‘Kindness changes everything’ - Grace Eyre works with street artists to transform Preston Park station

The following press release has been issued by charity Grace Eyre, station partner at Preston Park.

Preston Park station in Brighton is being transformed with a new 90-metre-long mural with the help of charity Grace Eyre’s Active Lives service – and the local community is invited to join them.

Working with street artists Sprite and SNUB23, the exciting collaboration celebrates the diversity of Brighton’s community, promotes inclusion and raises awareness of the charity, while creating a lasting and impactful mural at Preston Park station for everyone to enjoy. It is displayed alongside the charity’s existing work as station partners, improving the station environment with planters and posters.

The thought-provoking and uplifting mural, which will be one of the longest in Brighton, has been inspired by people with a learning disability and/or autism supported by Grace Eyre, who have developed their ideas during a series of workshops run by the artists as part of Grace Eyre’s Active Lives sessions over the last few months.

The design is based around the positive message of ‘Kindness Changes Everything’. The colourful palette of the mural, plus the variation in letters and overlayed illustration makes the phrase harder to read – representing how some things can be harder for people with a learning disability, but that different perspectives can create something beautiful.

Work has begun at Preston Park station with artists supported by Grace Eyre joining Sprite and SNUB23 to help bring their design to life.

Street artist Sprite said: “Working with Grace Eyre has been one of the biggest highlights of my career so far. This project has become more than a job for me. I have loved every moment working alongside the amazing team at Grace Eyre.

“We’ve met so many brilliant individuals who have brought so much joy to my life. I really hope to continue spending more time with the groups there, chatting with Lara and Nat, giggling with Mena and Mario, bantering with Kyle, listening to Josh and Keir’s hilarious stories, and admiring Teresa’s and Zena’s artwork.

“I’m so excited for everyone to see what we have created and hope it brings more recognition to this amazing group and their inspiring support workers.”

Members of the community are also invited to join the artists and leave their mark at the station during an upcoming community painting event and street art workshop on Saturday 6^th December.

People wanting to take part should drop in to The Modern Funeral’s event space next to Preston Park station any time between 1pm and 3.30pm. There they will be able to try out different paint techniques indoors and find out about the project, the artists and the history of street art.

Fellow street artist SNUB23 said: “Art has been an evolution for me, I’ve grown with it for all of my life. Mark making and colour experiments are such a joy, I find it wonderful to share my knowledge and experience when running workshops, but on this project I have found I’m the one learning.

“From exploring surreal word association to beautifully organised chaos in some of the colour research and spray pen workshops, the fearless creativity in every session is astounding.

“I always left a visit to Grace Eyre with a huge smile on my face with great artwork and lovely memories made. It has been an honour to focus all the output from the workshops into the huge bright and colourful design.”

The mural project is part of the charity’s adoption of the station and has been supported by Southern Railway’s Your Station Your Community fund. The train company helped prime the wall and prepare it for the artists.

Tom Easdown, Southern’s Head of Stations said: “This fresh lick of paint at Preston Park station doesn’t just look great but also raises awareness of the fantastic work our partners Grace Eyre do in the community.

“I’m excited to see the finished piece soon and admire the creativity of everyone who’s contributed to it, alongside the tens of thousands of people who will see the mural out of the train window on their way into the city.”

The project has also been supported by Cass Art who provided some of the art materials.

ENDS