EditorLLANELLI: ‘My hometown was missing one’ — artist Jenks transforms Seaside wall with stunning five-panel community mural
A bare red wall near Llanelli beach has been transformed into a vivid five-panel community mural celebrating the town’s history, identity and spirit – paid for entirely from the artist’s own pocket.
Jenks, a Carmarthenshire-based muralist who has painted community pieces across the region funded by the council, said he had decided his hometown deserved the same treatment.
The finished work stretches across a long boundary wall near North Dock in the Seaside area of Llanelli, in a spot arranged by a local contact named Michelle.
The completed five-panel mural by JenksArt near North Dock in Llanelli’s Seaside area, reading Joy, Struggle, Love, Pride and Hope from left to right. Image: JenksArt / FacebookEach of the five panels carries a single word representing a human emotion, illustrated with scenes and landmarks drawn from Llanelli’s past and present. They are Joy, Struggle, Love, Pride and Hope – and each tells its own story about what the town means to the people who live there.
Joy shows children running carefree along the beach at sunset, with a distinctive building from the Millennium Coastal Park visible on the right.
Struggle takes a starker tone – rendered in grey against a purple sky, it depicts a worker labouring at the Llanelli Tinplate Works, a nod to the industrial heritage that shaped the town for generations.
Struggle — a worker at the Llanelli Tinplate Works, rendered in grey tones against a purple sky, reflects the town’s industrial heritage. Image: JenksArt / FacebookLove places two figures – a couple embracing – in front of recognisable Llanelli landmarks including the town hall clock tower, bathed in warm orange and red tones beneath a glowing heart.
Love — a couple embrace in front of Llanelli town hall and other local landmarks beneath a glowing heart. Image: JenksArt / FacebookPride is perhaps the most local of all: a fire-breathing Welsh dragon charges across a rugby pitch flanked by two stadia, with a scoreboard in the background showing “Llanelli 9 Seland Newydd 3” – a nod to the legendary 1972 result when Llanelli RFC defeated the All Blacks, a victory still celebrated as one of the greatest days in Welsh rugby.
Pride — a Welsh dragon charges across a rugby pitch with a scoreboard showing Llanelli’s legendary 1972 victory over the All Blacks. Image: JenksArt / FacebookHope, the final panel, shows a child in a red Welsh shirt bearing the word “Dyfodol” – meaning “future” in Welsh – reaching toward a sunrise over the water, with wind turbines and the distant silhouette of Port Talbot’s steelworks on the horizon.
Hope — a child in a Welsh shirt bearing the word “Dyfodol” (future) reaches toward a sunrise, with wind turbines and Port Talbot’s steelworks on the horizon. Image: JenksArt / FacebookWriting on social media after completing the work, Jenks said he had thoroughly enjoyed the process. “My project for this week has been this little beauty in Llanelli,” he said. “A community piece that I’ve funded myself. I’ve painted a few of these around Carmarthenshire funded by the council and my hometown was missing one.”
He thanked those who had kept him going throughout the week. “Cheers to everyone that offered me tea and coffee and the passers by that have beeped while I’ve been enjoying myself in the sun,” he said. “Hope you like the new addition to Seaside.”
The bare wall near North Dock in Llanelli’s Seaside area before Jenks got to work. Image: JenksArt / FacebookThe mural is the latest in a growing body of public art Jenks has created across the Swansea Bay region. He previously paid tribute to Meyrick Sheen with a mural in Port Talbot, and also transformed Gowerton’s Ty Trafle School with a striking graffiti mural created in collaboration with pupils.
The new work can be found near North Dock in the Seaside area of Llanelli.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
New Port Talbot mural pays tribute to Meyrick Sheen
Jenks’s previous work commemorating the father of Michael Sheen in Port Talbot.
Gowerton’s Ty Trafle School transformed by pupil’s graffiti mural
Another striking public art project in the region.
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