York’s new fox mural adds another layer to the city’s street art

York’s public art trail has gained a new stop in The Groves. On 31 August 2026, a fox mural was unveiled on the side of a Spar building on Lowther Street, bringing together local wildlife, neighbourhood history and a few details that reward a closer look. The artist is Tom Sledmore, also known as SledOne, who previously painted the “Welcome to the Groves” mural on the same street in 2022.

The new work shows a fox wearing a flat cap, alongside apples, historic buildings and York’s Bile Beans advertisement, the old ghost sign on Lord Mayor’s Walk. There is also a cat putting out washing. Those details came from conversations with local people, after Sledmore was chosen through a competition earlier in 2026 to create a mural based on local history and wildlife. He spent around a week painting it. The commission came from Door 84 Youth and Community Centre, with funding from the Vibrant and Sustainable High Street Fund through the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.

The mural is part of a wider change planned for Lowther Street. The Groves Association says funding has been secured for four more murals, including a larger piece beneath the cycle path on Huntington Road and smaller artworks in other parts of the area. The plans also include new planters, bunting and lighting. The projects are intended to involve artists working with community payback and youth justice services, adding a local and practical element to the programme rather than treating the walls as blank spaces for decoration alone.

Sledmore’s York work already includes the Peregrine Falcon mural outside Browns in the city centre and designs at SPARK’s outdoor food court. His background is in illustration and fine art: he studied at York College before continuing at the University of the West of England in Bristol. He works mainly with spray paint and has created murals in several countries, but the Groves project has a particularly local starting point, shaped by residents’ memories and the area’s familiar landmarks.

For anyone interested in seeing how York’s public art is developing, the fox mural offers a useful place to begin. From Lowther Street, the city’s wider collection can be read as a series of different approaches: large-scale painted walls, historic references, contemporary designs and new installations intended to change how public spaces are used. St Helen’s Square is also receiving a fresh look through the city’s public-art and high-street improvement work, while other funded projects include the York Riverside Lighting Improvement Project, the York Family-Friendly City Centre Programme and the Fulford High Street Art Journey.

The Groves mural is therefore more than a single new image on a building. It sits within a programme that links public art with local partnerships, high-street renewal and community activity. The fox, the Bile Beans sign and the small everyday scene of washing on a line give the piece a clear York setting, while the planned follow-up murals suggest that the area’s street-art story is still being written.