{"id":514011,"date":"2026-04-05T10:02:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T10:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/514011\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T10:02:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T10:02:15","slug":"beloved-derry-graffiti-transformed-into-new-mural-by-internationally-renowned-artist-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/514011\/","title":{"rendered":"Beloved Derry graffiti transformed into new mural by internationally renowned artist \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A much-loved piece of graffiti in Derry<\/a> has been transformed into a new mural by an internationally renowned street artist<\/a> after it was defaced in recent months. <\/p>\n

The simple \u2018Keeper Lit Sunshine\u2019 graffiti first appeared alongside a smiley face on a gable wall facing the busy Foyle Road around five years ago. <\/p>\n

It quickly struck a chord with people across the city but was recently defaced by what has been described as \u201cunsightly\u201d graffiti. <\/p>\n

Read more: New street art breathes life into neglected parts of Belfast city centre<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Major<\/a>\"Mo<\/a><\/p>\n

Ruairi O\u2019Connell, project coordinator at Gasyard Wall F\u00e9ile, told The Irish News that while it was sad to see the original graffiti defaced, it provided them with \u201can opportunity to do something with it\u201d. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just in black paint, it was kind of crudely done, but there was like a feeling that it sort of evoked within myself, for many residents in the area and for people visiting the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt lasted as a kind of cult part of the gallery of street art. It sort of rose into that echelon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was defaced with unsightly graffiti; we sort of saw it as an opportunity revitalise the mural, or to bring it back to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mural\u2019s transformation formed part of F\u00e9ile\u2019s \u2018Graffiti on the Walls\u2019 project, which aims to bring spaces in the city to life with street art. <\/p>\n

They commissioned internationally renowned street artist Dave Bonzai to reimagine the original message. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe original graffiti was defaced in recent months PICTURE: F\u00c9ILE DERRY <\/p>\n

He completed the work at the end of March, much to the delight of passers-by. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis road is very busy, there\u2019s a lot of people coming into the city using this road,\u201d Mr O\u2019Connell said. <\/p>\n

\u201cDave said he\u2019s never had more people shout from cars at him while he was doing a mural. He had a really positive experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Connell added that there had been thousands of interactions with the new mural after they shared the finished project online,<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been so positive; and it\u2019s just been such a bright spot for the city in the last couple of days \u2013 and it\u2019s just amazing to see it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a phrase that is connected to the people of this city.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A much-loved piece of graffiti in Derry has been transformed into a new mural by an internationally renowned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,9877,1120,96,55067,78025,59012,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-514011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-derry","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-graffiti","15":"tag-mural","16":"tag-street-art","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}