Mural trail on the Headland, Hartlepool
The Headland mural trail came about organically. It began with an initial painting but soon led to more commissions after speaking to business owners while in the area. The more time we spent on the Headland, the more we got to know and love it. This meant that the murals are all informed by local history - stories passed on by people we met while painting. There are now seven different murals within walking distance of each other, a few of which are showcased below.
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The Ship Inn
Working with the local council, the RNLI, and the owners of the pub, our mural gained national press coverage as well as raising over £500 for the RNLI.
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The Fisherman’s Arms
The design for this mural was created using a mixture of historical photographs and a photoshoot, to depict an average working woman who would have stood on the historic fish quay where it is situated.
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The Pot House
This was the first mural on the headland and depicts the old lighthouse and Elephant Rock which was a sea stack on the nearby beach before it collapsed.
Graffiti as a way to reach people
With our background in graffiti art, we have found it a great way to connect with hard to reach groups. Graffiti and street art are an exciting way to capture interest in projects and help guide peoples passion towards creativity. We use graffiti to get interest through workshops and murals, then use it as a tool to teach colour, creativity and participation in communities.
The wall pictured to the right was part of a series of workshops, we made sure we had everyone and their families names mentioned. It was a great way to engage young people who lived in a heavily defaced area and gave them a sense of ownership.
Hetton Lyons Legal Wall
Tasked with painting a heavily defaced wall over 50m long, we wanted to create a project with a lasting impact. To mitigate worries about our mural getting defaced, we decided to create a ‘legal wall’ for half of the wall and a permanent mural depicting the culture and heritage of the area.
Legal walls are areas that anyone can paint and self curate through newer works covering any damage. The artists benefit from a stress-free area to create artwork and show the public what they do. The locals get a constantly changing public art gallery. We find that these kinds of walls bring together two usually disparate communities. The result is a space where high quality art can be shown and we have seen huge improvements in the overall feel of these areas. With the creation of a space for public interactions, we see less littering, loitering and more footfall from different kinds of people who now feel safe in these spaces. Our expertise that comes from years creating site specific murals and our connections with local artists means these spaces we create always work exactly as they should; With trust on both sides and a way to meet in the middle.
Part of the permanent mural depicting the wind turbines through to the coal strata
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Before we started work
The wall was covered in offensive graffiti from years of neglect. Locals were so happy to see we were starting work there.
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While we were painting
The community remarked how much the loved both areas of the mural, the work created by us and the legal wall side. We saw increasing footfall as word spread and had some great interactions with local artists and members of the community.
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Today
The wall has had no incidents of graffiti on the permanent mural or anything offensive on the legal wall. Works of art are still being painted and the project continues to be a success.
Dyke House Estate
Dyke House is within the top 2% of deprived wards in the UK and, as such, experiences high levels of unemployment, low levels educational attainment and aspiration, high levels of health inequalities and extreme levels of deprivation.
We hosted workshops and painted several murals in the community, working closely with the Wharton Foundation. It was a great chance for young people in the area to get involved in creative learning. We also handed out customised sketch books for those who might be inspired to create some art.
Assorted Works 2020-2022
Below are just a few examples of some of our many murals. These projects include both residential and commercial walls.
Meadowell Connected
“The charity’s garden volunteers were full of great ideas for how the murals should look and Lewis has done a fantastic job of bringing those ideas to life. I’m delighted that Capita was able to play a small part in helping to make these murals happen.”
