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Bright and motivational design with a nod to the past will replace Bridge Street pigeon
17/05/2024
Two artists will be sketching and painting the design this weekend
An iconic Banbury town centre wall which has been a canvass for vibrant artwork for the last thirty years will get a makeover this weekend.
The property sits at the prominent Bridge Street and Cherwell Street junction. For the last few years it has been adorned with the image of a pigeon.
Tomas Kolbus became the latest tenant at 67 Bridge Street several months ago. He will be opening a networking hub serving coffees, teas and juices on June 1.
Having spoken to people in the local community he decided the side of the building needed a makeover.
Originally the wall, which faces Banbury bus station, was painted back in the 1990s in a graffiti style. That work was funded by the Prince’s Trust and created for the Bridge Bar youth club.
Then in 2016 the owner of Naomi’s Cafe Bar decided to have it repainted. The pigeon design of recent years was created by Banbury-based artist Jonny Arnold and Australian painter Cherie Strong.
The new design will have a nod to the pigeon alongside positivity and colour and will reflect the story behind the mural. Tomas hopes it will also be motivational and reflect modern life.
He said: “I took over the building 8 months ago and after three months had the vision that could do something with the canvass.
Since then we have repaired the wall and the side corners and painted it black. We’ve removed all the rubbish.
“My goal is that people will come and say ‘that’s pretty, that’s nice. Can we go there?’ We have the gardens community gardens around the side and people are not coming in there. They’re just passing by. I want them to pop in there and stay a bit – to have a fun.”
Two artists are sketching the design today and painting will start tomorrow. In a further nod to the original artwork one of them was involved in the first design back in the 1990s.
Its hoped the mural will be complete by Monday.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam
Candy Hawkins On 17/05/2024 at 7:50 pm
What do you probably don’t know, is that the original artwork was done by a younger Banksy. Before he was famous.. At the same time he also did a series of graffiti pictures with young people at the Mill art centre onto pieces of 4×4 Plywood which were later skipped. To this day I think of those pictures sitting in that skip!