International street artist on mission to inspire communities

A WORLD-RENOWNED street artist and poet is creating an art and limerick trail as part of a programme to inspire a community.

Angry Dan, 38, who has worked as far afield as Mexico and Iceland in the last 12 months, has this week begun a series of five murals in Cleator Moor, Cumbria.

He was commissioned by Cumbrian company Blank Wall Assassins to bring his unique skills to Cleator Moor as part of a programme of community events backed by iSH (Industrial Solutions Hub) which will help create jobs and opportunities in the region.

Angry Dan’s Lakes Limerick Trail will celebrate the area’s historic importance as a location for artistic inspiration, bringing history, culture, and local heritage to life through limericks and art.

The project began this week with Dan working on a mural at The Columba Club in Cleator Moor, which pays homage to L.S. Lowry who featured the building in a painting on one of his many visits to Cleator Moor.

Dan will also celebrate the work of William Wordsworth, JMW Turner, Beatrix Potter, John Ruskin – visiting the places that inspired them, then creating murals that reflect each artists’ relationship with the wider area.

During his time in Cleator Moor, Dan plans to hold a series of limerick-writing workshops with children and young people at Montreal Primary School, St Patrick’s Primary School, and the Phoenix Youth Club.

Dan will be accompanied by his friend and filmmaker Rob Key, 36, who will document the creative process and their experience in Cleator Moor for a forthcoming film to be premiered in the community.

Dan said: “Rob and I grew up in a rural community and we wanted to bring this project to Cleator Moor to hopefully inspire the next generation through art and limericks about what can be achieved through creative ideas. We are hoping it will be aspirational to young people here and inspire them the same way we were inspired as teenagers.”

Anna Chippendale, of Blank Wall Assassins, said: “This is about regeneration of a community and also about sparking an interest in art and making that accessible to all. 

“It’s also an opportunity to inspire civic pride and encourage that creative thinking which is so important in solving engineering and industry challenges which iSH will bring to West Cumbria by joining the dots with a range of organisations across industry, business, research, academia and community.”

John Maddison, managing director of iSH, said: “iSH is about enabling opportunities in West Cumbria for businesses, organisations, communities and individuals and doing that in a way which is inclusive and sustainable.

“Improving collaboration and capability across the region will mean businesses have the ability to grow, creating jobs and opportunities.

“It is also about regenerating a place. Community events such as this art trail, and its workshops with young people, give residents access to opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have on their doorstep.”

Dan created his first street art trail in Walthamstow with nine limerick murals as part of a project commissioned by the Mayor’s London Borough of Culture and Waltham Forest Council. He recently finished an artwork about climate change in a new exhibition held at Tullie House, Carlisle, called Once Upon A Planet.