Building Our Future

Dr Lee Bofkin | Co-founder & CEO, Global Street Art

April 26, 2019 Bert Broadhead / Dr Lee Bofkin
Building Our Future
Dr Lee Bofkin | Co-founder & CEO, Global Street Art
Show Notes

One man’s mission to live in painted cities; how can street art transform both buildings and communities?

Holding a PhD in Evolutionary Mathematics from Cambridge, Lee was a former break-dancer with the Soul Mavericks Crew where he represented the UK and he has travelled the world extensively documenting street art world-wide. 

In 2012, he co-founded Global Street Art with a mission to live in painted cities. This is achieved in three ways:

  1. Curating the world’s largest online street art platform with artists from over 100 countries and hundreds of thousands of photographs and over half a million followers on social media;
  2. Organising legal street art murals; having organised over 2,000 since 2012;
  3. Forming an agency that works on commercial projects.

In this podcast:

  • What is street art and how is it already shaping our cities?
  • What role does art have in helping to create vibrant communities?
  • How are brands helping to fund the growth of street art?
  • How does street art retain authenticity as it enters a new, “legal” era?
  • Is street art designed to challenge communities or represent them?
  • Can we measure the impact of street art on a location?

Lee’s favourite building is the Schindler House  in West Holywood; an experiment in 1920’s social architecture and arguably an early forbear of the current trend of co-living. His hot pick for innovation in the sector is Gyana AI, focused on retail analytics. 

The recommended addition to the Building Our Future reading list is:

You can find & follow Lee and Global Street Art on social media via Instagram or Twitter for further information.

Image courtesy of Tony Briggs (http://www.tonybriggs.com/_photo_15181401.html)