Check out this freshly painted mural outside Fresh Start in West Pilton
National Galleries of Scotland have been working with residents and artists Fraser Gray and Eva Paredes to create this stunning artwork, inspired by the work the charity does to support the local community.
The mural is part of NGS’ work to build stronger relationships with people and organisations in North Edinburgh, where The Art Works will be based.
The mural also features some artworks inspired by the national collection – see if you can spot them!
Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA), working alongside local arts charity Out of the Blue, have commissioned a mural for the garden of one of its developments in Leith.
PoLHA asked what type of mural residents would like and using the chosen theme of gardens, artist Kate George held a riso print workshop with tenants at Out of the Blue to create garden-themed shapes to include in the design.
Inspired by the tenants’ ideas, Kate and the team layered different nature based shapes including a swift and a robin to create a design for the 12 metre long mural.
Artist Kate George commented: “I was approached by Out of the Blue as I have previously worked on large scale murals and my studio is based at their Drill Hall. I always use community input into the designs.
“We surveyed the tenants and found that they wanted a garden themed mural featuring plants and flowers; most importantly they wanted it to be bright.
“This mural was different to any I’ve produced before as I used the Out of the Blue riso print studio to work with tenants to create riso prints of garden themed shapes then applied these to the mural design. It’s changed my approach to community murals that I’ll undertake in future.”
Heather Kiteley, Group Chief Executive of PoLHA, said: “This mural is an excellent example of us working with community organisations and our tenants to create brilliant outside spaces.
“I love the bright design which makes the garden an even more appealing place for residents to enjoy.”
To mark International Women’s Day 2022 we’re inviting residents and students from selected high schools, to help us create a brand-new mural for Central Library.
The mural will display portraits of an array of influential Edinburgh women, past and present. Inspired by a similar project that has been running in America since 2016 called ‘Work in Progress’, we’ll display the finished mural as part of an exhibition in the Central Library.
We’d like to invite you to get involved in creating the stencils of the nominated figures. Please join us at one of the three stencilling workshops at Central Library on 12, 19 and 26 March.
To kick off the celebration and project, we’ve got a very special discussion with local author Sara Sheridan, who talks about her favourite trailblazing Edinburgh women.
Sign up to our blog, Tales of One City, to watch the video:
An international artist has created a striking new mural to promote breastfeeding in Inverclyde.
Sam Bates, better known as Smug or Smug0ne on Instagram, is the creative influence behind the artwork which has transformed the gable end of a block of flats on Nicolson Street in Greenock.
The mural was a collaborative project between the Inverclyde Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) Infant Feeding Team and funded by the Scottish Government’s through its ‘Programme for Government’ with support from Oak Tree Housing Association, which owns the building.
The idea is around normalising breastfeeding to encourage more local mums and expectant parents to breastfeed and continue to improve breastfeeding rates.
Catriona MacLean, Inverclyde HSCP health visitor and infant feeding coordinator, said: “The immense health benefits of breastfeeding for mother and baby make it a public health priority.
“Breastfeeding rates in Inverclyde remain low, however, providing excellent information and support during pregnancy and immediately following birth can smooth the breastfeeding journey.
“Inverclyde has welcomed with open arms the Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Scheme with business and facilities continuing to sign up and this beautiful new piece of public art will support a whole area-wide approach to supporting families.”
The HSCP team approached internationally-acclaimed artist Smug, who has already created popular murals in Glasgow and has been commissioned for projects in Australia, after seeing his works on social media platform Instagram where he has more than 200,000 followers.
Smug said: “Catriona originally reached out to me to pitch the idea and the whole concept behind it is thanks to her.She wanted something different so we did some brainstorming and came up with the mythical vibe.“
The mural, which has been created despite four named storms and heavy snowfall in recent weeks, is a tasteful and striking portrayal of a mum feeding her baby to help promote the benefits of breastfeeding.
Councillor Lynne Quinn, Inverclyde’s women’s champion, said: “This incredible artwork will have a positive impact on mums and expectant mums but also the wider community by highlighting that breastfeeding is normal. And what’s more environmentally-friendly than breastfeeding?
“I’ve seen first-hand the great work of the local Infant Feeding Team do in our community and they deserve huge credit for coming up with this brilliant idea and securing the services of such an acclaimed artist who has done a magnificent job.”
Councillor Robert Moran, Inverclyde’s health and social care convener, said: “This is a fantastic example of partnership working to highlight the very important issue of how perfectly normal breastfeeding is to not only reassure and encourage any mums and expectant mums out there who have reservations but also to educate the wider general public about breastfeeding.
“Huge credit to our HSCP Infant Feeding Team, Smug and Oak Tree for making this idea a reality and I’m sure this terrific mural will help to encourage many mums and expectant mums out there to think about breastfeeding and seek expert help and advice from our excellent staff to support them to do that.”
