There’s nothing like a little splash of colour to boost your mood – so just imagine what 1,000 litres of it would do. Well, the city of Gloucester has just been given a new multicoloured lease of life and residents are buzzing about it.
The glow-up is all thanks to local artist Tash Frootko who has painted a street of 63 homes in an array of bright blues, vivid reds, joyful pinks and vibrant greens. Residents of Hopewell Street in the Barton and Tredworth area say that the fresh lick of paint has helped to foster a more positive atmosphere and even raised the value of their homes by an impressive 30 percent.
This is Frootko’s fifth and largest transformation since she started painting the city’s buildings in 2018. She has made it her mission to turn Gloucester into a ‘rainbow city’ and in total has given new life to 134 houses, using 1,300 litres of paint.
Frootko said: ‘I started these transformations as there was such a negative morale about the appearance of the city. The backdrop has been here all the time, it just needed a creative mind and a huge injection of colour to decorate it.’
Five of Frootko’s projects so far have been self-funded, but over the next two years her work will be partially paid for by the Gloucestershire County Council’s Levelling Up Together scheme. However, she says that she will continue to work voluntarily and make sure that ‘every penny of funding goes towards making the area shine’.
One resident told Gloucester Live that the projects have brought ‘love, fun, colour and laughter’ to the area. Another said that Frootko’s ‘remarkable vision and drive is phenomenal and she takes the community on the adventure with her.’
Who would have thought it? Gloucester could be about to give London’s Portobello Road a run for its money to be the most Insta-worthy street in the country.
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