How street art is blossoming in lockdown with a message of hope

Video report by ITV Granada Political Correspondent Hannah Miller

Galleries are closed, studios are shut, and yet it seems Covid-19 restrictions can't stifle the creative process and Britain's love affair with art.

Art and painting have boomed since the first lockdown.

On the street, on windows and walls, every day paintings have been appearing everywhere.

In Leeds, an 88ft-high mural with ‘you and me, me and you’ daubed stands tall, by designer and renowned graphic artist Anthony Burrill.

The hope is that the work will offer a positive message of hope and unity for 2021.

It’s a message echoed by Rachel List, whose work in Pontefract was mistaken for a Banksy masterpiece.

Rachel List has been merging Superman's logo onto the NHS in her murals.

Painting Superman’s iconic logo to replace the final letter in NHS, she told ITV News about how she took her work to the street after Covid regulations meant it could not be seen indoors.

She’s painted 12 murals across Pontefract - a town not normally known for its art – often with bright colours and the rainbow.

“I think this is just something people needed,” she said.

“At the same time children were painting rainbows in the windows, and I think people just needed to grasp that concept of the rainbow and bright colours in a time when everything seemed so dark.”