Painting the town green: striking climate murals designed by young winners unveiled across the UK

• 11- to 25-year-olds designed large public murals in London, Coventry and Glasgow for national art competition 
• Grantham Climate Art Prize 2023 is organised by the world-leading Grantham Institute at Imperial College London and supported by renewable energy champion Octopus Energy
• The three winning designs and six runners up will be displayed on billboards seen by millions in London ahead of COP28 

London, 27th November 2023 - Young winners of the Grantham Climate Art Prize have their designs supersized into three public murals in Coventry, Glasgow and in London. 

The winners, alongside 6 runners up, will also have their art shown to the world for two weeks, on billboards across London and its tube network launching ahead of COP28. A fourth Highly Commended mural will also be unveiled alongside an outdoor exhibition of young entrant’s illustrations in Nine Elms.

The Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London - a leading authority on climate and environmental science - and Octopus Energy gave young people the chance to design public art on the theme of ‘Palette for the Planet: a greener, cleaner, cooler, future’ inspired by the Grantham Institute’s 9 things you can do about climate change. The winning designs were painted by local professional artists.

The project highlights the climate action needed ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) starting on 30th November 2023 in Dubai. 

Almost 1,200 young people entered the competition. The murals give them the opportunity to tell the world’s leaders, through art, what we need to do to secure our planet for future  generations. These actions depicted through art include reducing energy use and bills, expanding green travel, protecting nature and eating less meat and dairy.

• London’s winning mural was designed by Janet from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, for the 15-18 age group and is titled ‘Use Your Voice’. The mural was painted by local artist Michelle Meola and is at Orford Court, Elmcourt Road, West Norwood SE27 9DB. 
• Coventry’s winning mural was designed by Samuel from Sutton in Surrey from the 11-14 age group and is titled ‘Forward to a Greener Future’. The mural was painted by local artist Michael Batchelor from Street Art Strategy and is at 216 Binley Road, Coventry CV31HG.
• Glasgow’s winning mural was designed by Ria from Barking, east London, from the 19-25 age group and is titled ‘Team Green’. The mural was painted by local artists Ciaran Globel and Conzo Throb and is at Cresswell Lane, Glasgow G12 8AA.
• Runners up are: Holly from Chorley in Lancashire, Holly from Wigan in Greater Manchester, Orla from Flintshire in Wales, Kelvin from Wood Green in London, Lucy from Cheddar in Somerset and Caitlin from Wigan in Greater Manchester. 
• Meanwhile, the Highly Commended mural in Pump House Lane, Nine Elms SW8 4DG was designed by Aaryan age 12 from Barnet in north London, and painted by local artists Karla Rosales Garcia and Roger Rigol. Artwork featured in the exhibition is by the three winners, runners up Holly, Holly and Caitlin and shortlisted entrants Yamen from Bexley in south London, Latifatul from Hammersmith in west London and Alicia from Chelmsford in Essex. This part of the project has been sponsored by developer Ballymore.

Grantham Climate Art Prize Project Manager Linsey Wynton said: “The 2023 art prize has given young people a chance to draw attention to what a more sustainable world could look like. The finished murals, billboards and exhibition will depict their visions of the futures they want to see. Many people will pass these each day - hopefully they’ll be inspired by the scenarios they depict – from making our voices heard by those in power, to protecting nature, greening our actions and eating less meat and dairy and more plant-based foods.”  

Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, Chief Marketing and Product Officer at Octopus Energy said: “This year’s prize has given young people a very clear voice in the climate debate and a platform to share their dreams and ambitions with millions. The fantastic winning designs remind us that everyone is doing their part to turn the tide on climate change, in any way possible. These brilliant young artists are not only raising awareness of the issue but inspiring change throughout our communities.”

To see the 3 winning designs and 6 runner up designs from young people across the UK go to https://octopus.energy/grantham-art-prize-2023-winners/

-ENDS-

Media Enquiries - Grantham Institute

Linsey Wynton l.wynton@imperial.ac.uk

About the Grantham Climate Art Prize 2023

The Grantham Climate Art Prize is a biennial competition that offers young artists an opportunity to communicate messages about climate change and was piloted by the Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art in 2019. Turner Prize winning artist Helen Cammock is the patron. 

In 2021, with sponsorship from Octopus Energy, the Grantham Climate Art Prize saw eight murals designed by young people and painted by professional artists across the UK ahead of COP26. The art prize was run in partnership with UK Youth for Nature and murals drew attention to regional biodiversity loss. Photographs of the completed murals were displayed on billboards across London coinciding with COP26 and exhibitions were held at two of the Natural History Museums Real World Science network museums and galleries and at Imperial College London and a digital exhibition was held at COP26.   

Follow this link to the Grantham Institute: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/

About Octopus Energy Group

Octopus Energy is a global energy and technology group, driving the affordable, green energy system of the future. Its operations span 17 countries and the entire energy value chain. The group invests in, builds and flexibly manages renewable energy, operating a £6 billion portfolio of projects – one of Europe’s largest.

Octopus serves 5.9 million customers globally through its retail arm, and has licensed its advanced data and machine learning platform, Kraken, to support 40 million customer accounts worldwide through licensing deals with companies such as EDF, E.ON and Origin Energy, with the potential for further 10 million to follow soon.

Kraken enables Octopus to drive the electrification of heat and transport through smart tariffs and innovative cleantech. Backed by pension funds, investors and energy giants, Octopus Energy Group businesses deliver cheaper, greener energy and cutting-edge tech to countries and customers worldwide.

For more information, check out our website.