The project was made possible thanks to the support of Oak Tree Housing Association who helped identify a suitable, highly-visible building and gave permission to use the side of the block of flats near Greenock Town Centre.
Hazel Aitken, Oak Tree housing manager, said: “Oak Tree Housing Association were delighted to have the opportunity to become involved in this project and play a part in promoting such a positive message in this unique way.
“There has always been strong partnership working between the association and HSCP and we were happy to help.”
The project was also supported by neighbouring store The Range, which sectioned off parking spaces to allow the artist to work and provided some materials and space to store them.
The Inverclyde Infant Feeding Team hold a drop-in support group at The Waterwheel restaurant in Port Glasgow every Tuesday from 11am-12.30pm where all expectant and breastfeeding/breastmilk feeding families are welcome.
Closer to home, a new breastfeeding group started in Granton this week:
People experiencing and at risk of homelessness battle extremely difficult circumstances every day and never more so than during this Covid-19 pandemic.
Research shows that if you’re rough sleeping in Scotland, your life expectancy is 47 years for a man and if you’re a woman, this decreases to 43 years.
The family of Arthur Williams are therefore well aware of how much of a miracle it is that, despite living on the streets of Leith for almost 30 years, he somehow managed to defy these odds.
Next month he will be 83 and he is currently living out his days with dignity and respect and being lovingly looked after in a care home. However, it took years of support and interventions to eventually get him to this point.
It also took years of tolerance, kindness and generosity from countless local businesses and good hearted Leith locals to keep him safe and alive for all those years sleeping rough.
It is for this reason that the family of Arthur Williams, on his behalf, want to give something back to the community of Leith, to say thank you for the years of support from the everyday people and good Samaritans who showed him enormous kindness.
It is hoped that this mural by the incredibly talented local artist Shona Hardie (shonahardie.com) will honour his legacy and bring some much needed cheer, in these dark days, to the people of Leith and to all who see it.
We are delighted and extremely honoured that Shona Hardie was willing to be involved and are touched at how committed she was to making this happen.
In addition we are grateful to Vue Art (vueart.co.uk) who collaborated with Shona Hardie to incorporate the homeless/mental health signposting artwork on the utility box situated below the mural.
We also want to thank Casa Amiga (casaamiga.co.uk) for granting permission to site the mural on the side of their premises on the most aptly named street – ‘Arthur Street’.
Throughout his life on the streets, Arthur Williams was known to Social Services, NHS Lothian and Police Scotland and was supported by them and the local homeless charity Streetwork (streetwork.org.uk) which is part of Simon Community Scotland (simonscotland.org).
It is hoped that this mural will serve as a reminder of the plight of people experiencing and at risk of homelessness and that the homeless/mental health signposting may be of use to anyone out there who needs it.
If you wish to make a donation to Streetwork, no matter how large or small, it will help make a difference through the work they deliver:
£1 pays for a warm drink a in safe place off the street
£5 pays for someone to have a hot shower and access to laundry.
£10 helps someone to become more employable – to find a route off the street.
£30 pays for a sleeping bag when all options for the night are exhausted.
£50 per month helps our outreach team reach and speak to vulnerable people on the street.
£150 provides ongoing support to someone in a situation of crisis, including access to health services.
We know that people can and do recover from homelessness. Individual support, linking people into the services they need and, above all, human kindness make a huge difference. Every day we are astounded by the resilience and tenacity of people to survive and find their way to a more positive future. Arthur Williams is a perfect example of this and embodies the motto of Leith – “Persevere”.
Jan Williamson, Assistant Director for Streetwork said, “We are so grateful to Arthur and his family for arranging this mural for the community of Leith, and for raising awareness of homelessness and mental health.
“The team at Streetwork were honoured to know Arthur and to have been part of his remarkable story, he is a real gentleman and a true Leith legend and this mural is a fitting tribute to him.”
Ben Macpherson MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith said: “This stunning mural is a really uplifting tribute to Arthur, who I know is doing well in his new home. The widespread positive response that the painting’s received already is testament to how much Arthur is loved by the community in Leith and beyond.
“It’s also testament to Shona Hardie’s magnificent artwork. What’s more, the generous donations that are being made to the family’s fundraising campaign, for Streetwork, emphasise that people want to help those in need where they can, like local people in Leith supported Arthur over the years, and our shared commitment and determination to tackle and prevent homelessness.”
Wednesday 17, Thursday 18 and Friday 19 October 1- 4pm Ages: 10 – 18 years Cost: £1 per workshop
Get your hands on the cans when you come along to join professional artist Ross MacRae to design and create a new spray paint mural at North Edinburgh Arts.
Please wear old clothes and we’ll provide the face masks.
Only 6 places available each day so please reserve your place in advance.
