Outing – Street Art Tour of Brighton

Since the transformation of Brighthelmstone into an ‘anything goes’ party town in the 18th and 19th centuries, it has had a reputation for tolerance of human activities that might well be condemned elsewhere. This certainly applies to the street art that is so much a part of modern Brighton.

By the late 1990s the uncontrolled tagging (the spraying only of names, usually nicknames) had left the city with a scruffy feel. The city council decided to commission graffiti artists to decorate some of the blank walls with their art and once an artwork was in place, other artists respected it and they were less likely to be vandalised.

There are generally 2 types of street art in Brighton; Official and Unofficial. Official tend to be works that were commissioned by the council or a business. Many works that became famous have disappeared and often been replaced with new pieces. This is a natural progression and a normal part of street art. Also, being by the sea, the weather etc degrades the works, so if they are not maintained, they don’t last forever. So, what you see today, might not be there tomorrow.

This Brighton Street Art Tour, starts very near the railway station with a huge mural covered with (mostly) dead rock stars. How many will you be able to name? Then we’ll make our way around the streets where the artists are most likely to have made their marks and you can maybe start to identify the styles of certain of these spray-paint practitioners, like Snub and Sprite.

Accessibility: The route is generally flat and very central, but there are hills up to the Prince Albert and the railway station. There maybe the usual issues of uneven surfaces and lack of dropped curbs, but no more than other town centres. We will be travelling by train, but there is a car park by Brighton railway station, with disability parking bays, if appropriate.