Enjoy Wolverhampton has worked with the Street Stories team of design agency Arch Creative and Graffio Arts to deliver a new vacant-units project. We improve the appearance of empty shops in the city centre and turn them into vibrant points of interest.
We worked with eight local artists (and one surprise legend) spanning a range of styles and mediums. Street Stories celebrates the innovative achievements of pioneering people from Wolverhampton and explores some powerful themes including technology in art, colour theory, mental health, the cosmos, growth and decay, and local history.
Follow the trail of artworks around the city and bring them to life with multi-sensory animations triggered by a free smartphone app. Download the Street Stories AR App now and discover the tales Wolverhampton has to tell.
Click the numbers below to find out where you can view the artworks
9/11 central arcade (upper mall), Wolverhampton, WV1 3NH
View on mapWolverhampton Railway Station, Railway Dr, Wolverhampton WV1 1LE
View on map2/3 Princess Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1HQ
View on map7 Hampton Walk, Queen Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1TQ
View on map1 Hampton Walk, Queen Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1TQ
View on map19 The Gallery, Mander Centre, Wolverhampton WV1 3NG
View on map9/11 central arcade (upper mall), Wolverhampton, WV1 3NH
View on map25-26 Queen Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1TQ
View on map2/3 Princess Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1HQ
View on mapWolverhampton Railway Station, Railway Dr, Wolverhampton WV1 1LE
View on map2/3 Princess Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1HQ
View on mapEve Whitfield is a digital illustrator and recent graduate from the University of Wolverhampton. She achieved a first and won an award for outstanding professional development in visual practice.
Eve’s specialty is semi-realistic portrait illustrations. She loves to capture people and their stories in her work, so she was an ideal candidate for Street Stories. Although she has specialised in digital work, she is branching out into murals and street art, completing murals inspired by Adventure Time and Bob Ross.
Her portrait subjects include Lionel Messi, Christiano Ronaldo, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana, and now Goldie. Her other subjects include cars, food, and character illustrations of Jesse Pinkman, Walter White, and a range of Star Wars favourites.
Visit websiteGoldie: musician, producer, artist, actor; he can sell golden grills, conduct an orchestra, is one of a handful of creatives to co-write with David Bowie. The man’s a certified polymath whose merits are near impossible to boil down . . . but it all started in Wolverhampton.
A 1986 exhibition at Wolverhampton’s art gallery introduced Goldie to the British Arts Council, while his street art and pioneering music in jungle and drum n bass shot him off into stardom.
A Wolverhampton legend from humble origins, Goldie is a testament to the fact that our beginnings don’t have to define how far we can go in life.
Where to find/7 Hampton Walk, Queen Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1TQ
View on mapAngel’s works explore natural scenes, such as a koi pond, seascapes, forests, the night sky, and the stars beyond.
She often uses UV paint in her works, making them two-in-one pictures. They look realistic under regular lighting and then take on a surreal otherworldly quality under a blacklight.
Angel is represented by Hammond Galleries.
Moonlit Forest is a spectacular triptych, a set of three mesmerising UV paintings which combine to represent a serene forest which is brought to life under ultraviolet light.
The evolution of the same forest scene presented in two different perspectives gives a sense of how the beauty of nature can be so distinct and contrasting, and how the moon phase can be so awe-inspiring and powerful.
Using her own unique style, Angel creates these UV artworks within natural scenes and environments, which then take on a new dimension. Without a UV light present in the street, the Augmented-Reality animation we’ve created shows the transformation from day to night, as the moon lights-up the forest with a radiating neon glow.
Where to find/1 Hampton Walk, Queen Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1TQ
View on mapKeri Hunt finds humour and inspiration in the ordinary details of life.
She has seen Wolverhampton transform again and again in her lifetime. In the 1980s, Heathtown was nicknamed “Firetown” because of the area’s high crime rates and firearms. Living in a concrete jungle can take its toll. After a period of depression in 2017, Keri began venturing out with her camera.
“I took pictures of my surroundings, forcing myself out. I started noticing little things that made me smile amongst the rubble. The contrast between nature and industry, the locked-up building site with vivid graffiti surrounding the perimeter and the abandoned trolley stolen from Asda.”
Three years after taking these pictures, the whole world became isolated, making these images even more poignant.
“My work posits that the area isn’t defined by what it is but instead by what it isn’t. Whether looking at the big picture or zooming in on an odd detail, I capture a unique vision of the West Midlands today.”
She has seen Wolverhampton transform again and again in her lifetime. In the 1980s, Heathtown was nicknamed “Firetown” because of the area’s high crime rates and firearms. Living in a concrete jungle can take its toll. After a period of depression in 2017, Keri began venturing out with her camera.
Three years after taking these pictures, the whole world became isolated, making these images even more poignant.
