And she is determined that vandals who have damaged some of her work in recent weeks will not stop her from creating her ‘brick rooms’ in a brick-sized gap in the wall behind Rivelin Primary School, in Walkley.
Rebecca, aged 34, herself a year six primary school teacher in Beighton, decided to fill the brick space with little figures and dolls furniture after noticing it not long after moving to Walkley.
Now they have a cult following among residents who love to see her work. There is even an online fans group.
You can see the rooms at the bottom of this story.
Rebecca said: “I spotted the missing brick nearly a year after moving to our road. It was one of those things you think is new because you've never noticed it but it's always been there.
“Once I'd spotted it I couldn't unsee it. My mum had recently sent me some photos of knitted post box covers on her street that changed every few weeks and it got me thinking. At home I have a doll house that I renovated in lockdown for my niece and a box of furniture my auntie had salvaged from a scrap store.”
One night she asked her husband if he’d like to come decorate a hole in a wall with her.
“He said it wasn't the strangest idea I've had,” she said.
Jubilee scene in Walkley brick room
“The first few brick rooms I assembled with the doll house furniture I have. I organised the objects into rooms and set them up once a week basically as they were in the doll house. I started with a living room, then a kitchen, a bathroom, dining room, bedroom and a music room. The first school holiday after I started I had some more time on my hands and decided to try making my own stuff. With the help of my mum's art teacher skills and my dad's saw, I created a scene for the Jubilee and it has grown from there!
“For the first month or two I had no idea if anyone had seen it or was looking at it. I noticed things would move a bit sometimes and I'd occasionally peer to see if people were stopping by it. About two months in I made an Instagram account for it and popped a note in the room to encourage people to say hello.
“It was incredible to suddenly hear from so many people who said they visit or check it on their walk past. Parents and kids on the school run, people on their way to the allotment, even people coming out of their way to see if it's changed.”
Vandalised or stolen
However, she was upset when some recent scenes she created were vandalised or stolen.
Initially, she turned it into a joke on social media. When a painting was stolen from an art gallery she had made for the brick room, Rebecca replaced it with a ‘missing’ poster.
But she later heard from people on the street that they had caught kids pulling it out of the wall and stomping on it.
Rebecca said: “I must admit I've been pretty devastated when I find it like that or someone messages to tell me. Partly because of the love and effort that goes into them but mostly because I hate the thought of someone going to see it and being disappointed.
‘Friends of The Brick Room’
“The local community has been so incredibly supportive. I can't believe how many people are on-side or consider themselves ‘Friends of The Brick Room’. I've had so many kind messages from people and all sorts of offers of suggestions and help, everything from creating covers to trip wires and ink traps! One person has even chased vandals down the street and marched them back to the brick room to return what they'd stolen.
“I closed the brick room for a week because the previous one had been completely destroyed and I was gutted. But I braved a come back scene and set up a prison with the vandals inside holding up signs of their crimes. It was a hit with the locals but unfortunately it only lasted three days before it was all stolen.”
Now she is hoping to arrange to fit a cover over the space, to keep vandals out, but needs to arrange that with the school first.
But in the meantime Rebecca is hoping that when school is back and there are more people walking past it along Kirkstone Road, it might be a bit safer.
“I'll keep putting things in there but perhaps not my finest work until I know it'll stay put again,” she said.
Rebecca’s favourite of her brick rooms has been a natural history museum scene she created to tie in with the opening of the Yorkshire Natural History Museum nearby. It had real fossils, a working magnifying glass and a dig pit.
Stranger Things models
She also enjoyed making scenes for Tramlines and Stranger Things displays too
“Inspiration comes from everywhere really, either linked to events in the area, like Tramlines or the museum opening or elsewhere like the Jubilee and Commonwealth games.” said Rebecca.
“Some people have given me objects they've found that might inspire a scene. I've had messages and polls on Instagram too. My class at school sometimes give me ideas too.”
She says she is hoping she can carry on with the brick room, and is always keeping her eyes peeled for other holes in the wall across Sheffield.
She has also set up a competition for Halloween to give the community a chance to create figures for the brick room.
“As long as I'm bringing a smile to people's faces and encouraging people to look up and around them, I'm happy," said Rebecca.
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3. Art gallery
A model of an art gallery inside the space were a brick would go in the wall Photo: Rececca Guy
4. Bright lights
This room came complete with working lights that people could turn on Photo: Rebecca Guy