El Presto Project – Solidarity with Graffiti Artist Fined For Mourning His Son

In 2021, a father was prosecuted for spray painting in Brighton. His reason? To raise awareness of youth mental health after his 25-year-old son lost his life to suicide. Paul Harris tried and got accused of criminal damage.

Beth Troakes has set up a fundraiser to help Paul pay his fine and anything extra will be donated to Art in Mind, a charity helping young people with mental health issues around Brighton. They have enlisted the help of local street artists SinnaOne, Rob VonGlas and Mazcan to create a public mural, run a series of creative workshops and take part in their first ever Auction the Wall!

Their aim is to “show everyone that art does have the power to be transformative, can bring communities together and provide a powerful tool for expressing emotions, whether they are around personal grief or collective unrest.”

Perks and events they have on:

19th Feb from 12pm onwards at Gallery Lock In you can visit Auction the Wall! From just £10 you can have your design hand drawn straight onto the gallery wall by one of their artists.Just donate £10 to Auction the Wall and leave your description in the questions or visit Gallery Lock In (Brighton BN1 2PU) on the 19th of Feb. Each artist has also created a limited edition signed print and stickers as a thank you for donating to this cause.

They are running a series of creative workshops too but be quick, places are limited!

3rd Feb / 7-9pm: Yarnbombing with MazCan

12th Feb / 2-4pm: Spray Paint and Stencil Techniques with SinnaOne

15th Feb / 7-9pm: Graffiti with Rob VonGlas

For more info visit: https://lockinbrighton.com/projects

You can donate to the project here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/el-presto-project#/

And find out more about Paul’s story here: https://bit.ly/3GzEkD6