The Black Pearl mural, New Brighton - seaside regeneration project 2019
Art from A and K
The Black Pearl is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Wirral. People travel from all over the country and indeed the world to see this famous landmark.
The driftwood pirate ship was named after The Black Pearl which featured in the blockbuster film series Pirates of the Caribbean. The idea came to make the mural in The James Atherton pub as many great ideas have come over a pint between Alexander and Noddy Hughes one of the local pirates.
Noddy told Alexander of the time the ship had been ravaged by the waves and news had reached Johnny Depp on social media who, in return, sent a short letter to Frank which said "Go and retrieve that horizon.”
We had to get the quote on the wall! Just to see Frank and Major’s faces when it was unveiled Johnny Depp’s words metres long high in the New Brighton skyline - we knew this would be a truly monumental moment for the local pirate community.
Frank said at the unveiling: "The mural reflects the Black Pearl story, our community and the present mood in New Brighton – we get together and we just do it!”
The mural took just under a week to make by our team and we collaborated with Royal Academy graduate Samual Miller on the seascape.
The mural was signed off by ten local youngsters who each added their own fish to the mural.
The Black Pearl mural was unveiled on Sunday, November 3 on Hope Street in front of over a thousand people. The countdown to the unveiling was filled with honks, cheers and pirate music.
The story of the Black Pearl
The Black Pearl has a famous history was first built by local artist Frank Lund and Major Mace out of driftwood and found objects in 2013 and is maintained by a small group of locals who have even had to help rebuild the shop twice; first when it was destroyed by Winter storms and again when it was set alight by yobs just six months later. During the pandemic it fell victim to the elements again and was destroyed by the high seas.
Johnny Depp’s Message for Frank
After the Black Pearl was ravaged for the second time it gathered a lot of traction on social media and news got to Johnny Depp. He in return wrote this message for Frank.
Upon hearing this story Alexander asked Noddy (one of the local pirates) to retrieve the original message so that we could scan it and magnify it a million times over and spray it massive across the top of the mural for all to see!
All painted their own fish
To continue with our ethos of involving the community into our artwork we organised for thirteen of the local children to each add a fish to the seascape. These kids we had got to know really well and each one of them really show cased their personality in their fish. By signing off the mural with thirteen local kids each adding their own fish to the sea we wanted this artwork to be owned by the next generation of the New Brighton community.
Mural Unveiling video
The unveiling of the Black Pearl was attended by over a thousand people. We organised with the Pirates weeks earlier for Frank and Major to be kept distant from the mural and all social media leading up to unveiling day. When they arrived they had no idea what to expect. We organised for the local tour guide to host the countdown. Alexander and Dan Davies both gave a speech to the biggest crowd for a mural unveiling the UK has ever had.
Black Pearl Rum
During the production of the mural, we arranged for the first mural merchandise to be made. We approached Ant from a local gin company, Gravity Gin and asked him to make a pirate style rum to commemorate the unveiling of the Black Pearl mural. He gladly obliged and ten limited edition bottles were produced with a unique blend of rum. Each bottle a limited edition artwork, signed and numbered by both Frank and Major.
