New Haven Graffiti Artist Remains a Mystery

When Luke Hanscom came to his photography studio on State Street in New Haven last week, he barely noticed what was going on outside.

“There was some plywood structure and some tarps that had gone up on the side.  Just kind of looked like normal construction,” said Hanscom.

It was a week later when he finally saw what was there.

“The tarps were gone, everything was gone and there was this big mural baby,” he said.

And with it was a note left under the door, which was signed by the artist Believe in People or BiP as he's known in New Haven.  He's been creating graffiti masterpieces for a while now, catching the attention of people in New Haven, including Adam Wallace who got in touch with BiP to create this piece of art at West Haven Lumber.

“It's started a whole lot of conversation that we don't typically have around a lumber yard,” said Wallace, who is the Assistant Vice President of West Haven Lumber.

But while his pieces may be recognizable, the artist himself is not.  He wants to keep it that way.

“It didn't happen while we were open any days of the week,” said Wallace, who never saw BiP in action.  His identity remains a mystery.

“The secrecy for the nature of his work is not necessarily on a property where there's been preapproval from a property owner, so there's a need for him to remain in secret,” said Wallace.

“With most types of street art, there's kind of that mystery about it.  I feel like the artists never know if people are going to like it or not like it, so that's kind of the best way to go about it,” said Hanscom.