A transformation of Leicester’s St. George’s tower, colloquially known as the Blue Tower and located at the top of Granby Street, is underway this week as the iconic building is set to become home to Europe’s tallest piece of street art.
The BID Leicester funded project has been developed alongside local arts organization Graffwerk, who have been involved in the project from conception to delivery. The sky-scraping artwork is being painted by a team of Leicester’s most talented street artists, Leigh Drummond, Rich Peacock, Wing Lo and Ben Edwards.
When complete, it will be the third tallest piece of street art in the world, standing at an impressive 82 metres tall, almost doubling the current UK record, and covering a total of 717.5 square metres.
The design of the piece has been kept under wraps by the organisers but will include themes that represent various aspects of Leicester’s unique heritage and culture. People in the city centre will be able to watch the artwork take shape over the course of the next four weeks.
The project will continue to realise BID Leicester’s mission to improve the city centre for those who work, live, and visit by creating a more attractive environment. The new large-scale mural, with its location near the train station, will provide visitors with an immediate and visually striking welcome to the city.
Graffwerk have worked on previous projects with BID Leicester, most recently including Bring The Paint street art festival in May 2022. The organization, based at Frog Island arts centre The Mill by GRAFFWERK, work as a dynamic arts enterprise delivering major street art and educational projects which have a huge impact on the visual environment.
For the artists, who are all based in Leicester, it’s a chance for their work to be seen by new audiences, as well as the unique opportunity to work on a project at a huge scale. The collective of artists involved said:
“We are all local to Leicestershire and have seen our city go through various changes over the years overall for the better, aesthetically and socially.
“St George’s Tower has been the subject of discussion for a few years now ever since it was painted blue, with mixed feelings over the aesthetic. This led to further discussions about potentially painting a mural on the building and thanks to Graffwerk and BID Leicester three years later; here we are.”
The artists continued to say that the artwork will provide an inspiring talking point to spark conversations, questions, and opinions.
The iconic building is home to several businesses, including Premiere Inn, Al Feena Shisha Lounge, PureGym, Hastings Direct, as well as student accommodation.
The blue tower mural is being painted now, with the artists scaling the building to create the piece over the following four weeks.
