UNFRAMED, Ashford’s first mural festival officially came to an end on Sunday 16 April. The eighteen-stop, contemporary street art trail, curated by Accent London & The London Mural Company, saw the transformation of blank walls and building surfaces into high quality mural paintings and bespoke integrated artwork.
The festival was Ashford Borough Council’s fourth and final seasonal event commissioned as part of the adopted Ashford Festival and Event Framework. A strategic priority of which was to animate the town centre and support wayfinding.
Work began on the murals at the beginning of March, with artists including Mr Doodle, Alex Chinneck, Charley Peters, Curtis Hylton and local artist Danielle Williamson all taking on the challenge of converting blank walls into spaces of colour and creativity.
The festival was officially launched at Coachworks, on Friday 31 March, then for the following two weeks the town centre became a hub of activity with visitors from far and wide coming to Ashford to explore the mural trail.
Although the festival has come to an end, all eighteen of the murals are to remain in place. Of course, some of the murals, especially those on temporary hoardings, might disappear in time as new businesses open, but for now the art trail will be able to continue for the foreseeable future. This has been made possible because of the enduring support of the landlords, businesses and organisations who have enabled all of these artworks to be put in situ.
To find out more about the mural trail and the artists, please visit loveashford.com
