Wolves in Wolves statue finds new home at University of Wolverhampton
One of the city's famous Wolves in Wolves statues has found a new den to call its home - at the University of Wolverhampton.
The Support Life wolf, decorated in a colourful jigsaw design, is dedicated to suicide prevention and mental health awareness.
It was last week donated to the university and it's arrival is well timed, as academics have just launched a new suicide prevention group as a response to the upward trend of poor mental health and suicide across the West Midlands.
The wolf was created by University of Wolverhampton art graduate Alex Vann who said he was 'delighted' his work had found its way back to campus.
Alex said: "I studied art at the University of Wolverhampton and I hope people who are suffering with their own mental health will get some comfort from the vocabulary and imagery depicted.
“It was an enjoyable labour of love working with different groups of vulnerable people on design ideas and putting them all together in one colourful and hopeful design and it has inspired me to do more work in this area.”
Alex explained the design for the Support Life wolf came about after he got involved with mental health workshops and met vulnerable people.
He added: "The NHS 'five ways to wellbeing' are picked out in the vibrant orange pieces and various other images and words are used to support these. Also shown is the board game ‘Snakes and Ladders’ which refers to how life can be full of ups and downs.”
The university's new suicide prevention group draws together academics in psychology and nursing, to work to examine factors which contribute to poor mental health and suicide within the university and the wider community.
Dr Danielle McFeeters, of the psychology team said: "The wolf is very symbolic and a visual representation of the university’s commitment to positive mental wellbeing and health promotion generally. We also hope that it will encourage people to be more mindful of their own mental health with a view to potentially promoting help-seeking.”
Wolves in Wolverhampton is the largest public art exhibition and trail to have ever taken place in the city, with 30 locally made wolf sculptures dotting the centre for more than 11 weeks. The sculptures then went up for auction in November last year and raised more than £35,000 for various local charities.
