the street is our gallery

After several recent exhibitions and installations throughout Yorkshire, Art of Protest Projects continues to make its mark on the urban landscape by partnering with Thor’s Tipi Bar to deliver a fresh and exciting take on mindfulness within the city. Launching on May 4th, this project brings a vibrant and uplifting mural and photography installation to Parliament Street in the heart of York City Centre. Mural painter Brenna Allsuch (THREADY PULSE) and photographer Jeff Clark (J.SEE) have come together to create eight works produced onto four urban benches. With a focus on mindfulness and finding a quiet moment of peace in a bustling and energetic surrounding, this series of four bench installations (with large board canvases as backrests) features a painted mountain range on one side and a series of black and white cityscape photography on the other side. The aim of this collaborative project is to invite people to take a quiet rest as they soak in the city landscape.

Placing art within an urban setting has the power to stop passersby and encourage them to reflect on something they wouldn’t normally expect to see. It also draws people into the space and allows for conversation and engagement with friends and strangers alike. This specific project uses various mediums in the form of paint, photography and construction to allow a multifaceted approach to urban seating and art.

This installation is dedicated to our beloved friend and father, Michael Feather, who sadly passed away this April. Michael’s love of nature and stillness served as the inspiration for this piece. His continuous smile and curiosity with the world around him will be sorely missed, but our hope is that this project will serve as a reminder of his impact on his family and our community.

With special thanks to City of York Council for funding this project and Make It York and The York BID for their support, we are so excited for this installation to bring smiles and hopefully a feeling of peaceful mindedness to the city of York.

Muralist Brenna Allsuch said, “Working on these murals and knowing they will be so prominently placed within the city allowed me to step outside of my usual practice and create a series of works that want to invite people in, stop them in their tracks and allow them to just take a deep breath and refocus their busy mind.”
Photographer Jeff Clark said, “Walking through a busy city centre, you don’t expect to come around the corner and see a large mountain landscape. Even better, as you walk away and reflect back on the installation, the other side features high impact iconic black and white imagery of the city of York.”

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