Street art trail lures one of world's best artists back to Carlisle

Report by Andrew Misra

Street art is nothing new in Carlisle. Not any more, at least.

A street art trail was unveiled recently, linking up over a dozen works of art on the streets of the city.

But it's not just the public who it's proving popular with. Top artists are also being attracted back to Carlisle.

Tymon de Laat is a Dutch artist who created the Mexican firefighter mural in the city two years ago at the Old Fire Station.

Now, Tymon is spraying the portrait of a girl from Laos in south east Asia onto a block of student flats - based on a photo he took on a world tour.

He hopes the work will have an impact on the people of the city. He said: "It's kind of a busy part of Carlisle here and when they're standing over there at the lights they can have a moment of reflection.

Many parts of the world have seen Tymon's work - in person as well as online - from his home in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, to neighbouring Germany to as far afield as Jordan.

But it is his work in Carlisle that forms part of the street art trail that launched last month. The man behind it, Ben Heslop, says it's already made a positive impression.

He said: "We've been doing this for nearly four years now so, as with everything, it starts with one place and it builds up."

Heslop doesn't expect every piece will be for everyone, but hopes the art keeps more than just the artists coming back.