For those of you who don’t know Jersey, it’s an island of 9 miles by 5 with a population of just over 100k, so basically it can be like living in a big village. Similarly, to village life we like to look out for one another and help wherever we can. So, back in February this year, during a team ideas disco (it should have been a sensible team meeting, but sensible isn’t something that often happens when we’re all together) we decided we wanted to find a local art project where we could brighten up a public space, share our unique humour with our fellow islanders and help a charity to boot.
Now, I won’t bore you with the details of how it happened, but in short, our programme director who rarely misses a thing found a local organisation called RampArts that puts local artists in touch with local charities and organisations to create exciting community-based projects.
The project that was pitched to us was for the cattery at the Jersey Society Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (JSPCA). This couldn’t have been more perfect, as firstly, we’re all animal crazy so to be honest, they had us at ‘cat’!! Secondly, not sure if you’ve noticed (!) but, Oli the Olistrator (KF’s resident artist) isn’t too shabby when it comes to capturing our four-legged friends in cartoon form, so other than us losing our heads over the furry felines it was a good fit. Thirdly, and this just felt like serendipity, Sam, who is single-handedly our IT department, his mum is the chief vet at the JSPCA; it was a match made in heaven!
The JSPCA needed their cattery area revamped as boarding cats is one of their vital streams and it’s also where they bring members of the public to view cats available for rehoming – so it was important to get this right. Plus, we wanted to make sure the staff had an area they’re proud to work in and show off a bit too.
The cattery area is made up of six wings, with each wing being named after a former furry resident and Oli was asked to create a unique design for each wing. He was given a photo with a short bio of each cat for him to come up with his designs for: Splash, Honey, Star, Sassy, Bo and Phoebe. Below was his first draft…. Amazing or what?
Needless to say, the JSPCA staff loved the designs and Oli got to work a few weeks ago to bring it all to life. Other than underestimating the amount of prep work needed – he is a creative after all darlings – it all went swimmingly (with a bit of help from our equally creative programme director, Carla). The results are just beautiful. Oli just hopes that the current cat residents approve! This project meant a lot to us here at KF and so wanted to share it with you too. Below are some photos of Oli creating his amazing designs along with the finished result. Enjoy!
We’ve been featured all over the place with news of this fantastic colourful makeover, did you spot us in the Jersey Evening Post, on Channel Eye Media or even on the Vibrant Jersey website?
