ONE of the UK’s leading mosaic artists is inviting the public to help create four unique pieces of art which is hoped to be on display in Stourbridge “for generations to come”.

As part of this year’s International Festival of Glass, eight workshops are being held with Caroline Jariwala to create murals which will replace four windows at the Webb Corbett Visitor Centre.

The murals will be made up of a kaleidoscope of coloured glass which has been donated from across the town, including a large collection which was found at the nearby waste tip of the old Thomas Webb factory – which has laid undisturbed for more than 100 years.

Depicting the four main trades and resources of the Coalbourn Brook Valley – vital to the success of the Stourbridge glass industry – the windows will portray coal mining, fire clay mining, glassmaking and the Stourbridge Canal.

Ian Dury, heritage officer at the Webb Corbett Visitor Centre, said: “In February 2016 we held an event where we invited locals to bring in bits of glass they’ve found in their gardens.

“We had a tremendous response and rather than put all this stuff into a cupboard, we thought it would be good to make a mural of it.

“Caroline has designed templates to create a mural for each of our four big windows and as there has been glassmaking in Stourbridge for the past 400 years and we want to tell the history of glass and why it is here in Stourbridge.

“The beauty of this project is that you will be able to see the design from both sides of the window, and if it works, we hope to be able to illuminate it from behind.”

People, over the age of 10, can now sign up online at www.ifg.org.uk to take part in one of the two-hour workshops where they will assist Caroline in creating the mosaic. No experience is necessary.

Ian added: “These workshops give the local community a chance to get involved in creating a piece of historical glass art which will be hopefully seen for generations to come.”

Residents who have glass which has been found in their gardens can donate it to the mosaic by taking it to Ian at the Webb Corbett Visitor Centre.

The workshops, which are free with a festival pass, take place between 10am and 12.30pm on August 25 to 28.