Features / KNowle West
Christmas stars trail for Knowle West
A new community project has seen 12 stars spread across Knowle West for people to spot over the festive period. Designer Lisa Cole has decorated the 12 Stars of Christmas and displayed these in the windows of local premises, like shops, cafes and community centres.
The stars used for the project are leftover ones from Knowle West Media Centre: The Factory that were made for the Walk of Hearts & Stars in Knowle West.
“I stopped them from giving them away and said, ‘let’s try and do a community project with them,’” says Lisa.
is needed now More than ever
Lisa Cole has created a trail around Knowle West. Photo by Charlie Watts
Lisa has decorated each star in a unique way. Her designs include a shooting star in the re:work office on Filwood Broadway, a star shaped like a Christmas tree in the Londis convenience store on Melvin Square, and a snowman star for Knowle West Health Park.
Each star also has a QR code next to it that people can scan with their phones, linking to videos of local people performing. This includes a video of Knowle resident Julian Wood – The Art of Kindness – singing Feliz Navidad with a ukulele.
Lisa, who lives in Easton, says: “I love Knowle West, I want to live here.
“The project’s bringing all the little corners of Knowle together – and it’s fun, exciting and promoting members of the community as well.”
The star in the re:store window on Filwood Broadway is a knitted nativity scene. Photo by Charlie Watts
Other stars include a rock and roll star for Nikki Jaine’s Light Bites – a new 1950s American-style cafe and bakery in Broadwalk Shopping Centre – as well as a star-shaped bird feeder for Redcatch Community Garden.
Lisa originally moved to Bristol from Plymouth to study fashion textiles at university. She is now working as a website designer as well as studying a master’s in ceramics.
In her spare time, Lisa runs a gallery out of a cardboard box and has published a book about tiny art galleries. She was also behind the Show Stapleton Road Some Love litter campaign.
A reindeer star is in the window of the Filwood Library. Photo by Charlie Watts
Lisa links her creative nature to her aphantasia – a condition which means she can’t picture things in her head.
“If I say to you, imagine an apple, do you see an apple in your imagination?” Lisa asks. “I don’t, I see nothing at all.
“So because I can’t see something in my imagination, I make it.”
The 12 Stars of Christmas are on display now and will be up until early January. For a map of the trail, or to view the stars online, visit www.knowlewest.co.uk/where-are-the-12-stars-of-xmas
Charlie Watts is reporting on Knowle West as part of Bristol24/7’s community reporter scheme, a pilot project which aims to tell stories from areas of Bristol traditionally under-served by the mainstream media
Main photo by Charlie Watts
Read more: Following the star around Hanham
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