**DO YOU HAVE ANY WALLS WE CAN PAINT? Which are South-East London based! If so email us at callinglondoninfo@gmail.com
Any suggestions in Forest Hill and surrounding? Post here and email them direct. Let’s get the area looking arty.
Hi @Forestbird. Great idea! In fact we have an existing wiki topic that members can edit: Sites for Future Street Art
Thanks for the heads up. Hopefully we can find some likely spaces😊.
Would u paint on a short front garden wall ?
Did you email this question to the company
As well?
Hello there,
I was contacted over the weekend by someone in your town regarding painting their premises, they mentioned they had got in touch after seeing our website shared on this forum.
So as for perhaps bringing art to Forest Hill we felt it would be best if we briefly explain how what we do works. We are non-profit and non-funded organization who paint public spaces for free, but in turn people don’t get to say what we paint, it’s about artistic freedom for the benefit of the community. We won’t allow artists to place up controversial works, and will always steer clear of political - though not environmental concern - violent, sexual subjects. So we don’t submit designs, artists should be paid for that and that isn’t something we involve ourselves with. World class artists work with us because we don’t do this for profit or ask them what to paint. So ultimately what we do is based on trust. We run these projects around our 9-5 to job and do for free in our spare time, the projects are about creativity and reclaiming public space from advertisers, setting to ultimately bringing culture to an area, not documenting the areas local history or promote their business as most people.get in touch for us to do.
Penge the home of our largest project to date now has around 110 simultaneous artworks standing, featuring works from local artists as well as artists from all around Europe, Africa, Asia and North and South America. In the beginning most people didn’t trust us to work their spaces, however just a few did and when their neighbours saw what we could deliver if trusted, more people got in touch and now Penge is one of the premier destinations to see high-quality Street Art in London and not only has created a major sense of town pride, it also attracts people from all over the world to come see the art in the town.
So if someone gives us a space, we find someone to paint it based on the space available and who is willing to work it. If people want certain things then it becomes a commission. What we do isn’t about the individuals painting - though we would always hope the owner likes what we produce - it’s about providing a space for the wider community to enjoy the artwork. So it would also be up to us to change the artworks when we see fit. We also look after spots given to us and repair or replace artworks as they become defaced or just fall apart in order to keep things fresh and interesting as tatty or vandalized artworks don’t reflect well on an area, ourselves and most importantly the artists.
Walls we have organised around London have been featured positively on BBC News, ITV & Channel 4 News, Reuters Global News Agency, in the Guardian, South London Press, Newshopper, Croydon Advertisor, the Derry Journal and made the front page of the Huffington Post - none of which coverage we have pursued, it just seems to grab such attention along the way. If people let us do our thing, which is admittedly difficult to establish in an area in the beginning then we can bring wonderful things to an area and in this case make Forest Hill more arty.
If you click on the link shared at the top of this page you will be taken to our website to a page that shows the 500 works we have organised around London and beyond in the last 4 years across business and residential spots. The people of Penge were skeptical at first, but look at the town now! So if anyone has a public wall - business or residential - then please get in touch via callinglondoninfo@gmail.com but please don’t ask us to promote your business or paint specific things, if you want that find an artists and commission them.
Hi Weepy
We have in fact spoke before when you got in touch after seeing a similar desire for more art in Sydenham being discussed on the SE26 Life forum at the beginning of the year. You offered us a wall on the side of your house, which came to nothing, if you have changed your mind please let us know.
Hi yes that’s correct - the side of the house is still not available, I was wondering about the front garden walls instead. Is this of interest to you - of course it’s not as prominent, but could still look good I think. What do you think?
HI
We do paint front garden walls, and aren’t concerned with prominence, only that a space is public. Our concern here is last time we spoke we spent time contacting an artist, who in turn spent time working on the design for their work and then was told no. Nobody has to have a painting by any means, and people can of course change their minds, however it doesn’t fill us with confidence when someone changes their mind over a spot and is then asking us about another spot. If people are serious about wanting a painting then yes it’s possible. We however don’t wish to waste ours or another artists time when we know its a real possibility based on previous experience that the owner will change their mind once things have been set in motion, once bitten, twice shy and all that. We would ask that you have a good think about whether you really want a painting on this occasion and if so please email us about it.
We’ve been following the street art in Penge over on SE26.life. Absolutely amazing:
Thank you for sharing and saying so.
Hi. Totally understand and apologise again for what happened last time. My bad for sure and I didn’t realise that the artist was already starting to work on it - last thing I want to do is waste anyone’s time. I will have a think get in touch if I’m really sure. J
Hey
No problem at all, have a think and if do fancy a painting on the garden wall, let us know.
Work by Ruben Carrasco in Hindsley’s Place we organised this week on the side of the All In One pub. Big thank you to the owners of the space for donating a wall, their warm hospitality and trusting ourselves and the artist to leave something wonderful on their property for everyone to enjoy.
If anyone else is interested in donating a space they can contact us at callinglondoninfo@gmail.com
