Keith Hayman Awards for Jo Peel and Will Rea

Earlier this week, the works of Jo Peel and Will Rea were recognised by two Keith Hayman Awards.

The Keith Hayman Awards were set up by the Sheffield Civic Trust to commemorate one of their founding members who sadly died in 2013. Each year, the awards recognise outstanding contributions to public art. This includes a category for murals.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions last year, awards for both 2020 and 2021 were given out at the Sheffield Design Awards ceremony on Thursday evening.

Jo Peel’s ‘Growing City’ mural on Brown Street won the 2021 mural award. Her artwork, found on the front of Yorkshire Artspace’s Persistence Works, was a collaboration with horticulturist Nigel Dunnett. It incorporates Jo’s distinctive illustrations of an evolving urban skyline with living plants.

Will Rea received the 2020 Keith Hayman mural award for his ‘Workings of Sheffield’ mural. His massive artwork, which spans the upper levels of Orchard Square, recently received a prestigious World Illustration Award. The mural is a colourful celebration of Sheffield’s industrial heritage.

Other nominees for the mural category included Bubba 2000’s ‘Jarvis Cocker’, Florence Blanchard’s ‘Bounce’ and Liz Von Graevenitz’s ‘Metamorphosis’.

In 2019, Rob Lee’s ‘Now Then Then Now’ mural and the Kelham Island Arts & Cultural Heritage Trail were joint winners of a Keith Hayman award. You can find more past winners and nominees on our Keith Hayman Award page.