Street Artists put Colour Back into the Community at Preston

Residents in Hull may have noticed that the Preston Road Estate has a brand new look, thanks to the artistic efforts of the street art collective, Bankside Gallery – and we were happy to help. 

In total, 130 artists took part in a weekend-long takeover of the estate, which saw 22 empty houses painted over and then used as blank canvases for unique graffiti artworks which have completely transformed the community. 

Through its manufacturing facility in Hull, Crown Paints donated hundreds of litres of paints to the Bankside Gallery street art collective over the past few months, including Sandtex masonry paint, which was used to create the ‘blank canvases’ for the artists to spray over, with some artists also working with the coloured paint to create the larger sections of their murals too. 

The takeover drew artists and visitors from across the country, including Hull local Dora Wilkins, who was born in 1933 in one of the houses that received the Bankside Gallery treatment and who came along to see how the street-art crew were putting pride back in the community. 

This isn’t the first time that the Bankside Gallery – led by David Harrison, and Ollie and Kain Marshall of Spray Creative – have organised a takeover at the Preston Road Estate.  

Last year, a group of artists took over a section of the estate and spray-painted over the derelict buildings. Remarkably, Humberside Fire & Rescue Service reported a 41 per cent drop in vandalism, including arson attacks, on derelict properties that feature the murals. 

Commenting on the initiative, Ollie Marshall of Spray Creative and the Bankside Gallery said: “Since we started the Bankside Gallery over a year ago, we have seen the impact that art can have on a community. It gives people a sense of pride and we get a lot of people – residents and visitors – coming along to see what the artists have created.   

“Brand like Sandtex getting involved has really boosted the project – the donated paint means that artists can afford to paint more and more frequently, so it really is a massive help.” 

The Bankside Gallery is a community initiative started in 2018 to transform the Bankside area of the city into an outdoor art gallery after the appearance of a Banksy artwork sparked nationwide interest in the industrial area – which happens to be home to Crown Paint’s manufacturing facility.