Somerstown Street Gallery

The Somerstown Street Gallery is a community art project that aims to brighten up the site boundary hoardings around Horatia & Leamington as they undergo deconstruction, while simultaneously celebrating the talents and vibrancy of the local community.

Including works from local artists, schools, community groups and charities, the Street Gallery intends to put Somerstown on Portsmouth’s street art map.

In November 2020, anyone with a connection to the area was invited down to the site to add their handprints to The Forest of Somerstown, a collaborative mural celebrating the people at its heart. Hundreds of residents attended in order to leave their handprint, create a christmas wreath, enjoy free hot drinks and food and to see the plans from Karakusevic Carson Architects.

Watch a video of the event below.

Skyla Swan

‘Portsmouth in Bloom’

Skyla, a computer animation student at the University of Portsmouth, grew up just yards from Horatia House and designed an expansive mural celebrating her local area.

”I’m really proud that I’ve been able to use my artwork to bring a nice vibe to the area, and I’d love to see other local people getting involved in the Somerstown Street Gallery. When growing up in the area I know I would have loved to see pieces like this. It would have made me enjoy spending time here.’

@southseaoceanartist

Mark Kellett

‘Astronaut’

Mark creates contemporary artworks that take inspiration from the world around him, mixing the real with the surreal and adding eye-catching patterns that challenge interpretation. He is also a lecturer at HSDC, hoping to encourage other up-and-coming artists, as his teacher once encouraged him.

”Astronaut is a combination of imagery that I found worked well together. I like to leave the content and meaning of the artwork in the eyes of the viewer. It has been fantastic to create this piece to brighten up the area and for the community to enjoy. The feedback I received whilst spraying it up was overwhelming and I feel humbled to be able to paint on the walls I grew up around.”

@markkellettart

James Mankiewicz x The Grateful Arts Club

‘My Grateful Face’

In honour of The Grateful Arts Club community exhibition, each artist had to create a piece of art that answered the question ‘what are you grateful for?’

This piece celebrates James’ love of colour and light and was also used as beer can art to celebrate the exhibition.

”Stained glass was the inspiration for this colourful guppy face. It surprises me how much colour improves your mood. I really love it when, at the right points of the day, the sun hits this mural, hopefully brightening up people’s day”

@james_mankiewicz  @thegratefulartsclub

Cottage Grove Primary School

Cottage Grove held a competition in order to create their mural, with pupils given the task of creating a design that celebrates their school identity and Somerstown community. Hundreds of designs were submitted, with one eventual winner from each class selected to personally paint their design on the hoardings.

Since then, the children of Cottage Grove have been bringing their families and friends to the site to see their artwork.

Deputy Headteacher Cathy Light said that ”it was great fun and the children really enjoyed it”.

Motiv8

‘Today is Beautiful’

Motiv8 is a Portsmouth-based charity that works with young people across the city in order to provide one-to-one mentoring, targeted group work and community support, creating opportunities to thrive in employment, education and training.

”We had a great time painting our mural, designed and painted by our youth social action group who have been part of many projects including community murals, The Grateful Arts Club, restoring and donating bikes to those in need and peer mentoring and wellbeing”.

@m8skillshub