How 25 Shop Shutters Turned Deptford High Street Into an Open-Air Gallery

Walk down Deptford High Street after the shops have shut and you won't see a row of grey metal. You'll see 25 hand-painted shutters, each one telling the story of the business behind it. This is how that happened, and why we think it's one of the best things a high street can do for itself.

A high street worth celebrating

Deptford High Street is a proper South East London high street: market stalls, family-run shops, cafés and independent traders, with a character you don't get in a shopping centre. But like most high streets, once the shutters came down at night it turned into a row of plain grey metal.

Working with Shapes Lewisham, part of the Mayor of London's Creative Enterprise Zones programme, and backed by Lewisham Council, we set out to change that. The idea was simple: paint the shutters so the street stays alive after closing time, and do it in a way that belongs to the people who trade there.

Starting with the traders, not the art

The easy way to do a project like this is to pick 25 designs and paint them. We didn't want that. A street full of unrelated murals could be anywhere. Instead, every shutter started with a conversation with the person who runs the shop.

Each design was built around the business behind it and signed off by the owner before any paint went on. The result reads as a set of portraits of Deptford's traders, not a random gallery.

Getting a whole street on board

Twenty-five businesses means twenty-five sets of opinions, landlords and timings. A project like this lives or dies on getting the right people involved and the right permissions in place. Before a single can was opened, we:

• Sat down with all 25 shop owners to agree a design for each shutter, and got every one signed off
• Got the go-ahead from the landlords and property owners behind the shops
• Worked with Lewisham Council and Shapes Lewisham so the project was approved and backed locally
• Matched each shutter with a local artist whose style suited the business
• Filmed the whole build, from the first conversations to the finished street

If you're wondering what permissions a mural or shutter needs, we've written a plain-English guide: do you need permission to paint a mural in London?

Painted by local artists

The shutters were painted by local artists from the Paintbox network, each matched to a business their style suited. Keeping the work local mattered to us: it's a community project, painted by people from the community.

We were also joined by London graffiti legend Zomby, who has collaborated with brands including adidas and Avirex. Zomby painted a wall on Frankham Street, just off the high street, adding a piece by one of the city's best-known names to the project.

The Shapes logo graphics were redesigned by Iva Decheva.

What changed on the street

A painted shutter does a few jobs at once. For each business, it works as a sign when the shop is shut, so evenings, Sundays and bank holidays aren't wasted. Finished artwork also gets tagged far less than a blank shutter, and it's the kind of thing people stop to photograph and share.

For the street as a whole, it turned a row of closed shops into something worth walking down at night: a free, open-air gallery for everyone who lives, works or shops in Deptford.

See it for yourself

The Deptford shutters are now a stop on our South East London graffiti tour. We start at the Paintbox shop on New Cross Road, walk Deptford High Street and Creekside, and tell the story behind each piece, including how a 25-shutter project actually gets negotiated, funded and painted.

You can also see the project, and the film, in our mural portfolio.

Could your high street do the same?

Deptford shows what happens when a street does it together. Painting several shutters in one project brings the price per shutter down, makes the whole parade look cared for, and gives local businesses something to shout about. It works for high streets, parades, markets and estates.

If you're a trader, a landlord, a council team or a community group, we can help you shape the project, bring the businesses on board, sort the permissions and match the right artists to each shutter. For single-shutter prices, see how much shutter art costs in London.

Talk to us about a community project

Credits

Delivered by Paintbox Graffiti with Shapes Lewisham, part of the Mayor of London's Creative Enterprise Zones programme, and backed by Lewisham Council. Shapes logo graphics redesigned by Iva Decheva. Featuring Zomby London. See everyone we've worked with →

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