Better than random

Policy
Written By Rory Wilmer

Something has shifted in the public conversation about New Brighton's walls this week. We do not need to pretend otherwise. It is worth restating clearly where we stand.

New Brighton's mural trail began years ago with private property owners on Victoria Road inviting artists from here and abroad to paint their walls. Back then it was known as New Brighton Street Art. It was a private effort that changed the town. When the moment came for someone to pick up the baton and carry the work forward, New Brighton Creative Futures CIC was set up to do exactly that. Protect what had been made. Preserve it against weather and time. Commission what comes next. Under our stewardship, the trail became the OpenAIR Gallery. The fuller story is on our Origins page.

On the day we set the CIC up, one of the first things we published was our Creative Expression Policy. It was not an afterthought. It was foundational. It is the operating standard for everything NBCF commissions or supports, and it says three simple things.

  1. Property owner permission. Every wall belongs to someone. Before a project begins, that owner has said yes, in writing.

  2. Subject consent, where relevant. If a project depicts a person, features a name, or references someone's story, we ask them first, or their family where the subject is no longer with us. Their story is theirs.

  3. Planning and heritage compliance. New Brighton is a place with history. Every project we support is checked against the rules that protect the streets and buildings, and cleared, before work begins.

We hold ourselves to these three because public art, done well, deserves better than random. It deserves planning, conversation, and an artist who has thought about the wall, the place, and the people who live and work around it. Anything less is a shortcut. Shortcuts do not build trust, and they do not build beauty.

If work has not cleared the three tests, it is not New Brighton Creative Futures work. That line is clear, it is public, and it does not move.

Read the full policy at hellonewbrighton.com/creative-expression-policy

Rory Wilmer
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Where the Old Town Meets the New Walls