THE walls of the newly refurbished White Hart Hotel will be adorned with artwork from the pupils of Okehampton Primary School, following a collaboration with new owner JD Wetherspoon.

Earlier this spring, the school was approached by Inngear, on behalf of JD Wetherspoon, to ask if they would be interested in supplying artwork for the rooms at the soon to be refurbished White Hart Hotel.

Headteacher Hazel Fox and artist in residence Luna Burrell were delighted to take on the new venture and the benefits that it would bring to the school.

Mrs Fox said: ‘The opportunity was a great success in benefiting the school and Okehampton Photo Centre. It’s always a pleasure to be able to liaise with local businesses to promote the community and we are always open to these combined ventures and welcome more businesses to approach the school for future events.’

With a theme of mixed media Dartmoor scenes and the local wildlife, Miss Burrell and a group of 30 talented children from the school quickly got to work creating watercolour paintings of local animals. With some challenges in creating the correct colours from mixing their watercolours, the children were able to be guided through artistic skills to allow them to create their paintings.

Miss Burrell said: ‘After a couple of weeks of intensive workshops, we were able to send off the work to InnGear, on behalf of JD Wetherspoon, ready for framing. They were thrilled with the finished pieces and expressed that they were of a really high quality.

‘In exchange for our artwork, the team at InnGear paid the school for the work. The school partnered up with Okehampton Photo Centre to transfer the money into a goody bag of art supplies for each child who participated.’

The school is currently displaying copies of the final pieces in its main gallery. The JD Wetherspoon White Hart Hotel is due to open its doors on July 19 and the children are very excited to see their work in its place.

Miss Burrell has also been commissioned to supply a canvas of her artwork to be displayed in the main foyer.