Hereford’s new public art murals are taking shape around the city.

Eight works are planned in all, each by a different artist, under the city’s Art + People + Place programme, the £204,000 cost of which is taken from the £6-million Hereford City Centre Improvement (HCCI) funding package.

Works that can already be seen include:

  • “Cow and calf” mural at The Herdsman pub, on the corner of Widemarsh Street and the A438 Blue School Street.
    Fusing flora and fauna is the trademark style of spray-paint artist Curtis Hylton. His work at the pub, near the site of the city’s former cattle market, celebrates the county’s farming heritage.
  • Arthur’s Stone mural at The Commercial pub, Commercial Road.
    Inspired by Herefordshire’s history and folklore, this shows the 5,000-year-old burial chamber in the Golden Valley against its astronomical orientation, coupled with the legend of the Mermaid of Marden.
  • Mural at the Booth Hall passageway between High Town and East Street.
    Hereford College of Arts graduate Gemma Flowers, who has already produced work for The Beefy Boys’ flagship restaurant in the city, here draws on the history of the Booth Hall Hotel and its former landlord with her trademark lettering.
  • Floodplain Meadows at Bastion Mews, on the corner of Bath Street and Union Street.
    Emmeline North’s work is inspired by the flora of the meadows that straddle the river Wye, and incorporates the Canary footbridge, “symbolising the community's battle to retain the meadow and ensure nature retains its place in the city”, according to Herefordshire Council.

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Also being installed are a floral mural in the Eign Gate underpass under the A49 Victoria Street; a mural also depicting our interconnectedness with nature at Brewer’s Passage between Commercial Street and Trinity Square; a “a contemporary, abstract” mural for Capuchin Lane between High Town and East Street; and a “structural and bold typographic piece” inspired by the city’s buildings at Union Walk  by the county bus station.

An further project celebrating Hereford College of Arts 170th anniversary this year involves reusing old shop signage brackets to create a sculpture trail through the city.

But proposed new art at Mansion House Walk off Widemarsh Street appears to have been dropped from the programme.