Liverpool’s most graffitied gas substation transformed by beautiful mural

The most graffitied gas substation in Liverpool has been transformed thanks to a mural of one of the city’s historic landmarks.

The green box near the lake entrance to Sefton Park was regularly covered in graffiti and as soon as it was painted over and cleaned up, the spraypainting reappeared.

But now artist Sarah Coates has turned an eyesore into an intricate piece of art depicting the park’s Grade II listed Victorian bandstand.

Recently graduated architecture student Sarah, who lives nearby, decided she wanted to brighten up the area and set about turning something bland into something beautiful.

The 21-year-old spent a couple of days a month during her final year at John Moores Uni creating the artwork after getting in touch with Cadent Gas who own the box.

She explains:

“Art has always been my thing but I normally do smaller paintings, this was my first time doing something more large-scale.

“My dad suggested it would be an interesting idea to do a mural so we got in touch with Cadent Gas and asked about their gas substations. They told us this was the most graffitied one in Liverpool so we thought that by painting on it, it would not just brighten it up and make the area look nicer but also hopefully mean it wouldn’t be graffitied on again.

“I noticed that as I was painting people would still tag it but around where I’d painted and the more of the space I filled, the less was tagged. Now since I finished it, it’s been left alone completely.”

Sarah was given free rein to decide what to paint and, after originally pitching an idea for the Palm House, she settled on the bandstand.

“I thought the bandstand didn’t get quite as much attention even though it’s got a lot of history,” she says. “I had people walking past while I was painting saying ‘I used to play on that with my children when they were younger’ and talking about how it used to look. I had such warm conversations with passers-by about how much it meant to them which made me smile.”

One of the things that sets Sarah’s work apart from other street art and murals in the city is the level of detail.

“That’s something I tend to do in all of my artwork, I did fine art for A level so I enjoy that, but it did mean it took me longer. Instead of spray paint or a big brush I was using a tiny paintbrush to paint it, so it’s basically how a painting would be on a canvas but outdoors.”

Sarah, who shares her work on Instagram via Redbrush Murals, plans to carry looking for more opportunities to create public pieces.

“I’m just happy making places a bit nicer for people and I hope this painting brings a small amount of joy to everyone who passes it.”

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