Moving to Coventry from London a decade ago I already had a huge appreciation of urban street art. I purchased my first digital bridge camera with a zoom to capture the art I found on a adventures around soho, Crystal Palace and Shoreditch. I found many amazing pieces, including a Banksy the morning it appeared.
Today Coventry still has the rough areas, underpasses and tag zones, but the rise of the street murals is obvious. Companies like brink and spray station take commissions for walls around the city and show what talent we have in the Midlands. It’s funny to see the contrast between the quality of the work, and it would be amazing to see more quality artist cutting their teeth in workshops across the city.
Moving to Coventry was a shock to the system, culturally. Street Art was scares, and mostly just tags and sticker art. But I was lucky to live near the Butts Rugby Stadium, where there were boards along the side which had been used to teach teenagers to use their graffiti skills to brighten up an area.
The COC is looking at this movement in their piece entitled “In paint we trust”, where new artworks will pop up in unique spaces across the city. we will see nationally and internationally renowned street artistes who will be involved. The first piece is in association with the West Midland police neighbourhood team in Hillfields. They will be working with local schools to create the artwork looking at issues such as knife crime, road safety and bullying. “In Paint we trust” will begin in may and run throughout the year of Culture in Coventry.
Photo Credit: Emily Tyler
