Bristol City Council plans a new Street Art Policy

"Measures proposed to achieve targets include the following.

To remover (sic) offensive and unsightly graffiti. However the Council will produce a new street art policy, which will seek to define and support the display of Public Art, where people tell us that murals or artworks make a positive contribution to the local environment and where the property owner has raised no objection."

The council are having a meeting on 15th September 2009, so please email your local Cllr's and MP's and raise your opinions, also ask for the Graffiti Policy tobe updated, we want more LEGAL Walls, and Practise boards through out Bristol, ask for written confirmation that the new boards in Dean Lane will be going up (seeing as the boards at the top of the park, will be going)

Jan Ormondroyd has to reply to every email she recieves, so please let jam her inbox (lol)

jan.ormondroyd@bristol.gov.uk

This is the email I have sent

"Dear Sir/Madam

I am enquiring when will the Bristol City Council Graffiti Policy be updated?

Also The back of Bristol South Swimming has been cleaned of graffiti, the workmen doing this the job said that there will be boarding placed on the railing. Is there any truth in this? If so, when will it happen?

With regards to Graffiti/Urban Street Art, this is what Bristol is well known for. The success of the Children of the Can book, Crimes of Passion and The Banksy vs Bristol Museum Exhibition, it has put Bristol on the ‘map’ in a very big way, added more tourism and money into Bristol’s economy, and not forgetting the press coverage of all three events at National and International level.

Members of the public have been downloading The Bristol Graffiti Maps, when they have come to visit the Banksy exhibition’s and taken a tour of the city to view the Urban art for themselves.

The most popular area they have visited are Stokes Croft, which the PRSC have put a great deal of effort into making the area a better place and improving what was once an eyesore, into many works of Urban Art for people to enjoy.

Lakota night club, has been vastly improved on the outside, with art work from the likes of FLX, Cheo, Soker, 3Dom, Epok, Sepr and Jody, all of whom are renowned for there art work in Bristol. They have also exhibited there work at the Crime of Passion at RWA and Weapon of Choice Gallery.

Dame Emily Park, at Dean Lane is another place people have visited, some fantastic artist’s have painted the walls in the park over the years, and continue to do so. It’s also nice when members of the public go to the park and watch the artist paint. The artists are always happy to stop and talk to people of all ages, and answer questions.

The boards along side the industrial museum are another place people have gone to see Urban Art, along with Mina Road tunnel, this is just to name a few of the many places in Bristol.

I see Tagging as Graffiti, which is annoying. Bristol needs more practise boards for Urban Artist’s, as they only have the boards on Ashley Road to use, and more legal places in Bristol for the artist to paint, this may help in the reduction of tagging.

Many of these Urban Artist’s not only paint the wall’s and boards of Bristol, they also paint canvas’, some screen print t-shirts, some work with youth clubs and schools, teaching the youth of today, the history of Graffiti/Urban Art, other’s like FLX have wrote a book on the Bristol Urban Art scene.

Urban Art is free for people to enjoy, people that can not afford to go out and buy a Banksy or a Damien Hurst, will take photographs of what they see and like. Urban Art changes on a weekly basis, some times daily depending on where you look in Bristol. So by asking the people of Bristol to vote on which pieces should stay or be removed, seems rather pointless.

There are many area’s of Bristol that would benefit from Urban Art that changes on a regular basis, it would be rather boring for the public to see the same piece of art for months on end. Urban Street Art, adds a smile to your face when you walk by, it brightens up a dull day, its something the people of Bristol have to respect and enjoy, most of all – it’s free!”