“My work posits that the area isn’t defined by what it is but instead by what it isn’t. Whether looking at the big picture or zooming in on an odd detail, I capture a unique vision of the West Midlands today.”
Keri’s photography combines Pop Art sensibilities with the gritty appeal of street scenes. Her photomontages juxtapose Wolverhampton’s iconic buildings against a backdrop of graffiti, creating visual narratives that are both edgy and optimistic. With her unique perspective, Keri breathes new life into familiar cityscapes.
Where to find/19 The Gallery, Mander Centre, Wolverhampton WV1 3NG
View on mapAmanda Keeton is a graphic artist with a 1st Class Hons in Surface Pattern and Floor Covering Design. Having worked as a designer for a major greeting card company for many years, she saw a lot of her card and wrapping paper designs in Asda, Sainsbury’s and Clintons across the country.
Over time, Amanda has continued to develop her artistic style, drawing inspiration from nature and a love of art as a form of escapism from the real world. She was accepted into the Wolverhampton Society Of Artists in 2019 and has since gone on to exhibit ‘Farmyard Gangsters’ at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 2022 which won the ‘Felix Award’ that was presented by the mayor. This is awarded to artists whose work brings benefits to health and wellbeing.
“Creating art is something that brings me great joy and if the final artwork makes other people happy, then I feel as an artist you have achieved your ultimate goal!”
Amanda is donating a percentage of print sales to The Brain Tumour Charity and Young Minds, two charities close to home and heart. Her aim is to form a lasting partnership with both so her work can continually support theirs.
View Amanda’s work on Instagram @amanda_keeton_art
@candypop_art_design
Email amandakeeton.art@gmail.com for print details
The Barbershop Quartet is a humorous artwork featuring llamas and alpacas with their curly hair, taking a group selfie outside a barbers shop!
Amanda’s pieces often look at playful views of animals within human environments, linking them anthropomorphically. This includes ‘Farmyard Gangsters’, an award-winning 2022 piece featuring chickens in jail which can be seen on the window here, and ‘The Barbershop Quartet’ which is a visual representation of the current trend for teenage boy’s permed hair.
Amanda is a keen supporter of charities, so the animation has been developed to reflect the importance of the arts and mental health. Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre is celebrating its 130th anniversary, and the theatre, choirs and other performance venues have long been beneficial as social communities which are instrumental in mental health therapy and rehabilitation.
Amanda is donating a percentage of print sales to The Brain Tumour Charity and Young Minds, two charities close to home and heart. Her aim is to form a lasting partnership with both so her work can continually support theirs.
Where to find/9/11 central arcade (upper mall), Wolverhampton, WV1 3NH
View on mapThese images were all created using brushstrokes or collage. They create an optical illusion and can appear to move (before using AR) due to the colours and composition used.
Belinda’s artwork is based on everyday images and objects which surround us, from newspapers on the ground to galaxies above. She aims to bring the viewer’s attention to the beauty in everyday things by changing the way we see them.
“The way the artwork is realised is unimportant to me as long as the method I employ portrays the idea.”
After graduating in 2008 Belinda has been part of many art projects in Wolverhampton from running pop up shops, small galleries, festivals and her own business White Bee Gallery.
View Belinda’s work at belindamarialongsden.com
Belinda’s vibrant kaleidoscopic images are created using brushstrokes or collage. They create an optical illusion and appear to move due to the colours and composition used. Her ‘starburst’ artwork include a vast range of colours, techniques and finish accumulating into a blended colour explosion.
Wolverhampton’s motto ‘Out of the darkness cometh light’ perfectly fits with Belinda’s Kaleidoscope pattern artworks. The psychedelic decoupage motifs metamorphosize, building up a narrative which reflects the everyday variety of vibrant Wolverhampton folk which personifies its motto.
Where to find/25-26 Queen Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1TQ
View on mapGraffoflarge is the fusion of camouflage into graffiti.
Originally having started out as a pattern master, eventually crossing over into abstract street art.
Having then experienced a chance commission by the Dulux ‘Lets Paint’ project of a Tiger led to a change in direction and influence for Steves’s art. Since then he has continued to paint creatures/animals in his own unique style. Incorporating his Surface Pattern roots.
He is also experienced in creating large format pieces and murals with vast experience working with councils and local authorities.
Further working with an ever-expanding network of primary, Secondary, and Special schools, delivering my own unique hands on workshops. Not many artists offer the chance for kids to actually use spray paint on the murals themselves.
Most recently Steve has worked with the Substance Recovery/Refugee and migrant sector.
Visit websiteSteve’s unique Graffoflarge style is utilised in his Street Stories artwork, which is a fusion series of humans and beasts, inspired by tattoo compositions.
