Since local artist Holly Astle reached out to Cobblestone Media earlier this month to go public on the erasure of her “Love Falmouth” mural, the situation continues to develop. This includes an apology from the Falmouth Business Improvement District (BID) to Holly and a series of misleading public statements given by the BID.

The mural, commissioned by the BID in 2022, was painted on a wall owned by Cornwall Council. One year later, Holly participated in a peaceful Just Stop Oil protest on the Falmouth University Campus, for which she was convicted of criminal damage. She was ordered to pay £4,000 to the University and carry out 60 hours of community service.

2 years hence, with the conviction spent, Falmouth BID chose to cut ties with Holly due to a need to remain “politically neutral” – leading to a cover-up of her mural soon after. This move was in violation of Holly’s rights as the artist, and was an alleged act of censorship because of political protest.

After the erasure, Falmouth BID gave a public apology to Holly in the Falmouth Packet, which she has labelled as a “hollow attempt to save face” in the wake of backlash towards the body. The apology in question lamented any “misunderstanding” in the lead-up to the mural’s repainting. In statements given to Cornwall Live on the matter, a BID spokesperson elaborated:

“Falmouth BID and Falmouth Town Team collectively wish to apologise to Holly Astle for any incorrect communications which may have given the false impression that her previous protest action was a reason for the painting over of her mural created for, and commissioned for, Falmouth BID.”

This statement, however, directly contradicts the communications received by Holly from the BID, which label her previous peaceful protest as the reason for the body’s decision to part ways with her.

Holly received a large amount of support from the local community. This includes an open letter to the Falmouth BID, which made 3 demands of the body:

1. Release a public apology that acknowledges the copyright of the artist, lack of consultation, and poor conduct.
2. Release a transparent explanation that clarifies the contradiction between internal communications and public statements regarding its removal. Including who authorised its removal, why the artist was not consulted, and why her history of activism was used to justify exclusion from further collaboration.
3. Enact an artistic freedom policy that ensures peaceful protest or activism cannot be used as grounds for censorship or professional exclusion.

The open letter, at time of writing has 950 signatories and has been widely shared on social media amongst those in the arts and beyond. Cobblestone Media spoke to Holly regarding the open letter. In her statement she said:

“All I am asking for from the Falmouth BID team is that there is a level of accountability and integrity, as well as an assurance that this kind of damning misconduct will not happen again.

“I hope in due course that they will be able to rectify the harm they have caused for myself and the wider community.”

Since the mural’s cover-up, the site has been repeatedly redecorated with antifascist slogans, and statements in support of the political nature of art. These have been repeatedly covered by the local authority, but with only the “political” sections of the wall being covered. Falmouth BID are yet to make a public statement on the subject.

The original redecoration of the wall.

Partial removal of the political statements, followed by a full cover-up.

Cobblestone Media reached out to the BID for comment regarding the developments, in which they stated: “The Town Team is aware of Holly Astle’s ‘open letter’ and will be responding directly to the artist in due course.”

Images Via: Cobblestone Media and Holly Astle.