A Lincolnshire artist is using spray paint to help beautify one of Lincoln’s rougher areas.
Artist James Mayle and his team are constructing a mural on the Brayford Wharf underpass that pays homage to Lincoln’s naval history.
Previously, the underpass was occupied by members of the city’s homeless community.
The intention of the mural is to celebrate Lincoln’s historical past, featuring images from the 18th and 19th centuries.
The mural is the first in a series of artworks approved by the Lincoln Creates Fund, a £50,000 project organised by the Lincoln Business Improvement Group (Lincoln BIG) to help encourage local artists to enhance Lincoln’s streetscapes.
As part of the project, creative figures are given funds between £500 and £5,000 in conjunction with local businesses to aid them with their artwork.
The fund was created using the money raised through the public auction of the knight sculptures which made-up the city’s Lincoln Knights’ Trail throughout 2017.
James Mayle’s mural is one of five projects that are set to be installed throughout the city in 2019, with other topics including celebrating the role of women in the arts and the impact of poetry within the city.
According to Lincoln BIG, the intention of James’s mural and the other project is to ‘encourage arts and businesses to work together on exciting visual artworks which will make Lincoln city centre more vibrant and a more attractive place to live and work, or to visit’.
Images expected to be seen on James’s’ mural include Lincoln’s connection to Britain’s naval history and images involving King William IV.
Mayle said that he wanted to create a mural “containing images that people hadn’t seen before, something other than the cathedral or the Lincoln Imp.”
The mural is expected to be completed on Wednesday 10th April.
