Wolverhampton’s streets are set to get a lot more colourful this spring. Street Stories Wolverhampton will launch across March and April, with eight fantastic local artists contributing works across the city centre. Enjoy Wolverhampton BID is working with the Street Stories team of design agency Arch Creative and Graffio Arts to bring the project to life.
Street Stories aims to transform city centres into thriving cultural centres. Wolverhampton is the fourth iteration so far, after Leicester, Colchester, and Stirling. Instead of vacant shops being signs of decline, our cities can be vibrant open-air art galleries for people to visit and drive new business.
Enjoy Wolverhampton BID Managing Director Cherry Shine discusses some of the reasons why she chose the project:
“Street Stories provides a real opportunity to showcase the investment potential of the city centre at the same time as introducing art.” – Cherry Shine, Enjoy Wolverhampton BID
The artworks celebrate the achievements of pioneering people from Wolverhampton and explore powerful themes including technology in art, colour theory, mental health, the cosmos, growth and change, and local history.
“I first saw the Street Stories concept…and thought what an amazing impact the project had. It combined such talented local artists, a layer of augmented reality and brought the streetscape to life with vibrant art installations. It presented a true celebration of the place, the talented people, heritage, culture, and opportunity. I knew I had to make it happen in Wolverhampton.” – Cherry Shine, Enjoy Wolverhampton BID
Eight local artists were selected for the trail, with a diverse range of styles. This was made up of digital artist Eve Whitfield, UV specialist Angel Bottley, Photographer and designer Keri Hunt, Felix award-winning Amanda Keeton, The Colour Palette Company with their celebration of Wolverhampton, Interactive Illusionist Belinda Maria Longsden, Graffiti Camouflage master Steve Edwards from ‘Graffoflarge’, and lastly illusionist Chris Long and micro artist professional David A Lindon with their collaborative piece.
You’ll be able to follow the trail of artworks around the city and bring them to life with multi-sensory animations triggered by a free smartphone app.
By moving visitors around the artworks it will encourage footfall across the city centre. The augmented-reality feature gives another dimension to the artworks, providing an added draw and making it a great outdoor activity for all ages to engage with.
The first installation went live on 22nd March, with special guest collaborator Goldie MBE and artist Eve Whitfield unveiling their work.
“After Covid, the high-street has gone down a level so it’s not as appealing, but with Street Stories it gives it an advantage to brighten up an area and makes people want to go there… It’s a chance for my work to be out there and be viewed by a larger audience.” – Eve Whitfield, Digital Artist
Street Stories Director Joe Nixon discusses Street Stories Wolverhampton:
“It was a privilege to meet Goldie and watch him unveil the first artwork for Street Stories Wolverhampton. Goldie is a creative pioneer, so it’s been a dream to collaborate with him, and for him to champion Street Stories. Combining both his art and music within our augmented-reality animation was a real honour – as was meeting all the other artists involved in the project.” – Joe Nixon, Street Stories
Reflecting on the impact of Street Stories, Goldie said:
“It’s worth seeing the history of what you’ve got here, what people have to say and what the history of Street Stories means to different people. It’s really good.” – Goldie
Goldie’s own graffiti has been integrated with Eve’s digital portrait of him. Eve is a recent graduate from the University of Wolverhampton who achieved a first and won an award for outstanding professional development in visual practice.
Speaking to young artists in the city and beyond, Goldie said:
“It’s always about creating new ideas and new stories, to be honest. My advice would be don’t feed off just the past. Create new things. Because remember when I was doing this stuff, no one liked it here and they were against it.”
The first superstar of the breakbeat jungle movement, Goldie pioneered drum’n’bass as a form of musical expression. He was involved with breakdancing crews around Wolverhampton while refining his talent for graffiti. Going back to his roots, Goldie has now become part of Street Stories and shares the view that creativity drives change.
