Star Sheen’s set to shine in town’s latest spectacular street art show
A HUGE mural of Michael Sheen has appeared in Port Tal- bot.
The town’s famous native has been immortalised in Forge Street after the 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 the devastating loss of Banksy’s Season’s Greetings earlier this year.
Port Talbot residents picked the celebrity due to him being a global ambassador for the town and a dedicated supporter of local causes.
He is still celebrated for bringing his 72-hour theatre epic, The Passion, to Port Talbot in 2011 and reshaping the narrative of the town.
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 One has already painted stunning murals of Richard Burton and Peg Entwistle in the town.
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.
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.
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.