Ten best and most iconic Sheffield street art murals

November marks the Street Art Sheffield website’s tenth anniversary. In the last ten years there have been an incredible number of amazing artworks created across Sheffield. Our little gallery of murals set up in 2014 has grown into a vast archive of over a thousand works by hundreds of different artists.

To celebrate the website’s significant milestone, we decided to ask our supporters what were the best and most iconic murals of the last ten years. The response has been phenomenal.

A huge thank you to everyone that took part, both through voting for your favourites and promoting the poll itself. This was really appreciated and engagement was much higher than anticipated.

We can now reveal the final top ten artworks, as voted for by you!

Number 10: Kid Acne, The Birth Of Hip-Hop

Voted for by 12.6% of participants.

Starting off our top ten, is the oldest mural from our original shortlist.

Kid Acne has been contributing to Sheffield’s street art scene long before Street Art Sheffield was founded, and continues to be an active participant. His ‘The Birth Of Hip-Hop’ mural was created the same year that this website was founded, 2014. Despite its age, it is still in fine condition.

Painted as part of 2014’s Festival of the Mind festival, it takes inspiration from the artist’s love of Hip Hop. It’s a playful piece, and despite its simplicity there’s lot of fun details to be spotted.

Number 9: Jo Peel

Voted for by 13.1% of participants.

There were just four votes separating the ninth and tenth positions in our top ten. It was a close call!

Jo Peel’s murals are a common sight across Sheffield. Her artwork depicts changing urban landscapes using distinctive line drawings and a limited colour palette. Jo’s work is extremely popular, but shortlisting a single artwork of hers for the poll was a challenge. In the end, her Howard Street mural was chosen.

Created in 2019, the mural covers a large wall in a prominent position. For several years it has greeted passersby as they head out of the city centre and towards the train station making it a familiar sight for many. In more recent years, the mural has become obscured as it becomes part of another changing urban space much like the artwork represents itself.

Number 8: Marquis de Rabbit, Wino

Voted for by 17.7% of participants.

The smallest mural to make the top ten is Marquis de Rabbit’s ‘Wino’. It’s located on Bailey Street, to the side of the Dog & Partridge Irish pub. The artist was motivated to create this piece due to their observed deterioration of the city centre and the rise in ‘problem’ people that inhabit it due to a failure of authorities to provide meaningful help to them.

Despite the simplicity of the artwork, the artist has managed to create a real sense of despair for his subject sat on a bin wearing a traffic cone. The traffic cone is a common motif of Marquis De Rabbit’s work.

Number 7: Faunagraphic

Voted for by 20.3% of participants.

Faunagraphic has created many iconic murals across Sheffield over the years. Her tribute to Harry Brearley, the inventor of stainless steel, is a fine example of this. However, that mural was created before Street Art Sheffield started, so didn’t qualify for our shortlist. Instead, we selected her beautiful mural of a fox found in Meersbrook Park. It was a popular choice, helping secure it a seventh place in our top ten.

This mural is a fine example of Faunagraphic’s art which often depicts the natural world.

Number 6: Rob Lee, Now Then Then Now

Voted for by 21.2% of participants.

Walking up Howard Street from Sheffield Station towards the city centre and you’ll be greeted by a couple of fantastic murals by abstract artist Rob Lee. One of these is his 2018 ‘Now Then Then Now’ mural commissioned by Now Then magazine. Featuring Rob Lee’s trademark geometric style of horizontal and vertical straight lines it has become a Sheffield classic.

‘Now Then Then Now’ is a striking wall that instantly draws people towards it. Closer inspection reveals the true genius of the work. Stand in the right location and the mural lines up with its surroundings. Rob cleverly incorporated Pearl Works and St Paul’s tower into the upper part of his piece.

‘Now Then Then Now’ was awarded the Keith Hayman Award in 2019.

We now move on to the top five murals. Over the four weeks we ran the poll, there was a lot of fluctuation in the charting positions of the murals. However, the top five became well established within the first week. As more votes poured in, the next five murals remained at the top, further highlighting their enduring popularity.

Number 5: Bubba 2000

Voted for by 26.6% of participants.

Having recently celebrated 30 years of creativity, Bubba 2000 has definitely had a major impact on Sheffield’s street art scene. He is constantly contributing new works to the city’s streets.

