Acton Unframed

Acton Unframed

Acton Unframed
Public art programme · Acton, London · 2019–2022

Acton Unframed is a grassroots urban art programme launched in 2019 to bring world-class street art to Acton. It was led by local residents Jewel Goodby (JG Contemporary) and Kal Di Paola and delivered in partnership with West London Art Factory, run by Jewel and James Goodby and now JG Contemporary. The aim was to attract visitors to the area and use art as a catalyst to engage the community and inspire commercial and social change in the neighbourhood.

The community funded it. In August 2019 the project hit its £54,000 crowdfunding target in just over two weeks. The Spacehive campaign was driven by residents on WhatsApp and backed by local businesses, Acton BID, Ealing Council, the Acton Central Ward Forum and the Mayor of London. “Amongst the many community-led projects I’ve worked with, this Acton Unframed crowdfunding campaign is one of the best examples as to how a group can successfully mobilise widespread community support for an idea that can potentially change their neighbourhood for the better,” said Kofi Nyamah, Community Management Coordinator for Ealing Central & Acton.

The programme opened with a major coup. In the week of 19 August 2019, the internationally renowned artist Fin DAC painted Shisoka, the first Acton Unframed mural, on the corner of Churchfield Road and Myrtle Road, while residents and street art fans gathered to watch. The remaining murals were planned for 2019 and 2020, alongside workshops with schools and community groups.

Then COVID-19 interrupted everything. Lockdowns halted the original plans, and the programme had to be reimagined for a town where people couldn’t gather, travel was restricted for international artists. Murals such as Joel Bergner’s Dreaming of Unity, painted with pupils from Derwentwater Primary School during the pandemic while Joel was in London unable to to travel back to USA it , gave local kids something to look forward to and something to own. Through it all, local people stayed at the heart of the work: they chose walls, donated materials, joined school workshops, and painted alongside artists. Even the paint came from a much loved local shop. And despite the pandemic, all five murals were delivered.

The murals

 

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