New murals celebrate food and community in St Pauls

New murals celebrate food and community in St Pauls

Posted on: 25 Sep 2020

The vibrant new artwork spans three hubs of the St Pauls community.

 

Local artist team Graft have started work on a collection of murals in St Pauls, inspired by the local community and designed around soul food recipes submitted by members of the public.

 

The result of a two-year collaborative effort between the teams behind The Architecture Centre, St Pauls Learning Centre, St Pauls Adventure Playground and TALO, 'The Green Way' is set to transform buildings in the heart of the area.

 

The project team hope to connect community and creativity with design and development, while celebrating the role of food in St Pauls by encouraging locals to take photos of the murals and bring recipes to life in their own homes.

Local artist Rob Wheeler works on a mural outside the St Pauls Learning Centre.Local artist Rob Wheeler works on a mural outside the St Pauls Learning Centre.

 

Launched back in March 2019 with 12 months of community workshops and events, 'The Green Way' saw local people join forces with architects, planners and urban designers to co-create ideas for meaningful improvements to St Pauls' public spaces.

 

Once the direction for the project had been decided, The Architecture Centre went on to lead successful fundraising efforts and continue their engagement with the local community.

 

The online 'What is Your Soul Food?' competition invited people to create and share their favourite soul food recipes, and saw more than 200 people get involved and share their ideas during lockdown.

 

The recipes submitted as part of the online campaign went on to inspire the new artwork in St Pauls, which reflect and celebrate the diverse culinary heritage and  landscape of the area.

 

The three winning recipes selected to become part of the murals are Amina's Samosas, Glen's Ackee and Saltfish and Tara's Dolma.

One of three works in progress as part of 'The Green Way' project.One of three works in progress as part of 'The Green Way' project.

 

Georgina Bolton, Project Lead for The Architecture Centre, explains that the team wanted to "inspire people to walk and cycle through St Pauls whilst transforming local social and community businesses and creating places to gather and play."

 

"In our first phase of work at the start of lockdown," she continues, "we planted trees, now we’re onto phase two - painting murals along the ‘Green Way’ inspired by local recipes and cultural soul foods.

 

"The final phase will feature infrastructure changes to connect existing community hubs to their green spaces and creating places for communities to gather, eat, park bikes and enjoy nature."

 

Tara Miran, one of the three winners of the 'What is Your Soul Food' competition, added "I love the many different food cultures you see in St Pauls. To have my Kurdish Dolma recipe as a permanent feature in the local community is a recognition of my culture.

 

"It is a celebration of the love for food amongst the different communities of St Pauls and I’m looking forward to cooking the other recipes represented at the other sites."

 

You can find the new murals at the St Pauls Learning Centre, St Pauls Adventure Playground and Halston Drive Community Room.

 

For more information on 'The Green Way' project, or to follow news and updates, head to the Graft Facebook page.

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Article by:

Matt Robson

 

Editor - 365Bristol.com & LOUD Magazine
 

Matt is a Journalism graduate and writer, passionate about supporting Bristol music, art and independent business. Get in touch via email at matt@365bristol.com.