A Northern Quarter car park has become a whole lot brighter after a street art project employed artists to liven up the landscape with a new mural.
Manchester initiative Out House commissioned artists Matt Sewell and Richt to add some colour to the city’s bohemian Northern Quarter district.
In an area already well known for its street art, the new addition of a mural on the hoardings around the Dreamscape Garden has been welcomed by the locals.
Tommy Wolstencroft, CityCo’s Northern Quarter Project Manager, said: ‘We’re really pleased with this eye-catching latest work and have already received many positive comments from local residents.
“The Northern Quarter is becoming known for its street art. Specially commissioned graffiti artists have created some amazing pieces of public art which really add a splash of colour to the area.”
Out House have been brightening up the Northern Quarter since 2010, and the mural in Dale Street car park off Hilton Street is no exception.
Depicting a vibrant woodland scene, the work creates a striking contrast to the urban environment surrounding it.
CONTRAST: A woodland scene in the heart of Manchester
Artist Tasha Whittle, from Out House, commissioned the new work.
“I’ve always really enjoyed the artwork that Sewell and Richt have produced over the years and wanted to see how their styles would work together in a piece. When the ‘Dreamscape Garden’ site became available to paint I felt these guys would be right for the job.”
The site is the fourth space that Out House have turned their attention to.
The former public toilet in Stevenson Square, the SubStation on Tib Street and the Wheatsheaf pub on Oak Street have also undergone makeovers in recent years.
“It is always a pleasure to see how an artist interacts with the spaces and also how the public engage with it”, said Tasha.
“We feel that it is important to have these spaces within the Northern Quarter as a way of offering inspiration to anyone that walks by, but also offering a platform for artists to showcase their work within a public setting.”
She also stressed how without funding and sponsorship, the whole project would have been impossible.
“CityCo have been incredibly supportive through the whole process, and with their help we’ve been able to bring some amazing public art by some very talented artists to this part of the city centre”, she explained.
Bristol-based Richt explained how the artists’ ideas came together.
“Matt and I have been trying to paint together for a little while with this idea in mind, so the garden project was the perfect opportunity,” he said. “We knew what we wanted to do but had no set plan.”
Matt Sewell added: “The only brief for me was British wildlife which is absolutely perfect, so I went to town. I’m used to painting birds so it was ace to paint a frog, a daft vole and my first ever grasshopper.”
In the Northern Quarter car park the two artists successfully combined their individual talents to create something original and eye-catching.
“It was perfect working with Richt and his dense flora and fauna,” Matt continued. “We’ve painted our names next to each other quite a few times so it was nice to do something different in such a great spot.”
For further information about CityCo visit www.cityco.com
To find out more about Matt Sewell’s work visit www.mattsewell.co.uk
Pictures courtesy of Matt Sewell, with thanks
