Back in November 2019 we wrote about a stolen Banksy sculpture known as ‘The Drinker’. The ‘heist’ was documented in a subversive documentary titled ‘The Banksy Job’ which has recently been added to Sky Arts. In conjunction with its release, Sky has now launched an exciting mural competition encouraging families to release their inner Banksy and design their very own piece of street art.
The winning family will have the incredible opportunity to create their design in the Cheltenham Honeybourne Line tunnels, an area that has become synonymous with street art. But don’t panic, Cheltenham Paint Festival founder and legendary street artist Andy ‘DICE’ Davies will be on hand to assist making your design a reality.
We first met Andy, when we had the opportunity to produce a piece of art for his amazing paint festival so when we found out he was involved in this competition we immediately picked up the phone to find out more.
So how did you end up getting involved? Back in 2019 we decided to have the theme of literature for the Cheltenham Paint Festival to coincide with the Cheltenham Literature Festival. As a result I was commissioned, along with two other artists, to produce 7 portraits of authors for Sky, which they loved. On the back of that I was then approached last year to produce a 2 hour live programme for Sky Arts all about street art and graffiti which I did with Tommy Burns.
How was that? Nerve wrecking? Just a bit! I’ve been interviewed on tv before but to go from that to a 2hr programme where there’s no editing, no retakes etc was a little daunting but once we got into it and found our flow it actually went really well. We showed the basics of lettering, creating the alphabet in various different styles to give people a small taste of what can be achieved with a spray can. It must have gone down well as it’s now been added to Sky History On Demand so I’m pretty chuffed about that.
proving you’ll certainly be in safe hands
Congratulations, you must be very proud. So what can you tell us about the competition? So after we did the 2hr programme, I floated the idea of running a mural competition which they thought was great and now it’s a reality. I can’t wait to see all the ideas, they’re going to create a shortlist of 20 and from that I get to pick the winning design. I’m really looking forward to helping them make their design in the tunnel and on top of that they get to go out for a meal with me in Cheltenham which surely must be the highlight 😊
We totally agree!!! Anything else you want to add or say? Only that all entries need to be in by 8th March… and good luck.
The street art mural competition is run through Sky VIP so is open to all Sky subscribers. If you aren’t a VIP member, don’t worry, all you need to do is download the free VIP app and go to the competition section to find all the necessary details and entry form.
And as Andy said, good luck. We can’t wait to see the finished mural.
