The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A Spalding artist will be taking his talent elsewhere after being told his latest piece is ‘against policy.’
Graffiti art specialist Karl Barfoot said he was welcome in other places, including Peterborough, and would be producing his art elsewhere.
Having spent around £100 on paint and a good many hours on the piece at the back of the Castle Sports complex, he was told to remove it.
“I am not doing it. If everyone hated it I would go there now and roller over it myself. But I’ve had a lot of support for the piece. I would never paint anything that people don’t want and the public are happy with this,” he said.
South Holland District Council created a street art policy earlier this year and artists are supposed to submit their ideas for approval before going to one of the designated areas.
“I started this on Friday and finished on Sunday. It’s something happening now and I haven’t the time to wait for them to decide if they like it. It’s not offensive and the people are loving it. I work, have a family, other artwork and not a lot of time.
“I am not taking it down, they can if they want but I’m having nothing more to do with them,” said Karl.
He was one of two artists who started a petition a year ago for some designated places for street art to brighten-up parts of the town.
Karl and Adam Sadd presented a petition to South Holland District Council last year and attended a meeting to outline their ideas.
Both artists agreed to maintain the area and to paint over anything found to be offensive.
Their proposal was widely supported but the council was split on allowing it to go ahead,
A meeting in April saw an even split for and against but deputy leader Nick Worth used his casting vote to support the move.
A street art policy was devised which outlined rules including the need for designs to be pre-approved before work started on a wall.
Coun Gary Taylor, portfolio holder for communitities, said Karl’s work would not be destroyed, but would be handed back to him.
“We were surprised and disappointed to discover this latest artwork falls outside of what was agreed when Karl and Adam first approached the council,” he said.
Coun Taylor added that the council hoped a resolution could be found so both Karl and Adam could continue displaying their work at the Castle Sports complex.
