New community mural brings colour and local stories to shopping centre

A vibrant new graffiti-style mural celebrating the people, stories and spirit of Leith has been unveiled at the Newkirkgate Shopping Centre.

The artwork, created at the Edinburgh Remakery store inside the shopping centre, was designed with help from dozens of local residents who were asked a simple question: what images best represent Leith?

Their answers ranged from sunshine and ships to one particularly memorable seagull.

The community-led project brought together around 50 participants from local charities and community groups over several weeks, transforming a previously dark and grey walkway into a colourful public artwork.

Elaine, who helped organise the project, said the response from the community had been overwhelmingly positive.

“The Newkirkgate often gets bad publicity but this has been nothing but positivity,” she said.

“We had about eight community clubs that came in over a number of weeks, 50 participants from different charities all coming in, and really taking that moment to work together.”

Artist Ross McRae was tasked with turning the community’s ideas into the finished mural, using spray paint and graffiti-inspired designs to capture the character of the area.

“I was working with 90-year-old ladies who were picking up Posca pens and getting stuck into it,” he said.

“The seagull is my favourite bit. There was a wee lad with autism who was struggling to think what to draw, but we got talking to him and he came up with Greg the Seagull, who’s always nicking everyone’s Greggs at Cameron Toll.”

The mural was completed with the signatures of everyone who took part – leaving a lasting mark from the community on the heart of Leith.