‘Momentum is starting to build’: community arts group searches for city space
Written by Hannah Rooney on 20th October 2025
Lewis Hobson, from County Durham community arts agency Cyan CIC, is working to create a new arts space in Durham city.
A community arts agency has started searching for a new space in Durham, saying it feels there is a lack of places for ‘creatives’ to connect.
Cyan CIC, a community arts agency based in County Durham, hopes to establish an art space where creativity can thrive.
The organisation recently held a public meet-up (on October 11) to generate ideas and plans for a potential space.
It is already helping shape arts in the county, with projects such as launching the first mural festival in the North East (in Spennymoor) and an exhibition on Durham’s often-forgotten ice rink.
A mural at Hartlepool Mural Festival, organised by Cyan CIC and Hartlepool Borough Council. Credit: Cyan CIC
Lewis Hobson, one of the owners of Cyan CIC, started graffiti art at the age of 13 and has since worked to encourage people to engage with art in the wider community.
He told Spark that Durham city centre is lacking a place “where people can collectively gather”, especially artists.
“These kinds of spaces are really missing from the city centre, which has done really well for tourism, internationally,” he said.
“We have a huge university and, you know, lots of heritage stuff but we’ve really not got a good offer for supporting independent grassroots arts and local artists.”
The agency would like to create a crossover space to bring together Durham University students and local artists, combining their strengths.
Lewis said: “There’s some amazing people at the university; some of the brightest people in the UK.
“And we [Northern people] could offer a lot of something that someone who doesn’t come from this tight-knit community might not have.
“There’s a really big potential there that, in my mind, has not been tapped.”
Cyan CIC’s most recent event was a chalk-drawing activity in the city centre, which Lewis said was extremely “effective” and “accessible”.
“People absolutely loved it. We had people from all walks of life. We had long sticks with chalk on the end, so old people and people who didn’t want to kneel could use it,” he said.
The event is part of Cyan CIC and Lewis’ goal to “inspire other people to similarly be empowered” through art.
“The momentum is starting to build in Durham and that’s why we’re starting to look for a space.”
A wall in Hetton Lyons BEFORE Cyan CIC’s Legal Walls project, giving artists walls to safely paint on. Credit: Cyan CIC
A wall in Hetton Lyons after Cyan CIC’s Legal Walls project, giving artists walls to safely paint on. Credit: Cyan CIC
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