Lead singer of Pulp, Jarvis Cocker, is a popular theme of many of Bubba 2000’s artworks. His mural in Kelham Island is probably one of the artist’s most photographed works. Despite never being fully completed, it has proven to be a big hit. Located behind the Fat Cat, it can be easily seen from many angles. It is now a landmark of the area.

Number 4: Elle Koziupa, Joan of Arc

Voted for by 35.1% of participants.

Elle Koziupa is the youngest artist to make this top ten. Despite her young age, she has already made a big impact on Sheffield with her London Road mural, ‘Joan of Arc’.

The British-Ukranian artist’s artwork is stunning. Its photo-realistic style pulls you in as you pass by on London Road. Considering Elle was just 20 when she painted this, she is hugely talented.

‘Joan of Arc’ was overwhelmingly voted for as the best new artwork of 2023 when we polled our supporters last year.

Number 3: Phlegm

Voted for by 42.6% of participants.

One of Sheffield’s most celebrated artists, Phlegm has created countless works across the city. His surreal monochrome illustrations are instantly recognisable.

Landing third place in our countdown of the best and most iconic murals of Sheffield is his incredible Feature Walls piece that he created back in 2016. It is the only mural in our top ten that, sadly, no longer exists. It was lost in 2023 when the wall it resided on needed to undergo urgent repairs.

Phlegm is a lot less active in Sheffield these days. He has gone on to become an internationally renowned artist, so is kept very busy. However, he still occasionally pops back and creates something new.

Number 2: Pete McKee, The Snog ’24

Voted for by 46% of participants.

Pete McKee’s ‘The Snog’, created in 2013, has been one of Sheffield’s most loved murals for many years. However, being created a year before Street Art Sheffield disqualified it from being included in our poll. However, repair works to the wall earlier this year gave the artist an opportunity to create a new version of his characters Frank and Joy. We were therefore delighted to be able to include it in our shortlist. Coming in at second place in our countdown, our supporters clearly agreed.

It’s easy to see why his mural is hugely popular. It has subtle nods towards nostalgia without seeming to be exploitative of the past. It is helped that Pete is a born and bred Sheffielder, able to seek inspiration for his artworks from the life he has lived.

Pete’s artwork hangs on many walls across Sheffield’s suburbs. He has created several murals around the city over the last ten years. Each has delighted people both local and afar.

Number 1: Peachzz, Reverie

Voted for by 53% of participants.

We’re delighted to reveal that the winner of the best and most iconic mural in Sheffield is Peachzz for her incredible ‘Reverie’ artwork.

‘Reverie’ is the newest mural in our top ten, created just this summer. However, its place at the top of our chart is well deserved. In its short existence (so far) it has become a hugely popular mural. Standing at an impressive 25.5 metres tall, it is one of the city’s largest murals. It is certainly Sheffield’s tallest! It dominates Pound’s Park where it is located and has become a landmark of the heart of the city. We love the theme of the artwork, a celebration of Sheffield’s status as the UK’s outdoor city.

Peachzz was supported by fellow artist Enso in helping her realise her huge artwork.

Although Peachzz has been creating pieces around Sheffield for a few years now, it is only in the last couple of years that her work has really begun to get the recognition it deserves. In 2022, our best of the year poll saw people overwhelmingly vote for her ‘Forge your path’ mural as the number one artwork of the year. Then last year, Peachzz’s Pond Street mural was awarded the Keith Hayman Award. She has created several large scale murals in Sheffield in 2024.

Peachzz is a hugely talented artist and through ‘Reverie’ has created a mural that has really resonated with the people of Sheffield. We’re excited to see what she creates next in our Steel City. Next year, Peachzz alongside fellow artist Alastair Flindall will be hosting Sheffield’s new Lick of Paint festival which should see the creation of many new amazing artworks.

That’s a wrap

Once again, a huge thank you to everyone that participated in voting in our poll. In total, 755 people took part. This was a marked increase on polls we’ve run in the past.

We appreciate that for many of you, picking just five from our shortlist was a difficult choice. Whittling down our archive of murals for this shortlist was a big challenge. To make our part of the task easier, we restricted entries to one per artist and the murals had to have been created during the last ten years within Sheffield.

Congratulations to everyone that made it into the final top ten. For those that didn’t make it, you all had your fans. Every artwork received votes in at least double figures.

This was all in aid of celebrating ten years of Street Art Sheffield. Who knows what the next ten years will bring, but we hope you will continue to support the work of this website.