Banksy £10m could rescue Oscar prison
THE stencil Banksy used for a tribute to Oscar Wilde on the wall of a jail could save the building from developers.
The artist hopes to raise up to £10million by selling the stencil for Create Escape – put on the former Reading prison in March – and boost a bid by the local council to make it an arts centre.
Bristol-based Banksy said: “I’m passionate about it now.
“Converting the place that destroyed [Wilde] into a refuge for art feels so perfect we have to do it.”
But the Ministry of Justice said: “The deadline for bids has passed and we are considering the ones we have received.”
The playwright was held from 1895 to 1897 after being jailed for gross indecency.