Artist teases new look for vandalised climate mural

Thursday 07 January 2021

The artist behind the Waterfront climate change mural has teased that there will “exciting” changes when the vandalised work is restored.

Ian Rolls said work will be happening to restore his 'Climate Stripes for Jersey' mural very soon, with a surprise new look to be unveiled next month.

Though the artist remained tight-lipped on the new painting's details, he told Express: “I think it’s going to be exciting, because it’s focusing on the conversational aspect of climate change rather than just stating it’s happening.”

He also confirmed that CCTV cameras will be put in place to make sure similar vandalism doesn’t happen again.

Pictured: Artist Ian Rolls first unveiled his 'Climate Stripes for Jersey' mural back in June.

Police have said an investigation into the vandalism is still ongoing, with the culprit still yet to be confirmed.

Discussing the incident, he said: “It’s obviously despicable what was done, and perhaps the most surprising thing was when it was done - being Christmas night. That kind of speaks for itself in some ways.”

He added his other main disappointment was the fact that it seemed to planned: “The fact a lot of the messages were done with stencils suggests that it was pre-meditated - it takes some preparation to make a stencil.

“It may have even involved more than one person because you might have needed one person to hold the stencil while the other sprays it. They clearly wanted to affect the whole mural.”

The mural, inspired by an idea from Professor Ed Hawkins MBE, initially displayed 126 stripes depicting the climate in Jersey across 1894 - 2019 and was unveiled in June.

Pictured: Vandals left climate change denying messages on the artwork, calling it a 'hoax.'

It was vandalised on what is believed to be some point between Christmas and Boxing Day, featuring the words 'How Dare U Scare Kids'.

Despite the vandalism, Ian has been keen to stay optimistic, stating that he hoped the incident and new updated mural would help to create conversation in the New Year.

“We’re largely working together to find solutions to the issues climate change creates, so I think this being the start of the new year, it will hold lots of exciting new developments in terms of where tackling climate change is concerned,” he explained.

“In a sense, the fact that the mural has raised the debate again is perhaps a good way to start that conversation at the start of the year.”