The Great Yarmouth and East Suffolk bid for City of Culture 2025 hopes to build upon Banksy’s Spraycation legacy by commissioning new pieces of street art.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council have commissioned artwork by two professional street artists in locations around the town and nearby Gorleston. They hope this will create an art trail that includes the four Bansky murals.

The commissioned artists will also work with local young people, helping them develop their skills and learn about the discipline through workshops. Techniques such as making stencils and shading will be taught.

The Yare Gallery will also be hosting a photography exhibition, asking people to share their photos of the Bansky artwork. The gallery plan to cover a wall with them as an homage to the elusive graffiti artist.

Leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Cllr Carl Smith said: “The appearance of the Banksy artworks on our streets has been an extremely exciting occurrence, creating a whirlwind of interest and drawing visitors from far and wide.”

With the artist’s work selling for seven-figure sums, the council have taken action to protect the murals, and have had to put up protective covers after some of the murals were defaced.

“We are determined to ensure that they are preserved so that they can continue to be enjoyed by as many people as possible, and that they will act as a catalyst to encourage others, and particularly our young people, to get involved in some form of artistic or cultural activity themselves.

“It has delighted us that this has happened as we join the race to become the UK City of Culture 2025 jointly with East Suffolk Council, and we’d like to think that maybe Banksy himself is signalling an approval of our bid.”

Last month, Bansky’s Spraycation series of murals drew national and international interest, and the region has since seen huge numbers of visitors eager to see the artwork.