The Bigger Picture | Blank Wall Assassins New Street Art
A prominent new piece of street art has been unveiled on the streets of Carlisle this week by the artist Luke Smile as part of an ambitious new project brought to life by Eden Arts and Blank Wall Assassins.
This is the second piece of art that has been made possible by Blank Walls Assassins partnership with Eden Arts and forms part of The Bigger Picture project.
“The Bigger Picture is about creating a new vision for the city showing what could be possible through greater cultural activity”, says Eden Arts Director Adrian Lochhead, “the city already boasts a significant wealth of historical landmarks and the basis of a thriving economic centre but the both organisations believe even more can be done to put Carlisle on the national and international map, giving us all more to be proud of”.
This new artwork celebrates the name of the project ‘The Bigger Picture’ and has been created by celebrated artist and designer Luke Smile whose signature text based work graces the streets of a number of towns and cities across the UK. Luke worked tirelessly through the week to bring this wall to life located opposite Carlisle Castle. He said ‘I'm super happy with how the mural came out, it's definitely my favourite piece to date.
It's a fantastic wall, in a great spot and being opposite the castle and the park is an added bonus as they're two places that people love to visit’.
Blank Wall Assassins have been active in the city for a number of years animating the streets with vibrant artworks and creating an alternative street art trail across the city. Ben Helsop, CEO of Blank Wall Assassins said “the Bigger Picture is such an interesting project for Blank Wall Assassins to be involved in. For years we have been pushing public art as a way of engaging the populous with rich, exciting, vibrant and fun cultural experiences. To be able to bring a new wall to the city as part of this conversation has been very special.
Public art is such a powerful and visual representation of a place and its cultural values. Getting someone like Luke Smile to bring his creative yet highly detailed graphic art to a wall and use the name of the project has just been perfect. The fun element of street art is encapsulated here with the fact we have brought ‘a bigger picture’ to the landscape to discuss ‘the Bigger Picture’.”
“We are looking at the city and dreaming of what it could be - a place where people want to come and live, a place that is famous for it's culture”, says Adrian, “that’s not to say it is a bad place, I am a resident and proud to be one, I think Carlisle is great, I just feel that it could be even greater with more activity, more going on in the centre, a more joined up approach, I think everyone does if we are honest”.
The next phase of this exciting project is to bring experts from other cities from across the UK, and even Europe, to Carlisle and share their unique perspective while suggesting new approaches and ideas. The idea is that these will help to envisage a new and positive vision for Carlisle. “We are interested in culture as it plays such a big role in shaping and promoting the city’s identity”, continued Adrian, “be that through street art, festivals, events, galleries, in bars, in restaurants, on the street, wherever. You can see that just simple things like adding lamp-post signs and hosting outdoor events changes the look of Warwick Road outside the football club; we want to think even bigger than that - for example what could the old Hoopers building be, what changes could be made to the public realm, how could the image of the city be changed through hosting truly international cultural events - these things have both huge economic impact and on local business but also big impact on people and social cohesion”.
Part of the outcome of the project will be a short documentary which is being created by local filmmaker Adam Reid from AJR visuals. Adam has been integral to the process of capturing the new walls being installed in the city and capturing interviews with the artists and cultural experts involved.
It is hoped that The Bigger Picture will lead to more, and in particular an international standard wall art festival to rival and compliment those seen in other places like Waterford Walls Festival and All Caps in Rotterdam.
The BWA journey started in 2018 with one simple wall and not much of a plan. It has since taken so many twists and turns along the way and now, the free QR coded street art tour takes in over 20 pieces all over the cityscape. Ben Heslop, Creative director behind Blank Wall Assassins says ‘When I look at how many powerful interactions have been noted in response to our curation of the city's streets it reminds me of just how important creating a rich tapestry of cultural experiences has been for the city and its people.’ BWA’s vision is to bring a living gallery to the streets that is free to access, on view to all, was able to cross cultural and social boundaries and reach out and grab those not knowing they were looking for a cultural experience. Ben says ‘We wanted to challenge, agitate, educate and excite people in equal measures as we feel that is what great art should do. So much ‘culture’ happens behind closed doors and is accessed by the same cohorts, if BWA stick a 130 square metre painting on the side of a building, all people within the city know, they can engage, discuss, pass judgement, be inspired or simply pass by, but they have seen, they have experienced something they otherwise would not and were not expecting, and there is a real power in that.’
Eden Arts have created the Winter Droving in Penrith, they also have the largest community cinema network in the north of England - Cine North, they created Cumbria’s widest arts festival in C-Art, they brought the WHALE to Whitehaven and many more projects over their long existence. Together they hope to spark new ideas, and also they want to work with new people.
Individuals who are seeking an insight into the work of Blank Wall Assassins and also how to navigate cultural activity in towns and cities can apply to form part of a group who will be invited to various events throughout the course of the project. Visit: https://www.edenarts.co.uk/pro...
The scheme will feature the opportunities to meet the cultural experts from elsewhere and to work with Blank Wall Assassins to identify and define a new street art piece. The idea is that by participating you will be learning and contributing.
