Street Artists Paint in Support of Safer Streets for Women

Street artists have painted a series of murals in Waterloo’s Leake Street Tunnel. Part of an event organised by the WOM Collective. It was a last minute response to the tragic murder of Sarah Everard. A number of murals were created in the tunnel throughout the day.

The event was one which ran parallel to others held on the same day. Vigils took place across the country including the main one at the Clapham Common bandstand. The week prior had been one which had revolved around the search for Sarah who had disappeared after walking home from a friends. The terrible news that her body had been found came only a few days before.

Long mural in the leake street tunnel in support of safer street and spaces for women — Work by various artists painted as part of the Safer Streets Paint Jam. This stretch of wall shows work from Jane Mutiny, Lours, This One, Tizer, Elno and Apparan

A performer dances against a mural, painted by Elno, in the Leake Street Tunnel — A performer dances by the mural from WOM Collective founder Elno. Her mural is interwoven with fauna paintings from ‘This One’ art

Safe Streets and Spaces

An outpouring of grief had met the tragic discovery. Women shared their own stories on social media. Speaking out about they too have had to deal with feeling unsafe. How, just in the basic act of walking home they have had to take precautions. The outpouring of experiences revealing that these lived experiences were common and widespread. The circumstances around Sarah’s disappearance were made more harrowing by the fact that a serving police officer had been arrested.

Working with the organisers of the vigil for Sarah, the WOM Collectives theme was ‘We want safe streets and spaces for women’. Inviting anyone to come along it was about paying respect and showing support. It was also about commaradery and togetherness. With an open invitation to come along. The artists were painting together with a common cause, drawn together in sorrow following the sad events.

The WOM Collective ‘Safer Streets’ paint jam took place on 13 March 2021. The date was meant to coincide with vigils to the memory of Sarah Everard happening around the country. All pictures were taken the day after on 14 March 2021. Some of the murals created had been painted over in the intervening time. I will happily update the post if there area any artists who did contribute but whose work is not represented in this post.