An artist involved in a city council project to brighten up part of Winchester's centre has responded to the pensioner who branded the result as "vile" and a "waste of taxpayers' money."

As reported in last week's Hampshire Chronicle, 84-year-old Lizette Bennett described as "unsuitable for a cathedral city" the graffiti artwork in Cross Keys passage between The Broadway and Silver Hill, created by youngsters as part of a workshop.

In response, the artist, Winchester-based Kezia Hoffman said: "We would like to see every dull wall and unfriendly alleyway coloured up with good artwork. Good art doesn't necessarily mean looking nice, Picasso's Guernica is a great example of this. Artists improve their skills by questioning what they see and how they want to communicate, the end product needs to inspire people to laugh, cry or think, preferably all at once."

Kezia, a graduate of Winchester School of Art, added that just because the images were created using spray paint didn't make them any less legitimate.

"There is a lot of narrow-minded thinking about spray can art. Many people see that spray cans have been used and instantly start to think negatively. One onlooker said to me: 'It's not art because you're not using paintbrushes'. It's understandable that people associate spray paint with vandalism, but to close your eyes to the degrees of artwork that are out there on walls is narrow-minded.

Added Kezia: "The dialogue we had with the kids was aimed to help them make their drawings look more alive by paying attention to each shape and colour used.

"If art can challenge, question and possibly open up the way someone thinks it can serve a very important role of helping people with opposing ideals get along a bit better. Music, art, film, literature and theatre all can help to serve this purpose. We need to see more public money spent on commissions and cultural celebrations, not less."

The work by the youngsters at Cross Keys was co-ordinated by Kezia with Davidos Quailos and commissioned by "Graffiti Busters"-a partnership between various agencies, including the police and the probation service aimed at reducing unwanted graffiti.

The team chose the passage because it had been repeatedly targeted by graffiti artists even after walls had been cleaned.