Community Building through Creative Placemaking in Bristol, England

This essay highlights community murals as a potent tool in creative placemaking as they foreground overlooked narratives and weave them into the larger public discourse. While scholars have noted the importance of history and race in creative placemaking discourse, this essay’s contribution lies in its focus on murals. The author argues that the physical and cultural landscape of Bristol, England, has been transformed through the creation of seven large-scale commemorative murals featuring noted men and women of the Windrush generation. The street murals comprising the Seven Saints of St. Pauls Art and Heritage Trail serve as a visual narrative of a more comprehensive history while also contributing to the creation of the “Black spatial imaginary.”