Meet the people living behind the murals

Houses and shops plastered with ground-to-roof murals have helped to make Bristol one of the street art destinations of the world. But how are these giant artworks received by local residents? Zaki Dogliani got on his bike to find out.

You would be forgiven for thinking that the city’s now ubiquitous murals, made famous by world-renowned graffiti artists, were the preserve of the students, the hipsters and the fashionable art types.

But enthusiasm for the giant pieces of street art is certainly not confined to younger generations.

Eleanor Elton, 89, and her daughter Elizabeth, 56, live in the mural-strewn property at the end of Cottrell Road, in between Horfield and Eastville Park. Originally from Wiltshire, they moved to Bristol in 1963. Their house was painted two years ago.

“One of our neighbours did it,” Eleanor says. “I was out at the car one day, and he said it was a nice wall but that it was a pity it was plain white, and that he would like to do something on it.

“I said ‘I don’t think the council will approve’. And he said ‘Oh, don’t worry, I’m well-known to the council’.”

The council didn’t mind, as it turns out. And neither do the owners – even if their house is now something of a destination on the ever-changing trail of large-scale street art around the city.

“We’re very happy with it,” Eleanor adds. “Lots of people stop to take pictures. It’s just one or two people that don’t like it. But the lady over the road is nearly my age and she loves it.”

On Church Avenue, Easton, another retired resident is keen on his mural. Mr Stephenson, 72, wants the design on his house to be re-coated: “We’re waiting at the moment for it to be repainted. I’m hoping we’ll have it done.”

He claims the new mural would be commissioned by Bristol City Council: “The council paid for the mural and they’re going to replace it.”

Stephenson, formerly in the Navy, has lived in his current property since the 1970s. He tells me that the mural has been on the side of his house for five or six years.

Across the M32 in Montpelier, 32-year-old Alex Lucas, an art therapist, also involved the local authority in the mural on her house in Montpelier. She made it four years ago and hopes to repaint it this year.

“Before painting my murals, I usually ask permission and speak to neighbours before going ahead and painting it. I also try to Photoshop the design onto the area to be painted, so that people can see the design beforehand.

“I wanted to bring an interior look to the exterior – people always decorate the interior but never the exterior,” she says.

Alex adds that the mural received mixed reviews from estate agents when a number valued the property: “Some loved it, others said that it might not be to everyone’s taste; but hey, it’s only paint and can always be repainted. I don’t think it should stop people adding colour to their lives.”

Annalea, 29, an artist who lives on Brook Road in Montpelier, says that the crayon-themed mural on the side of her house is similarly popular: “People generally love it. It’s not traditional graffiti. It’s done in paint. I think it’s a real fingerprint of the community, rather than a graffiti artist doing it.

“At first, when I moved in, I thought, ‘let’s paint the walls again. I’ve got some friends who paint.’ But then, we decided to just keep it. It’s got history and it’s hand-painted rather than sprayed.

The epitome of the community mural is arguably at Victoria Park in Totterdown, from which murals can be seen on three houses in a row.

Laura, a 27-year-old novelist, lives in the property which is home to the popular monkey mural. She says that the current incarnation was done just after she moved in two and a half years ago.

“The original mural was apparently put there by an artist who lived in the house. When the artist moved, the new owners painted over it. Rumour has it that he then snuck back into the garden and re-drew a version of the monkey as a sort of cut-out outline.

“Before we moved back in, that monkey was painted over. Apparently, after demands and outrage from the local community – who said that the monkey was a local landmark – the landlords felt compelled to repaint it, this time as a silhouette of a Colombian Spider Monkey.”

The property is adjacent to two houses with even more striking murals. “Lots of the houses along St Luke’s Crescent are painted with beautiful, colourful designs. Ours is beginning to look rather tame,” Laura adds.