On Sunday, August 8, the Merrivale Model Village woke up to the latest addition to their community: a miniature horse stable decorated with street art. The artwork reads “Go Big or Go Home” and is accompanied by a Banksy signature and one of the artist’s classic rats.
Soon after, Merrivale Model Village took to their Facebook page to celebrate the potential celebrity visit, posting images of the latest piece and asking “Has BANKSY been to Merrivale?” The model village confirmed that the horse stable was brought in from outside the exhibit, but that it still appeared to be genuine construction. Excited and honored to have been a potential location of Banksy artwork, Merrivale Model Village wrote that “To have such a fantastic artist apparently choose to grace our tiny village with his street art is amazing!”
In the following days, Banksy fans flocked to the model village to marvel at the hopeful Banksy piece themselves. Merrivale Model Village reported several attempts of patrons climbing over the fences that separate visitors from the model pieces in order to view and photograph the art up close.
In response to these over-eager fans, Merrivale Model Village altered its policies, only showing the horse stable between the hours of 1pm and 3pm daily. This limited time frame allows the model village employees to maintain a closer watch on the model and ensure no accidental damage comes to any of the art in the exhibit.
Traffic at the Merrivale Model Village has shot up in recent days, with visitors coming from all over to marvel upon the potential Banksy in miniature. One visitor even traveled from Germany. After COVID-19 lockdowns left most of the global economy reeling, this uptick in attention is welcome to both the model village and the nearby seaside towns.
While the artwork in Merrivale Model Village has yet to be confirmed as authentic Banksy art, there are several other locations nearby that saw the recent additions of Banksy art. Local spots in Lowestoft, Gorleston, and Great Yarmouth were adorned with various designs, including a child with a shovel in hand digging with a sandcastle artfully erected immediately in front.
Another recent addition lives on a brick wall behind a bus stop, carefully positioned to appear to viewers as if the subjects –– a man and woman dancing and an accordion player just to the right –– are atop the bus shelter ceiling.
Banksy is known for his political art, often engaging with the sociopolitical climate of the contemporary moment. Amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Banksy art appeared in the London tube encouraging riders to wear masks.
For more reading on the latest in the art community, click here to read about the man who sold an “invisible abstract sculpture” for $18,000.
