Newquay BID asks for “a quiet word” after murals tagged

Newquay has spent the last few years getting more colourful. Murals on business walls, public artwork, legal graffiti spaces down at Trenance. This week the town’s business improvement district had to point out that not everyone is playing by the unwritten rules.

What has happened

Newquay BID says at least two pieces of artwork created by local artists on local businesses have been tagged. The organisation described the discovery as disappointing, coming after several years of work to build up the town’s creative scene.

That scene has grown through partnerships with local artists, businesses, organisations and community groups. Newquay BID has helped introduce murals, public artwork and legal graffiti spaces, including projects at Trenance, giving both established and emerging artists room to show what they can do. Plenty of local businesses have invested in artwork on their own buildings along the way.

“Respect has to go both ways”

The BID was keen to stress that this is not about clamping down on creativity.

“This isn’t about stopping creativity. Quite the opposite,” the organisation said. It remains committed to supporting street art and legal graffiti, and to working with artists of all ages to create opportunities across the town. “But respect has to go both ways.”

One thing the BID says it has been most proud of is the respect that has grown within the creative community, with artists generally respecting each other’s work and helping build a positive culture.

A request to the community, not the CCTV

Rather than reaching for enforcement, Newquay BID has asked anyone who knows who is responsible to have a quiet word with them, and to help them understand that painting over another local artist’s work is not acceptable.

“We don’t want this to become an issue involving CCTV or enforcement if it can be resolved through our community,” the organisation said. “We genuinely believe Newquay’s artists can help look after the culture they’ve worked so hard to build.”

The message to the town was simple enough: keep Newquay creative, colourful and respectful.