by Chris Hole, Evening Gazette
A TOP artist is helping brush up Middlesbrough’s campaign to become a city.
Eamonn McGovern is supporting the city status bid by painting some of the town’s best loved and most iconic scenes and settings.
And he is hoping Teesside can help him decide which of the town’s scenes he should feature in his series – The Best of Boro.
“I just thought it would be good to promote Middlesbrough,” Eamonn, 57, from Acklam, said.
“I think the city status bid is great news and I just wanted to do something to contribute.
“People don’t think about the cultural side of Middlesbrough.
“They just think about the industry. I’d really like people to email me some suggestions of what would make a good view in Middlesbrough. I’d like some input of people’s ideas.”
Eamonn, dad to BBC reporter Steph McGovern, has a studio at Platform Arts, at Middlesbrough train station.
So far the professional artist has created a stunning painting of the Transporter Bridge – and he has now started work on an another scene at Middlehaven.
“I’m really pleased with the Transporter Bridge one,” Eamonn, who is married to Anne, a radiographer, said.
“I wanted to get a sense of drama about it. It’s one of the iconic images of Middlesbrough and one of the most recognisable things about the town.
“You can see it from all sorts of different views and it always looks great.”
Eamonn, a graduate of the Royal College of Art, in London, is planning to put his works together to create an exhibition in October.
Anybody who would like to suggest a Middlesbrough landmark or scene for Eamonn to paint can contact him on eamonnmcgovern@msn.com.
