Blank Wall Assassins is a not for profit organisation whose vision is to inspire people through world class public art.
We are driven by the belief that incredible art should not be confined to galleries and museums, viewed by the few and missed by the masses. Around the world, the movement has grown since the early 80’s graffiti culture and then supersized with the rise of street art in the 00’s, linking cities through art on their walls and the artists that create it. Today, the street art scene provides the largest free global gallery celebrating a rich and diverse tapestry of culture and communities.
In Carlisle we are firmly part of this worldwide movement with our streets clad in rich artistic offerings from some of the world’s best artists.
Our mission is to create vibrant public spaces that surprise, excite and inspire. We want to challenge people’s perceptions of where they live and work through the integration of street art in the spaces they move through; making unloved spaces desirable and creating a sense of ownership and interaction with culture for everyone.
We Are Blank Wall Assassins
Ben Heslop
After a lifetime’s love affair with art, especially graffiti based street art Ben, owner of Landmark Street Art, has built strong links with the artists he loves. Blank Wall Assassins was a concept he arrived at through travelling the world and being surrounded by some of the best artists and their work. Seeing first hand how art can change the way people react to their surroundings and feel about the streets they travel through lit the fire for Ben to bring this to his home city. His ‘one wall one victory’ approach to integrating public art within the cityscape very quickly caught the eye of the relevant stakeholders within the city such as Cumberland Council, local media, businesses, schools, community organisations & cultural institutions. His aim has always been to pull together a truly inspiring and eclectic roster of talent onto the city’s walls, shining a light on the power of public art to engage, amaze and create positive placemaking within a city and its people.
Ben says:
‘Everything you see on the city streets would not have been remotely possible without the help of so many people, organisations, businesses, artists, websites, global hunters and most importantly the people of the city who have backed our mission from the day the first drop of paint hit the wall.’
