Wigan artist takes to the streets with his art to highlight homelessness

Ben Van de Wouw, from Standish, has launched the ‘On The Streets’ project, which will see him complete six paintings in Manchester city centre over an 18-week period.

The 23-year-old will start the initiative on March 1, and after completing the drawings he will put on a free exhibition with the goal of selling them all.

His goal is to raise £10,000 from the sales of the artwork and donate it all directly to ‘Two Brews’ - the self-funded outreach group provide support to homeless people in Manchester.

Ben, who said he could be classed as a figurative artist as his work is based around characters, people and figures, said he was passionate about using art to help those less fortunate than him.

He said: “Aside from being an art project, ‘On The Streets’ is all about raising awareness for homelessness in Manchester, and in turn, all of the

UK.

“The reason behind me completing the paintings in the centre of Manchester is to make a statement that homelessness is an issue that needs to be properly addressed and given the right attention.

“I chose ‘Two Brews’ over a large charity as I believe that this amount of money will have a real impact and enable them to flourish in their endeavours.”

Supporting the homeless Monday to Friday, he said the charity travel around Manchester and Salford supplying food, hot drinks, clothing and other fundamental resources.

Now he hopes the weeklong exhibition can take place around mid-July.

Ben, who quit his customer service job in December in pursuit of following his passion for art, said: “The first 18 weeks of public painting are completely in line with any social distancing and tier-measures.

“I am hoping that by July, we are in a more relaxed position in terms of the current pandemic so that the exhibition has a great opportunity to be experienced.”

And Ben has launched a crowdfunding page in order to source funds for the scheme. He hopes to raise £15,000 after discovering that he was not eligible for Arts Council funding.

He said: “I was initially disheartened as I was thinking ‘How am I going to be able to fund this project?’, which led me to creating this crowdfunding campaign.

“This project is definitely stepping out of my comfort zone, but I really believe in it and the good that will come of it.

“I absolutely love creating art and there’s nothing else that I want to be doing with my life. I plan for my artistic career to be a philanthropic one, so that I can help people less fortunate get the help they so desperately need.”

To donate money to Ben, visit https://uk.gofundme.com/f/on-the-streets-painting-for-homelessness