A huge mural of Michael Sheen has appeared in Port Talbot.
The town's famous native has been immortalised in Forge Street after the local community voted for him to be the next Port Talbot legend to have his likeness made with spray paint,
The new mural is part of an effort by ARTwalk Port Talbot to make the town the, “street art capital of Wales following t he devastating loss of Banksy's Season's Greetings earlier this year. You can read more about that here.
Read more: How much was Banksy's Season's Greetings in Port Talbot sold for?
Port Talbot residents picked the celeb due to him being a global ambassador for the town and a dedicated supporter of local causes. He is still celebrated to this day for bringing his 72-hour theatre epic, The Passion, to Port Talbot in 2011 and reshaping the narrative of the town. You can get the latest Neath Port Talbot news stories straight to your inbox with our free newsletter. Sign up here.
The mural is being painted by Hazard One from Bristol, named by The Guardian as one of the UK’s leading female graffiti artists. Hazard has already painted stunning murals of Richard Burton and Peg Entwistle in the town. Read here about the legend of Peg Entwistle, the actress who jumped off the Hollywood sign.
The Michael Sheen mural has been funded by Tata Steel and CJ Construction, with donations from locals during Captain Beany’s charity “Beanathon”, in which he recreated his world-record at taking a bath in baked beans.
The local street art revolution inspired by Banksy and ARTwalk is being made into a documentary for the BBC to be broadcast in the summer. “Who Needs Banksy?” will shine a light on the incredible local talent and the big name street artists making a pilgrimage to the town. You can read more stories about Port Talbot here.
The Banksy work, Season's Greetings, originally appeared on a garage belonging to local steelworker Ian Lewis in Richmond Terrace, Port Talbot. It featured a child playing in what appeared to be snow on one side of the garage, but was revealed to be ash from a fire in a bin on another wall. You can read about sad story of the Banksy work here.
The Banksy was later sold to collector John Brandler for an unspecified six-figure sum and transported for display to Ty'r Orsaf, the site of the former police station on Station Road. Then, on February 8, it was removed and taken to a secret location for storage, until a campaign can raise enough money for it to go on public display again.
