Sydney Mural Featuring Young Runner with Cerebral Palsy Suddenly Painted Over

The single sharpest fact in one or two punchy sentences. Who did what, where, when, and why it matters. Not a summary of everything — the one thing that makes someone stop scrolling.

A beloved community mural, We Run as One, was painted over in Sydney's inner west, sparking anger among locals. The murals featured 16-year-old Arran Keith, who has cerebral palsy, completing a fun run with friends in 2018. The mural, which was commissioned by Inner West Council in 2023, depicted the runners across two walls joined at a 140-degree angle, five metres wide and three metres high.

Occupants leasing the building told the Herald that the mural had been painted over about a week earlier. However, its removal had nothing to do with them. Building manager Harold Dakin said the mural/advertising was for the previous tenant, Running Science, which had gone into liquidation.

Dakin stated that 'they no longer hold a lease to the building, and hence their mural/advertising was removed accordingly.' He also promised that 'there won't be any graffiti or posters going forward.'

An Inner West Council spokesman acknowledged that it had little power to prevent the mural's removal. 'We were not made aware that the property owner was going to paint over the mural, and we regret that they did,' the spokesman said.

Arran Keith said he was 'humbled' when he first saw the mural in 2023. For him, it was a reflection of how tight-knit and supportive his community was and a reminder that his disability was 'secondary.'

Arran said he did not expect such a strong response to its removal. 'At first, I sort of didn't think much of it when I saw it had been removed... Then as I've sort of thought about it more, I'm like, the fact that people are outraged has been very humbling for me in terms of how much it has meant to them,' Arran said.

Artist Scott Marsh, who painted the mural, noted a disturbing trend of public art being removed to make way for advertising. 'They paint over the mural, leave it for a while (until any controversy fizzles) then all of a sudden an ad board will appear in its place,' Marsh said.