Digbeth High Street is now home to four new public artworks. The artists Helen Cammock, Joanne Tatham & Tom O’Sullivan, Amy Ching-Yan Lam and Sarah Silverwood are behind the new artworks designed to reflect Digbeth’s rich and diverse histories, stories and communities.
Part of the wider High Street Public Realm Improvement Scheme, the project was commissioned by Birmingham City Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority, curated by Eastside Projects, and funded through the Enterprise Zone (EZ) capital grant.
“Public art plays a vital role in shaping vibrant, inclusive places, and this project demonstrates our continued commitment to investing in culture as a key part of Birmingham’s future,” said Cllr Deborah Harries, Cabinet Member for Culture and Heritage.
What are the new artworks?
Helen Cammock’s ‘Something in Nothing’ (2025)
The public art features three contemporary-looking green and orange signage made of glass enamel, with the visual referencing both the modern-day regeneration of Digbeth in style and late 19th-century railway signs.
Joanne Tatham & Tom O’Sullivan’s ‘The Digbeth Cylinder’ (2026)
Ceramic and concrete make a life-sized cylinder that playfully references Digbeth’s architectural and civic heritage. The work is accompanied by posters as well as workshops with South and City College Birmingham and Chandos Primary School.
Sarah Silverwood’s ‘Undercurrents’ (2025)
A colourful mosaic of patterns featuring creatures and features of the River Rea, which runs directly underneath and was created with young people from St Basil’s Youth Hub in Digbeth.
Amy Ching-Yan Lam’s ‘Looty’s Meadow’ (2025)
The artwork creates a meadow of opium and oriental poppies as a memorial for Looty, one of the first Pekingese dogs to arrive in England, who was dognapped as a present for Queen Victoria.
