Zest

It’s incredible what a lick of paint can do to give a new lease of life to a building. Combine that with a major brushful of talent and the transformation can be quite spectacular. Well that’s precisely what’s happened in a quiet corner of Philadelphia beside the tram track on the way to Hillsborough.

In less than a few short days, what was the old rundown police station on Infirmary Road in Sheffield has undergone a transformative makeover. People passing by on the tram might well rub their eyes in disbelief. But yes, it is the same building. The broken windows, rotten wood and flaking paint have been boarded over, sanded down and treated with what can only be described as a wonderful homage to the area, its history and the proud multicultural population who call this area of Sheffield their home.

The image painted by the wonderfully talented Ethan Lemon is part of the extension to the Walkely and Upperthorpe Arts Trail which now proudly boasts more than 30 pieces of individual street art.

Ethan’s brief was to depict the major themes of home and nature inline with the rest of the Arts Trail.

Home and Nature

The image of the Ponderosa with the flats that tower over the landscape behind what was the old infirmary, coupled with the flowers, swifts and swallows, illustrate home and nature in harmony. The Ponderosa is just one of many green spaces and parkland within strolling distance from the city centre – supporting wildlife and making Sheffield one of the greenest city centres in the country.

History and the people

Meeting the brief of home and nature was important to the project, but it seemed too good an opportunity to miss to include the importance of how steel working was so important to this part of the city for so many years. Ethan used an incredible image of a local steelworker from the 1950s grinding garden tools ready for the home and international markets.

The final addition to the montage pays homage to the cultural diversity of the area depicting three nurses from different backgrounds at the infirmary during the 1950s. People have been migrating to this area of Sheffield from all over the world for well over 50 years.

The Arts Trail is part of Sheffield City Council’s Economic Recovery Fund initiative targeted with encouraging shoppers back to the high street.

Instead of graffiti and unsightly tags blighting neighbourhoods the programme aims to brighten up places and make people feel good about the areas they live, work and shop in.