After four years in the planning and six months in production a new Exeter Mural made its debut on 19th January creating quite a buzz in Central Exeter. The uncovering of the ‘Exeter Kindness Mural’ took place on Friday 19 January bringing much excitement, loads of cameras clicking, a few glasses of prosecco, but mostly the joy of spreading a message of kindness!

The new Exeter mural was painted in 12 days by local artist, Paul Colsell with assistance from his son Harry and his wife Betty kept him company on the last two days. Thanks to a great team from Apex Scaffolding, the poles and planks were dismantled in less than four hours uncovering the completed mural.

Motorists were giving ‘thumbs up’ signs while passers by were stopping to look. “Paul you have left this city a lasting legacy. One to be proud of,” said Tim. “What an awesome picture for the people of Exeter to admire and hopefully inspire in acts of kindness.”

Exeter now has the largest reproduction of a famous Charlie Mackesy illustration to date. This is quite fitting as Exeter is a UNESCO City of Literature. The largescale Exeter mural can be found on the 10m2 gable wall of the Crossline building opposite St Sidwell’s Point.

The picture below right shows Paul and Betty Colsell being photographed against the backdrop of the new Exeter mural. The picture below right shows Paul with his friend Gwenllian Riall, a professional photographer who has created some stunning visuals over the course of the project.

The Exeter Kindness team aim to have an event to celebrate the completion of the mural once the weather warms up. However Al Gibson, who has overseen the communications for the project, did open a couple of bottles of prosecco. We were also very pleased to have Penny from Plymouth join us to capture ‘the BIG reveal’ for ITV West Country News.

New Exeter mural welcomed
Penny interviewed Paul as well as passers by to get their reaction to the mural. We look forward to seeing these on ITV West Country News. “Absolutely stunning! Thank you Paul Colsell – especially in the freezing weather of the past two weeks!” wrote Jane on the Exeter Kindness Facebook Page where other comments include: “It’s gorgeous”; “Beautiful”; and “Brilliant”.

“Shame the word ‘kind’ is obscured by the advertising board as you drive by…” wrote Michele. We agree, however we think this gives the mural an element of intrigue – get’s people thinking what the answer to the question could be… Could it be that kindness can sometimes be hard to find?
Please consider celebrating kindness with us in 3 simple ways
- Have your photo taken with the mural in the background, or take a selfie;
- Share your pic on social media using the hashtag #ExeterKindness;
- Invite your friends/ followers to be kind by donating to the charities we are supporting including the soup kitchen in the basement of the building.

A huge thank you to everyone who supported this beautiful new Exeter mural and made it possible including the legendary Charlie Mackesy himself and Exeter City Council for all their support.
Also read our launch Press Release: EXETER ARTIST PAUL COLSELL LAUNCHES CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN FOR MURAL FEATURING WORK OF CHARLIE MACKESY