“I wanted to create a piece of a wolf and a young maiden (in this case a model called Iska), using my trademark line rendering finished off in Molineux colours, the black outer rings echo Iskas tribal tattoos.”
The animation has been developed to include Lady Wulfrun, the 10th century nobleman who founded what would later become the city, Wolvrenehamptonia. The variation Wolveren Hampton is seen in medieval records in 1381.
Where to find/2/3 Princess Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1HQ
View on mapThe Colour Palette Company is the brainchild of Birmingham-based designer and writer Stacey Barnfield, whose first colour palette for his home city blew up on social media in January 2021.
Stacey believes great design and typography should be fun, accessible, and celebratory.
The Colour Palette Company characterises a region through a gradient of colour swatches, packed with references to the people and places that make our hometowns unique.
Using design to highlight the special qualities of a town — this was such a meeting of the minds that they were a natural choice for Street Stories.
View their work at thecolourpalettecompany.com
Wolverhampton beer, the mighty Slade, Wolves football and more are celebrated on this vibrant Wolverhampton Colour Palette with colours that pop and will stand out – and raise a smile – on any wall.
Bonks’s Bitter pays tribute to Banks’s Bitter, and the beers of Brewery Road – but pronounced as a local would say it! Banks’s has been brewing beer here since 1875 using the best natural, local ingredients.
Slade Flame honours the glam-rock legends Slade. Slade in Flame (also known as Flame) is a 1975 film starring the band who were formed in Wolverhampton in 1966.
Old Gold is for the Molineux faithful, representing Wolverhampton Wanderers FC’s original shirt colour. The colours were changed from old gold to gold in 1954 as the club wanted a brighter shirt colour when playing under the famous floodlights.
Chimney Blue celebrates the much-missed Goodyear chimney. This iconic landmark at the factory on Stafford Road was 200 feet and weighed 3,000 long tons. Built in 1927, it was demolished in 2008.
Trolleybus Green for Wolverhampton’s local transport of old. The system was the most extensive in the UK, and for a period in the 1930s was the world’s largest trolleybus system.
Pop Art Red for the gallery’s world-class collection of British and American Pop Art. Wolverhampton Art Gallery is home to works by Andy Warhol, Richard Hamilton and Pauline Boty, and comprises paintings, works on paper and sculpture.
Halls Lights for the legendary venue dating back to 1938. Wulfrun Hall has seen performances from some of the most famous faces over the years including one of Nirvana’s final UK shows.
Wulfrun Bronze for the founding Lady’s statue at St Peter’s Collegiate Church. The formidable bronze was sculpted by Codsall-born Sir Charles Wheeler in 1974.
Where to find/Wolverhampton Railway Station, Railway Dr, Wolverhampton WV1 1LE
View on mapChris Long has spent the last 15 years creating geometric optical illusions; effects that can make shapes appear to be moving or 3D. His latest work has involved combining techniques to create even more pronounced optical illusions. His aim is to create dramatic effects that draw the viewer in as they work out what is going on in the piece.
Chris’s work is closely connected with his diagnosis on the autistic spectrum and has been a great source of therapy for the stress and anxiety that can cause.His inspirations include Bridget Riley, M.C.Escher, and Victor Vasareley.
Taking Rembrandt’s masterpiece, The Night Watch, and pixelating it is certainly an ambitious project. But it doesn’t stop there. Other pixelated paintings include portraits of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Vincent Van Gogh, as well as reimaginings of the latter’s works.
Chris has now partnered with artist David A Lindon. David specialises in recreating artworks and scenes in extreme miniature. They’ve collaborated to make a tiny version of the pixelated Rembrandt, so small it can fit on the surface of the hat worn by its main subject in the original.
Chris is represented by Hammond Galleries.
Chris and David have created a true masterpiece based of an original masterpiece from the Dutch Golden Age. Recreating Rembrandts famous The Night Watch Chris Long painstakingly recreated the painting using 32,000 5mm x 5mm squares, each tiny coloured square being painstakingly hand-mixed and hand-painted to create the pixelated artwork on display. This process was incredibly mentally and physically demanding taking 6 months to create.
Further to this, Chris wanted to take his artwork even further partnering with David Lindon to create the smallest version of the Rembrandt to date within the artwork with the first collaboration of its kind. Within the black hat you can find within one of the pixel squares another version of the original painting created through David’s special technique.
The microscopic Rembrandt painting is 2.2mm x 1.8mm made from over 60 individual components. It is the most technically difficult and physically demanding microscopic masterpiece David has created. He first creates his own handmade microscopic tools, each not visible to the naked eye. David has to work at night to avoid the vibrations of the daytime traffic, working for between 6-10 hours at a time. David enters an almost meditative state and is required to work between his heartbeats due to the pulse passing through his fingers being too much movement.
Where to find/2/3 Princess Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1HQ
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