The search is on for a Guildford art teacher and two of his students who created an iconic artwork in Kettering, Northamptonshire.
In 1962, Guildford art teacher Kenneth Budd, and two students Mick and “Dinger”, created a 45 feet by 15 feet mosaic on the Kettering Grammar School. Mr Budd is thought to have taught at Guildford Art School that was co-located with Guildford Technical College in the Sixties.
The mosaic was an abstract version of Kettering’s coat of arms and images including Kettering’s industrial and religious history.
In 2007, Kettering Civic Society saved the mosaic from demolition and it was Kenneth Budd’s son, Oliver, who removed the pieces from the building.
Since this time the mosaic has been stored whilst funding and a new site could be found. Eventually, last year, Kettering Council was fortunate in obtaining government funding for the High Street and the mosaic will form a focal point in the public realm.
Now the images within the mosaic once again on show, and the story of its creation again being told, the Kettering Civic Society, with funding from Historic England, has engaged the UK Film School to make a documentary. They intend to explore the work of mosaic artist Kenneth Budd who went on to create many more large mosaics around the country.
Monica Ozdemir, secretary of the Civic Society now hopes to make contact with Mick and Dinger or their relatives to know more and to add their story to the documentary. Perhaps Guildford will learn more about these 20th-century artists and their contributions too?
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J E Davey
July 7, 2021 at 3:35 pm
I was at school in Shere (1955-57) with a lad called Malcolm Armstrong that was always called “Dinger”.
He would have been about the right age to be at the Guildford School of Art in 1962. Maybe Oliver Budd has some recollections?