A detail of the Michelangelo copy with caps and paintbrushes.
The full mural before we auctioned it off.
Circular saw in use, cutting the panels as they were auctioned off.
The first piece is sold, all money raised has gone to pay the fines of local graffiti artists.
No Michelangelos
We have always been involved in supporting the rights and creativity of our city's graffiti artists. With no legal painting sites in Manchester and an aggressively enforced Council policy against them, graffiti artists here have been hounded out and scapegoated in public - in a cynical attempt to raise the perception of the city centre as 'safe for investment'.
In August 2005 UHC met two convicted graffiti artists from Manchester. The judge in their case handed down huge fines and said the pair were "no Michelangelos" - well we begged to differ.
The artists collaborated with us to produce a 24ft long mural. The finished piece was then publicly displayed and dramatically sawn up and auctioned off during a specially organised fundraising event.
The money raised from selling all of the foot long sections was used to help pay off the criminalised artists' fines.