Banksy offers to turn unused prison into an arts centre
Banksy has offered to raise over $18 million in order to buy a prison in the UK which was adorned with an artwork created by the street artist earlier this year.
Developers had originally planned to turn the HMP Reading into apartments, but the plans for the heritage-listed site fell through.
Now back on the market for the hefty price, Banksy has offered to raise the funds by selling the stencil he used to paint a mural on the wall in March 2021.
The stencil has an estimated value of between $18 million and $28 million, and will be sold privately, as opposed to being sold at auction.
Banksy’s generous offer is contingent on the site being used as an arts complex, in line with a $4.8 million bid made by Reading Borough Council last year which was rejected by the Ministry of Justice.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Banksy said, “I had very little interest in Reading until I was on a rail replacement bus service that went past the jail.”
“It's rare to find an uninterrupted 500m-long paintable surface slap bang in the middle of a town; I literally clambered over the passenger next to me to get a closer look.”
“I promised myself I'd paint the wall even before I knew what it was. I'm passionate about it now, though.”
He said, “Oscar Wilde is the patron saint of smashing two contrasting ideas together to create magic. Converting the place that destroyed him into a refuge for art feels so perfect we have to do it.”
Banksy has only sold one of his stencils before, making it his rarest art form.
Image credits: Getty Images