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A Bristol cafe has issued an apology after running a competition in which artists were asked to re-design part of the interior - for free.

Soho Coffee, which is based in Queen’s Road on Clifton Triangle, launched the competition on its Facebook page on October 30 - appealing for an artist to apply the “finishing touch” to one of their walls.

But it later emerged the competition winner would not be paid for their work - only the cost of materials used - and this provoked a strong reaction from city-based creatives, many of whom objected to the concept of free labour.

(Image: James Beck/Freelance)

Illustrator Cai Burton, who challenged the company on Twitter, said: “I spotted the competition yesterday [November 6]. It popped up on my feed and as an artist, I am always looking for opportunities.

“They wanted someone to create a mural and then I realised they were not looking to pay someone for this.

“It was a sponsored post on Facebook, meaning they were willing to pay for word to get out but not willing to pay for the work to be done.

“I shared it with other artists because I wanted to get the support from the community on this - overwhelmingly, people felt something wasn’t right.

(Image: Mark Lewis)

“Soho Coffee weren’t clear what benefit the artist would get. Sure, 'get your work out there' is fine, but what does that mean?

"How many people actually look up the artists that paint the walls in Costa, Starbucks and other coffee shops? How do they know that painting their walls will have a positive impact on you?

“Why is asking an artist to do work any different to asking your barista to serve the coffee? Work is work at the end of the day and you should be paid for it."

'It's hard to make a living as an artist in Bristol'

Cai’s concerns were echoed by other artists in the city, who called on Soho Coffee to pay the winning artist for their work or abandon the competition altogether.

Photographer and author Colin Moody said unpaid work opportunities - particularly for artists - appeared to be on the rise.

“With rents on the up and places like Hamilton House emptying of many artists, it’s hard to make a living as an artist in Bristol,” he said.

“With opportunities being unpaid now on the rise, with invited social media being free to cover it all, it seems that the trend is have it all for free.”

Colin encouraged artists looking for work to contact Igersbristol, while Cai recommended Rising Art Agency, which supports young people with creative ambitions.

In response to the criticism, Soho Coffee apologised and confirmed it had pulled the plug on the promotion.

A spokesperson for the Cheltenham-based independent said: “We are a small, close-knit team and genuinely excited to be in Clifton.

“Many of us are recently out of college or have children of university age and rather than ask the store refurbisher to decorate everything, we genuinely wanted the local students, many of whom have come in to see us, to have the opportunity to have an input into their environment.

(Image: Cai Burton)

“We know how hard it can be when you’re starting out, in whatever sector you choose, and we wanted to give a student a leg-up by giving them the opportunity, wall space and materials to create, or submit an existing design to fill the space.

“This really was done with the best of intentions and we have apologised to anyone who has been offended.”

The move was praised by artist Cai, who added: "It’s great that Soho Coffee have taken it down, but what it highlights is that nobody thought it was a bad idea to ask artists to work for free before it went out.”