Manchester: street art
Manchester is a city with a rich seam of street art to explore. We spotted the mural above, the UK’s largest piece of LGBT street art, on our first afternoon. Organised by Queerchester it depicts some of the city’s LGBT icons including two faces which have already appeared in my Manchester posts, Emmeline Pankhurst (middle left) and Alan Turing (bottom right). I didn’t know the former was a gay icon, but I learned that and more about the mural and its other characters on I♥️MCR.
We found some of the bees remaining from the Bee in the City Trail of 2018: the worker bee is a symbol of Manchester. The Love Bee (left) was outside the Cathedral, while the LGBTQ+ Queen Bee was in Sackville Gardens in the Gay Village.
Sackville Gardens are also home to the statue of Alan Turing which featured in my post about Manchester science and industry, and to the Beacon of Hope (2000) a memorial to everyone lost to HIV and a symbol of solidarity with those living with HIV today.
Another largest, this time the largest digital ceiling in Europe in the Printworks – 1000m² of delights which I could have watched forever. Well, not quite – we had other things to do!
It was Eunice of Life in the Mouse House who took us to see the ceiling, and all the murals in the gallery below. I didn’t take notes so offer them without comment, except to say they are all from the Northern Quarter.
I have to give this little critter in a tiny window a gallery of its own. Mr Smith’s Dream is exquisite.
Still in the Northern Quarter is Afflecks, self described as an emporium of curiosities. It was very decorative inside and out.
Finally, a few sculptures from various walks around the city. Sheep in Castlefield.
Chopin on Deansgate opposite John Rylands Library.
And Paddington in Spinningfields. 23 of these fun statues were installed across the UK and Ireland ahead of the release of Paddington in Peru. Most were temporary, but Norwich won the vote to have a permanent version.
Still a few Manchester themes to go – next up, churches.
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
I’m so late here. I’ve been off for a week and wanted to do so much…that didn’t work. I love the walk with the brilliant colours I see here. I read about Turing and how horribly he was treated due to him being gay…very sad. I love The Sheep and that lady with the big teeth(a painting). They are all great.
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it’s Birgit, by the way.
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Thanks Birgit – yes, I knew it was you!
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You found some nice street arts Anabel and the ceiling display are lovely. I loved visiting all the art gallery and museums when I lived in Manchester.
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It has such a lot of culture!
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I absolutely love street art, Anabel. The ones that you have shared here are so much fun!
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Thanks Donna, they were fun to find (with a lot of help from Eunice).
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hi Anabel – what a great selection … the art work always amazes me; while the sculptures are extraordinary too – Paddington I love – cheers Hilary
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Paddington is very appealing!
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oh what fun
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It was – thanks!
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I loved all the art, but I have to admit that my favorite was Paddington. He’ll always hold a special place in my heart.
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I know, I’ve always loved him too. I read all the books when I was a child.
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Snap 🙂 These street artists’ contributions are worth capturing; it would’ve been a fun day walking around and finding them.
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They really are, especially as some of them are short lived.
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Wow, I love this post and all the colourful street art, especially the big murals on the sides of buildings, the bees and Paddington. I put Manchester on my list of places to visit. Thank you Anabel for your public art share.
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And that was all found in about half a day! We had a great guide though in fellow-blogger Eunice.
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I feast for the eyes from start to finish.
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Thanks, it was!
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What a great wander yo had, Anabel!
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We did, thanks Sue.
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😊
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Manchester is a mecca for street art!
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It certainly seems that way!
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Some of the street artists have interesting, um, imaginations. John looks sweet as a derby queen!
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Yes, quite quirky to say the least! John was game.
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Street art around the world has come up of late on a number of posts I have read. Like many others I appreciate it if it is well done and adds to the city-scape. It most certainly does here and gives me a different and added feeling as to Manchester . . thank you . . . and Banksy is delightful as always . . .
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It seems to have really caught on in a lot of cities, doesn’t it?
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So much to see and how great that Eunice was there to show you around.
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Yes, it worked out really well.
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It’s a colourful place, isn’t it? If you know where to look (thanks, Eunice!). Sounds like a successful meet-up. Aren’t they all? xx
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Yes, Eunice was a great guide!
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I love all of the murals. Most are exquisite and so colourful. Thanks for the virtual tour. (Suzanne)
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Yes, there was something new round every corner in the Northern Quarter.
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Manchester looks to be a very creative city, bursting at the seams with vibrant art.
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It certainly is!
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Like others, I do like Mr Smith’s Dream – just lovely.
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Quite different! And very tiny. You’d miss it if you didn’t know where to look.
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Great murals. Rosie the Riveter seems to be having a resurgence again. I like the bees. Bob. BSS
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Yes, i remember a Rosie the riveter window in Hyndland all through lockdown. The bees are cool!
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Well, you certainly found a lot of street art Anabel. I haven’t seen hardly any of those murals! But as a visitor to the city you were on a deliberate quest to find them. Perhaps I need to open my eyes more and get out into a few other parts of the city rather than Oxford Road!
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Ah, but you didn’t have the advantage of Eunice guiding you!
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Good heavens! Thank you for opening my eyes to a new view of Manchester…I’m sure it wasn’t like that last time I called in! Mind you it was some years ago now! Did I read recently that Paddington was stolen?
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I read that too but it wasn’t Manchester – it was one of the other locations.
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Very colourful! Not the Manchester that I know. And a bench too!
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I know, I thought afterwards (this has been scheduled for a while) that I should have put the bench at the top and linked to you!
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I found it anyway 😁
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Mr Smith’s Dream is definitely my favourite. I love finding hidden art.
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It was so small! I’d have missed it on my own.
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What a wonderful gallery of street art! I already knew from Eunice’s post that Manchester was a great place to find it, and seeing so much all together in your gallery really emphasises that! I love ‘Mr Smith’s Dream’ and Afflecks looks like somewhere I could explore for hours 🙂
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I was pleased Eunice was there to point out Mr Smith’s dream – I’d never have noticed it otherwise!
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I can imagine many people walk past without even knowing it’s there but it’s just such a cute and quirky feature I didn’t want you to miss it.
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Oh my goodness. This is a Manchester of which I know absolutely nothing – I bet John is the same. I really do need to come and put this right.
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It wasn’t like this in his day either!
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You certainly have quite a collection of different forms of street art here and the murals make a very colourful gallery. I like the photo of John in Affleck’s 😀 Nice to see you included the cute Mr Smith’s Dream too, I look through the window every time I’m round that way. I photographed the sheep a couple of years ago but have had no use for them so far, and I’ve still not been to find Paddington though there’s a chance he may not be there now.
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Mr Smith’s Dream is cute and very different. I don’t know if Paddington will still be there, it wasn’t clear when I looked him up online.
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