Decades in the Making | Arts Trail

Charlotte Webb
May 29
3 min read

Wolverhampton City of Youth Culture | March 2026

Decades in the Making was one of those projects where everything aligned beautifully — creativity, community, heritage, and youth voice.

Commissioned as part of the Wolverhampton City of Youth Culture Arts Trail, this mural was co‑created with young people over a programme of immersive workshops that explored identity, fashion, music, and cultural shifts across the decades.

What began as a simple brief soon became a living timeline of youth culture, shaped entirely by the imaginations of the young people who took part.

The Concept: A Timeline of Youth Culture

The idea behind Decades in the Making was to create a mural that didn’t just show history, but felt like history lived through young people’s eyes. Each workshop explored a different decade, from the 1960s to the 1990s, using mood boards, playlists, fashion archives, and social history prompts to help participants trace their own subculture ancestry.

We weren’t just looking at “what people wore” or “what music was popular.”

We were asking:

What did this decade feel like?
What did young people care about?
How did creativity show up in everyday life?
Who would you have been born in that decade?

The mural became a celebration of youth identity — past, present, and future.

The Co‑Creation Workshops

The workshops were held at Wolverhampton Art Centre, and were delivered in partnership with the Wolverhampton City of Youth Culture team.

Each session was fully immersive, with young people diving into:

Decade mood boards
Curated playlists
Fashion silhouettes and textile patterns
Historic youth movements
Local stories and Wolverhampton-specific cultural shifts

Participants sketched, collaged, and experimented with visual motifs from each era. They explored everything from the 60’s rise of the teenager to 70s disco fever, and the shoulder pads and shell suits of the 80s to 90s rave and indie cultures. The energy was electric — a mix of nostalgia, curiosity, and discovery.

From Workshop to Mural

The final mural design was built directly from the young people’s ideas. Their sketches, colour palettes, and symbolic choices became the backbone of the composition. My role here was to weave their contributions into a cohesive visual timeline that honoured their creativity while maintaining clarity and flow.

The finished mural features:

Era-specific characters made by the participants
Youth-led symbolism representing identity, belonging, and change
A quadrant timeline that moves from analogue to digital
A colour palette inspired by the workshop mood boards
Gadget illustrations contributed by me.

It’s a mural that truly belongs to the young people who made it.

Installation

Seeing Decades in the Making installed as part of the Arts Trail was a wonderful experience. The final mural in the series sits proudly outdoors on a large corner wall of the Wulfrun Shopping Centre - opposite Central Library, forming a vibrant landmark that celebrates Wolverhampton’s young people and their creative legacy.

The installation team brought the piece to life with care and precision, ensuring every detail was crisp, bright, and true to the original co‑created artwork.

Watching young people visit the mural — pointing out the parts they made, taking photos, and sharing stories — was the highlight of the entire project.

Why This Project Matters

Youth-led art is powerful. It gives young people ownership of their city, their stories, and their cultural identity. Decades in the Making isn’t just a mural — it’s a testament to the creativity, resilience, and imagination of Wolverhampton’s young people.

It stands as a reminder that:

Creativity is generational
Culture is collaborative
Young people shape the future

And they deserve to see themselves reflected in the spaces they inhabit.

Reflections

This project reaffirmed my love for collaborative making. Working with young people is always energising, but this mural felt especially meaningful — a shared celebration of youth culture across time.

I’m proud of what we created together, and even prouder that it now forms part of a citywide trail dedicated to youth creativity.

This mural was the final artwork in a nine‑piece Arts Trail, and the second of the two commissions I contributed to. You can read more about Cosmic Routes, the opening piece of the trail and my first involvement, here: https://www.charlottewebbillustration.com/post/cosmic-routes-a-time-capsule-in-colour