Upfest, Europe’s largest street art festival, and Brighter Places, the largest housing association based in Bristol with 3,300 homes, have teamed up. Together, they are looking to bring a new and unique mural to St Pauls and St Agnes for Brighter Places’ new development of 31 affordable apartments on Lower Ashley Road later this year.
And they're asking for you to contribute - locals are being invited to collaborate on the piece to truly make it a staple of the community. The artwork, commissioned by Brighter Places and construction partner, Prelon Housing, will be painted on the side of a new housing development on the site of a former petrol station.
This means it will be visible to anyone entering St Pauls and St Agnes from Baptist Mills and the M32 interchange. They say the new mural will create a vibrant welcome to the area and integrate the new homes into an already lively community.
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Upfest and Brighter Places is asking for anyone local to the neighbourhood with ideas, thoughts and stories around St Pauls and St Agnes to fill out a questionnaire which will help inspire the artwork.
Any 'stand out submissions' could be invited to attend a design workshop to further develop the design. A Bristol artist will be selected to bring the concept to life and work with the local community to gain inspiration and lead the creation of the mural.
If you live in the area and want to put your stamp on this unique piece of artwork, you can fill out the questionnaire here to share your creative ideas. The consultation is open until Sunday June 26.
Steve Hayles, co-founder of Upfest, said: “Being able to give local people and residents the opportunity to put their own ideas and creativity into this brand new piece of street art is something that we’re really looking forward to. Engaging with communities and collaborating with them on this mural is what’s really going to make this a stand out piece of art for the entire neighbourhood to enjoy.”
Anna Klimczak, CEO of Brighter Places said: “We are excited to be working with Upfest on this project. Our new affordable homes are being built on the site of a former petrol station that has been vacant for some years. The addition of a mural is a fantastic opportunity to make the homes feel like part of their surroundings.
"Engaging with the local community is a key element to the design process as it’s important to us that a piece of artwork is created by the neighbourhood and for the neighbourhood.” The large-scale mural will be a chance for St Pauls and St Agnes locals to co-create a piece of street art that the entire community will love and demonstrate what makes their neighbourhood unique.
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