Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Art project to smarten up graffiti-blighted grot spots
Parts of the city blighted by ugly tags could be transformed with artwork designed by residents as part of an innovative scheme. Wincheap-based Brewers Decorator Centres has launched the Colourful Canterbury Community Art Project with the hope of encouraging creativity. The group’s first ambitious challenge is to transform the Wincheap railway bridge near Canterbury East station, which has long been covered in unsightly scrawls. Working with the city council, Network Rail has agreed to clean up the bridge. Artists will decorate it with a colourful mural, which will be covered in anti-graffiti paint. Colourful Canterbury has now launched a competition inviting people of all ages and abilities to submit their vision for the vandalised brick structure. The winners will see their ideas brought to life. The project’s artistic director Chris Arnold said: “The two pedestrian arches are perfect canvases for this project.
“However, we want to record the decades of graffiti that is already there, as it’s a form of art history in its own right. “Canterbury has a rich heritage of creativity and culture. Things like this really bring communities together. “We welcome ideas in any form from the written to highend mock-ups. All will be judged equally.”
The group is also inviting suggestions for other city locations in need of a revamp. “We hope to inspire locals to suggest places and spaces that can be brought to life with colour,” said Mr Arnold. Competition judges include Wincheap councillor Derek Maslin, Canterbury Residents Group founder Edd Withers, and Trevor Redmayne, manager at Brewers Decorator Centres which is supplying materials for the project. Entries must be submitted by March 31, and can be made using either images or verbal descriptions.
For full details and to apply, visit info.brewers.co.uk/ colourful-canterbury. Search Colourful Canterbury Community Project on Facebook to join the online group.