Banksy has consistently used his art to fund charitable causes. As his fame has grown, so too have the sums he raises. Reuters could not confirm how much money the artist has donated. In his book “Banksy: The man behind the wall,” author Will Ellsworth-Jones notes that “there is no Banksy Foundation donating money publicly,” making it impossible to “give a complete picture of what he gives away.” Here are some of Banksy’s donations:
2002: Banksy collaborated with Greenpeace to produce artwork for the environmental-action charity’s “Save or Delete” campaign to highlight the dangers of deforestation: It showed characters from Disney’s animated film ‘The Jungle Book,’ tied up and blindfolded in a denuded patch of jungle.
2007: Banksy took his annual “Santa’s Ghetto” pop-up art show and 20 street artists to the West Bank city of Bethlehem, donating proceeds to local youth projects.
2008: Banksy released a series of 299 signed prints of his mural depicting children saluting a Tesco supermarket bag. The sale was conducted as a lottery. According to a published report, Banksy donated the £24,406.61 raised to Sightsavers, an international NGO that provides free eye operations.
2010: Banksy pledged to donate all royalties from 175 prints of his “Choose Your Weapon” mural of a hooded man holding a dog painted in the style of fellow street artist Keith Haring to Russian art collective Voina. Two members of the collective were in a St. Petersburg jail at the time for taking part in an anti-corruption protest. That year, Banksy allowed Moorfields Eye Hospital in London to remove and auction the 2006 “Gangsta Rat” piece he painted on the side of its building. The piece was sold to raise money for the hospital.
