Gloucestershire bring Street Art to the Bristol County Ground
29 July 2019
Gloucestershire Cricket have today put the finishing touches to a major revamp of the Bristol County Ground.
Featuring bespoke street art designs and installations, new signage and painting works, the home of Gloucestershire Cricket has been transformed ahead of the England Women’s Ashes T20 match and the Club’s five Bristol Vitality Blast Twenty20 fixtures.
Spectators passing through the Grace Gates at the Nevil Road entrance to the ground will be able to view the creations of Silent Hobo, the street artist who has worked with the Club to bring images of cricket and the city of Bristol to life on six of its large walls. In addition, a giant yellow cricket ball, featuring the Club crest, is depicted bursting out of the main entrance wall to provide a 3D element to these artworks.
The extensive project was born out of the desire to better reflect the Club’s brand and colours – yellow and black – around the ground and be in-keeping with its city and community.
Will Brown, Chief Executive of Gloucestershire Cricket, explained why the Club commissioned numerous street art works:
“It is important to us at Gloucestershire Cricket to reflect our place in the city and community; Bristol is one of the most internationally renowned street art cities and the Gloucester Road area itself is a haven of colourful street art, reflecting its creative neighbourhood.
“Street art is something that has helped establish Bristol as an international visitor destination and we have worked closely with the team at Visit Bristol to ensure consistency in approach in marketing the city – that’s why you can see Bristol’s main attractions and icons reflected on these walls. It is a way to recognise the city’s and club’s heritage in a fresh, contemporary way.
“The designs used on our walls – which celebrate our city and that cricket is a game for all ages, genders and races – is something that will help to bring our ground to life, help to attract a new audience to the game and our venue, and ensure that the Bristol County Ground is more easily identifiable to visitors and spectators, be they in the venue or watching on television.
“We are absolutely delighted with the outcome of this work and look forward to seeing the reaction of visitors to our forthcoming matches.”
The street art designs have reimagined scenes from cricket’s past – including a giant depiction of the legendary Gloucestershire cricketer WG Grace – and place male and female cricketers, young and old, in a contemporary setting within famous Bristol landmarks. Concorde even makes an appearance, trailing a message for the social media generation: #GoGlos.
It has been a good fortnight for Gloucestershire, with strong ticket sales in evident at the recently completed Cheltenham Cricket Festival. With the team making a good start to the Vitality T20 Blast campaign, and the home success of England in the ICC Cricket World Cup, the Club has seen a surge of interest and excitement for its August home fixtures.
Spectators can book tickets to matches at the Bristol County Ground online through www.gloscricket.co.uk or by calling 0117 910 8000.
