Ashford's street art festival UNFRAMED is now in full swing

UNFRAMED, Ashford’s first mural festival has officially launched! Our contemporary street art trail, curated by Accent London and The London Mural Company, has transformed blank walls and building surfaces into high quality mural paintings and bespoke integrated artwork.

Work began on the murals in Ashford, Kent, at the beginning of March 2023, when world renowned Mr Doodle, who lives in the Ashford borough, created what is believed to be the world’s biggest doodle on the side of a multi storey car park.

Other artists including Alex Chinneck, Charley Peters, Curtis Hylton and local artist Danielle Williamson have all taken on the challenge of converting blank walls into spaces of colour and creativity. Originally a 16-piece trail, as the project developed more artists come forward to take part, and we are incredibly lucky to have been able to accommodate an extra two murals to the programme, bringing the full total to eighteen!

After several weeks of work bringing the murals to life, the festival was officially launched at Coachworks Ashford, on Friday 31 March 2023. The event was opened by Arts and Cultural Industries Manager at Ashford Borough Council, Chris Dixon, and followed by a Q&A with the curators and several of the artists, which provided an opportunity for attendees to learn more about the thought processes behind the festival and the artwork.

The trail is now live until Sunday 16 April 2023, so those wishing to take part can pick up a map from Coachworks, Low Key Taproom, Picturehouse, Made in Ashford or download a copy on the Love Ashford website. The artworks are in close proximity of each other, so residents and visitors can wander around the town centre immersing themselves in the street art and learning more about each piece. Alternatively the pieces can be viewed individually and by scanning the accompanying QR code, information about the artist and work will be available.

As part of the festival fringe, throughout the Easter holidays there is also free walking tours, a film programme at Picturehouse and art workshops for kids.

Full list of artists and locations are below:

Mr Doodle – Park Street

Alex Chinneck – Vicarage Lane Car Park

Andy Welland – Bank Street

Curtis Hylton – Bank Street

Charley Peters – St Johns Lane

Voyder – St Johns Lane

ODISY – Dover Place

Will Redgrove – Castle Street

Hatch – Bank St

Accent London x The London Mural Company – Dover Place

Chris Page – Elwick Rd

Danielle Williamson – Vicarage Lane Car Park

Ashford College Students – Station Approach

Ashford College Students x Accent – Station Road

Ellie Fryer x Komply – High Street

Aspire – St Johns Lane

Melissa Hartley x Karc – High Street

Will Vibes – North Street

Chris Dixon, Arts and Cultural Industries Manager at Ashford Borough Council, said: “It’s been a pleasure to welcome so many brilliant artists to Ashford as part of our first Mural Festival. Murals are a great way to showcase creative talent as well as redevelop blank walls in town centres, making them more attractive and safer spaces to be in. I hope that residents and visitors pick up their maps and take part in the trail this April and that people enjoy the works for a long time to come.”

To find out more about the festival, please visit the Love Ashford website.