We’re delighted to reveal a vibrant, attractive, and contemporary art mural in Newbury – an idea derived and brought to fruition by the us, your BID, with the aim of bringing smiles and visitors to the town centre.
The colourful masterpiece was strategically located on Cheap Street, an area of the town centre that typically receives less footfall than Newbury’s busier hotspots and high street.
Visitor numbers in the south of the town centre have dwindled since the pandemic hit, with a rapid decline in daily rail commuters coming to and from Newbury. This comes as no surprise, given Great Western Railway has reported that they’re still only receiving up to 50% of their regular ticket sales versus the same period pre-covid.
With this in mind, we hope the mural will help draw visitors back to the quieter streets in the area, while raising awareness of the local businesses in this area. They hope to increase custom and in turn boost revenue for the owners- many of whom have struggled to survive during this challenging period.
We’ve launched several initiatives in the past year to help encourage footfall to this part of town, including a number of trails in partnership with Parkway Shopping and Kennet Shopping. When the opportunity arose for the mural, in no small part thanks to the cooperation of Kennet Shopping who manage the building where the art is sited, we leapt at the chance.
Alison Drummond, our Operations Manager, said:
We’re so pleased with how the mural has turned out and hope employees of local businesses and Newbury residents will take the time to visit the art and explore this side of town more often as a result. There are so many wonderful and quirky independent businesses, such as Empire Café, Pageant Party, Newbury Emporium, Bravo, The Tasty Plaice, and Ryan’s Antiques, that can get forgotten being tucked away on Cheap Street, but the term ‘hidden gem’ didn’t get its name for nothing!
The mural really is yet another attraction for Newbury, and we sincerely hope this pays off for the businesses that occupy the area.
Empire Café is one of Newbury’s oldest businesses and has recently been subject to a hugely successful and wide-spread social media campaign, with locals taking to their social networks to express their views on supporting Newbury’s longest-standing bakery.
The artists behind the mural are three well-established and respected graffiti artists who have worked on many major street art projects around the UK. Layla’s Murals, Art by Roo, and Skyhigh, all joined forces to fulfil the creative brief which took two days to complete, for free of charge.
Newbury local Layla Cope, the street art and graffiti artist who led the project, says:
There can be a lot of pressure on us as artists to deliver a brief set out by those commissioning the art. For the art mural in Newbury, the message was simple; bring smiles back to Newbury and give people a reason to visit the area. The art certainly brought smiles to our faces while creating it, so we very much hope it has the same effect on others visiting the area, too!
For more reasons to visit Newbury, why not check out the list of events taking place in Newbury town centre and beyond? Please click here to learn more.
