Brand New Art Trail for Conwy County
Llenwi artwork, Llanrwst
Large scale artwork has been installed in Abergele, Bae Colwyn, Conwy, Llandudno and Llanrwst, creating a trail around the county as part of the LLENWI project.
The idea behind LLENWI has been to work with communities to create artwork that celebrates what makes our towns in Conwy County unique.
Local digital and 3D Artist Livi Wilmore teamed up with traditional sign writer Tomos Jones from Momo Signs and together they have worked with over 250 people from across the county to come up with concepts that are unique to each community. Tomos’ hand painted murals come to life when the QR code is scanned with a smartphone, opening up Livi’s digital ‘augmented reality’ world that has been inspired by the community’s contributions.
LLENWI has been delivered as part of Creu Conwy, Conwy County Borough Council’s Cultural Strategy and made possible thanks to funding from Welsh Government’s Brilliant Basics scheme.
Natalie Hughes, Creu Conwy Programme Co-ordinator,said: “The Artists came up with the project name – ‘LLENWI’ which means to occupy or fill space and that’s what the project has done in terms of finding blank walls that could benefit from impactful artwork and create a focal point that becomes a destination in its own right.”
Cllr Dilwyn Roberts, Cabinet Member for Culture, Governance and IT adds, “We hope it will encourage visitors to explore new places and delve under the surface to find out more about our local culture and the Welsh language.”
Livi Wilmore said, “This has been my biggest project to date and it has thrown up some challenges but it has been great to work with Tomos and blend our very different art styles. We brought in a wonderful poet, Dr Rhys Trimble and he’s worked with us and people from the community to capture the spirit of each town combining local memories and historical texts. We tried to tease out the more personalised tidbits from people, to show that all experiences are valid and a part of our living history and of and as a result each installation is completely different. I am not a fluent Welsh speaker but through the project I’ve enjoyed exploring and learning more about the language and I hope other people do too.”
Tomos Jones added, “I’d wanted to collaborate with Livi for a while so when this opportunity came up I was delighted. It’s been great finding out from the community what’s important to them and then working with Livi and Rhys on the concepts. It’s been a real labour of love but I am really proud of what’s been achieved and hope that local people and visitors enjoy the artwork.”
You can find out more and download the trail map at: Conwy Culture | Creu Conwy LLENWI
Posted on 04/04/2025