The Future is coming…and it’s closer than you think.

An exciting new street art programme is being delivered in Sunderland through a partnership with the Sunderland BID and urban art agency Art of Protest Projects. Already underway, the programme is called Future Walls and will feature incredible murals, installations and art activations. All of the urban placemaking will be curated and created by a combination of Sunderland’s own talent as well as international world-leading artists, bringing the walls of Sunderland to life through collaboration, colour, storytelling, and imagination.

Future Walls isn’t just a project, it’s a programme.

This is because Future Walls will be delivered utilising a three-pillar approach plan:

1. Community Engagement

2. Talent Development

3. Strategic Curation, Production and Delivery

Launching in the Sunniside district of Sunderland, the programme will spread outwards and evolve in tandem with the urban revitalisation that is already taking place. With a focus on the future of digital innovation, this programme will feature world-leading street art in a multitude of forms and mediums, while bringing in local creatives to not only help curate, produce and deliver the art that goes on the walls but to help upskill them on their creative journeys as well.

Future Walls will bring in artists from all over the world, but its mission is to elevate the local creatives of Sunderland and use homegrown talent to help deliver this ambitious programme.

The programme’s delivery team have consulted and engaged with over 1,500 people who call Sunderland their city, many of whom are artists and creatives.

This programme aims to last up to eight years and will help pass on the torch to the creatives of Sunderland, so that they may carry on the mission, with confidence, to decorate their urban environment.

We’ve heard a similar message shared consistently: local artists don’t have enough opportunity in Sunderland to grow, to create, and to launch themselves into the public realm. Future Walls is going to change that by giving a voice and a platform to the artists who don’t feel heard or seen. If you want to join our cause, please get in touch! We’d love to hear from you.

The Future Talent Programme is already underway, giving local artists a springboard from which to launch their creative careers, allowing them to cultivate and showcase their skills. We welcome more local artists to join the Future Talent programme and there is a space for anyone who wants to join the mission. Simply get in touch to learn more.

We want to hear from you! If you live in a Sunderland postcode or regularly frequent the area for school, work or any other purpose, please fill out this form. The results will be analysed and then used to create the artist briefs from which the street art will be produced.

The Future Walls mission is to create art for the people, by the people, and with the people (not to the people).