In March of last year, we painted the ‘Let us Breathe’ mural outside Fremantle House, bringing together dozens of residents and passersby. It started off with a group of us organising design sessions in Carolina House community room. We made drawings in response to prompts about climate change, nature, and community. Chatting about green spaces really highlighted their importance, and how keeping them safe, especially for children, is essential.
‘Let Us Breathe’ became the central idea, potentially referring to the problem of air pollution in Bristol, the desire for more freedom and autonomy, and the need for moments of calm. The left side focused on problems, showing the threat of extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change, that are a reality for many people in the world. Problems of litter and air pollution are also represented. The right side focused on nature and community, focusing on urban nature and depicting people planting trees together with the Dove Street tower blocks in the background. This grounded the design in the area, which was important for residents, as well as representing the multicultural community of Dove Street.
Mike and Camille worked together to produce the final mural design using ideas from the design sessions. Victoria worked hard to organise the community painting days, coordinating help from St Matthew’s Church and pizzas for the evening. Maddie offered face painting to excited kids on the first painting day.
The combination of this, the painting, food, and chats brought a bubbly and joyful community atmosphere. There were many stages of the process including getting permission, priming the wall, and tracing projections of the design with charcoal. After all this work, it really came together when people of all ages started painting the walls.
To celebrate the completion of the mural, we hosted a celebration event where we had drumming from Kabbo to lead up to the unveiling of the mural. It was amazing to celebrate what we had achieved. The Mayor of Bristol even made an appearance and we were interviewed by Bristol 24/7! People commented that the mural brightened up the area, that the painting days brought joy to their children, and that it was lovely seeing people gathered together talking to each other. What made it really special were the creative ideas that residents had, the enthusiasm and ambition from everyone, and the fact that we followed through even when challenges arose. We’re excited for more community events to continue, and for more walls to be brightened and green spaces to be enriched.
