A new mural has been added to the OpenAIR Gallery — the open-air street-art collection that spans the Victoria Quarter in New Brighton — celebrating Kenneth (“Kenny”) Dunn, a street cleaner who has quietly kept the town’s streets and promenade in good order for over ten years.
CLICK HERE TO GET INVOLVED IN NEW BRIGHTON’S STREET ART PROJECT
The piece is the first in a new series, “Unsung Heroes”, initiated by internationally-recognised London-based artist Dotmasters (real name: Leon Seesix), in partnership with Daniel Davies of Rockpoint Leisure and New Brighton Creative Futures CIC (“NBCF”), which stewards and hosts the OpenAIR Gallery. The series honours the people whose everyday work shapes a place but rarely gets its own moment.
Kenny — usually recognisable in his orange Biffa hi-vis with a bin bag in hand — was nominated for the first piece by Daniel Davies of Rockpoint Leisure, the regeneration-led company whose work in the Victoria Quarter originated New Brighton’s street art scene in 2017.
Daniel Davies said: “Nominating Kenny was easy — he’s been on these streets for over ten years, he does the graft, everyone in New Brighton knows him and everyone likes him. If any place is going to celebrate the people who make it tick, this one should. Dot and I have been working together up here since 2018, and this piece is one of the best things we’ve done. Massive thanks to Dot for coming back up to paint it, and to Kenny for saying yes. There’ll be more.”
CLICK HERE TO GET INVOLVED IN NEW BRIGHTON’S STREET ART PROJECT
Dotmasters has been contributing work to the New Brighton mural scene in partnership with Daniel Davies and Rockpoint Leisure since 2018 — well before NBCF was formalised as the CIC that now stewards the gallery. Kenny’s portrait sits within Dotmasters’ existing body of work in the Victoria Quarter and continues that near-seven-year collaboration into a new format.
The piece, painted this month in the Victoria Quarter — the OpenAIR Gallery footprint in the heart of New Brighton’s regenerated Victoria Road / Union Terrace area — shows Kenny in his work uniform against a bold deep-blue damask pattern on a black wall, signed by Dotmasters and now part of the gallery. Dotmasters shared the finished mural on his Instagram on 24 August 2026, describing Kenny as “a local hero” and “the main reason to take the trip up to New Brighton”.
CLICK HERE TO GET INVOLVED IN NEW BRIGHTON’S STREET ART PROJECT
Kenny himself came down to watch the piece being painted. Dan Davies rang him personally to tell him the mural was going up and invited him to see it in progress. He watched the whole thing being made and, in his own words, “thoroughly enjoyed” it. Asked what has changed in the ten years he has worked the town, Kenny credits the Victoria Quarter regeneration directly: “It’s gone a lot better, especially down Victoria Road, where Danny spent all that money and brought the place back to life.”
Biffa, the national waste-management company Kenny works for, has responded warmly to the mural. Peter Murphy, area supervisor at Biffa, visited New Brighton to acknowledge Kenny and the piece. Peter said: “I am delighted to see Kenny’s hard work and enthusiasm being recognised in such a spectacular way. He not only contributes to keeping New Brighton clean, he’s the go-to person for a friendly comforting chat and local knowledge.”
CLICK HERE TO GET INVOLVED IN NEW BRIGHTON’S STREET ART PROJECT
Rory Wilmer of New Brighton Creative Futures CIC said: “The credit for Unsung Heroes belongs to Dotmasters — it’s his series, his idea, and Kenny is exactly the right person to start it with. Kenny has quietly done one of the most important jobs in this town for years, and having him on the wall permanently is exactly why this gallery exists. Huge thanks to Dot, to Dan for the nomination, and to Peter and the team at Biffa for coming to see us. More heroes to come.”
A new mural has been added to the OpenAIR Gallery — the open-air street-art collection that spans the Victoria Quarter in New Brighton — celebrating Kenneth (“Kenny”) Dunn, a street cleaner who has quietly kept the town’s streets and promenade in good order for over ten years. The piece, painted this month in the Victoria Quarter, shows Kenny in his work uniform against a bold deep-blue damask pattern on a black wall, signed by Dotmasters and now part of the gallery.
New Brighton Creative Futures CIC
CLICK HERE TO GET INVOLVED IN NEW BRIGHTON’S STREET ART PROJECT
