouragement from the team at The 104, it did.  Some parents decided to stay and participate instead of just dropping their youngsters, so they got to meet me.” 

”The informal session evaluation gave immediate feedback as to future approaches.  When young people came and hung out while I was painting, this became an opportunity to talk to them about topics in the community of common interest and to get a perspective from their side of the world and often resulted in sharing positive advice and encouragement where needed.”

”An example of this, and there are many, came when one young man, maybe 13 years old, approached me and asked to use some of the paint to patch a scratch out on his bike.  He didn’t think I would allow it, but I did under supervision, and his repayment was to disappear and shortly return with can of cold pop as a thank you.  He went on to hang around and helped paint a few triangles and we have remained friends since.”

When weather allowed, Joel mapped out the design and used spray paint to outline the geometric effect over the autumn and revisited it more recently as the weather became warmer on days with low/no wind! (this is an important consideration when using spray paint!)

”My experience whilst carrying out the muddy park project has been very interesting to say the least as everyday spent on the project carried with it a very different experience, and often an ‘audience’! 

”The residents of Waldhof Court were very encouraging and supportive throughout the project.  The relationships built with local young people in particular, meant that there is potential for developing skills within the community given the right guidance and encouragement.” 

”Overall it was a very good experience and I look forward to more positive and uplifting community projects.”

The park’s refurbishment was part of a wider programme of improvements to green spaces around Penderi funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.   

It meets the Penderi Regeneration ambitions of both ‘Green and Blue Infrastructure’ and ‘Active and Involved Communities’ but also this project meets the ‘Economically Resilient Neighbourhood’ ambition too as since Joel has been seen on out on Muddy Park or talking about the project at The 104 he has attracted interest from other partner organisations, also looking to commission him locally.