- New public artwork brings splash of colour to Garnethill
- Latest work from the creator of the Rogano mural has been added to City Centre Mural Trail
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Mural artist, Ida Henrich with the new work created in partnership with pupils at St Aloysius College and young people from the Garnethill area. |
Garnethill has a vibrant new piece of public art courtesy of a collaboration between the community, St Aloysius College and The Glasgow School of Art. The new mural by GSA graduate and leading mural artist, Ida Henrich, has transformed a “dingy lane” into a colourful space. The artwork, which was created in partnership with young people from the Garnethill community and pupils at St Aloysius College, celebrates the idea of Care for the Common Home.
Ida, who graduated in Communication Design at the GSA in 2017, ran a series of workshops with the S3 class at St Aloysius College, sharing with the pupils the process of designing, scaling, and painting a mural. She also ran two sessions with the children’s arts group at Garnethill Multicultural Centre.
“I was inspired by the Garnethill Community Garden and old tenement tile designs, to create a mural in which wildlife and the imagination could roam free,” says Ida.
The theme for the design – ‘Care for the Common Home’ is based on feedback from mural painting workshops
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| A pupil from St Aloysius’ College works on the mural |
“In the workshops, I hoped to find out about the things local youngsters liked about Garnethill, and what would make them feel happy and safe,” she adds. “The workshops revealed wildlife, cats, community gardens, birds, foxes, sweets, swings, the bread oven, a rock and imagination as key factors.
“In my experience, murals bring a lot of joy to an area, particularly when local voices are being heard. Passersby are thankful for the colourful wall and say that the design makes them happy. What before was a dingy lane, now is a place in which people can imagine benches. I’m thrilled to see that the things the local youngsters value, also speak to the adults”
“We were delighted to support the creation of this wonderful new mural in the heart of our community,” says Professor Penny Macbeth, Director of The Glasgow School of Art. “Congratulations to Ida and the young people, who have together made a wonderful artwork which reflects both Garnethill as an area and the issues which today’s young people find especially important.”
“It is excellent news that the mural has now been added to the Glasgow City Centre Mural trail,” she adds. “I hope that this will encourage more people to come and enjoy this vibrant addition to Garnethill’s public realm.”
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Left to right: Matthew Bartlett, (Head Master, St Aloysius’ College), Ida Henrich Harriet Simms (GSA Community Engagement officer) and Professor Penny Macbeth (Director of The Glasgow School of Art) |
“We are thrilled to have worked with our neighbour, the GSA, on this wonderful and important piece of work,” says Matthew Bartlett, Head Master, St Aloysius’ College. “Our young people have relished the opportunity to collaborate with a professional artist and see their vision come to life. The fact that this project has also contributed to our wider community here in Garnethill is fantastic. As a school, it is our job to ensure our young people are aware of the issues around global warming and feel empowered to enact change. I am proud to have such creative, driven and socially-conscious pupils within our school. I would like to thank those pupils and our Head of Art and Design, Carol Hutchinson, as well as GSA and Ida for contributing to this wonderful mural that now decorates our building. We are very fortunate to be positioned in the City Centre next to a number of highly regarded institutions, including Glasgow School of Art, and I look forward to further collaboration in the future.”
“In preparation for COP26, our young people created and presented ideas on climate change across different creative platforms such as film, sculpture, poetry and sound,” adds Carol Hutchinson, Head of Art and Design, St Aloysius’ College. “Our unique position as a Jesuit school in the heart of Garnethill and Glasgow, allowed us to form meaningful partnership links with film makers, ceramicists and artists from across the city. The mural project, in collaboration with GSA, gave our young people a wonderful opportunity to further their own creativity whilst enhancing the local area. The experience of working with Ida in the planning and production of this mural gave our young artists invaluable insight into the creative process and the colourful and engaging mural, inspired by the natural world, has significantly improved the lane. Our young people have felt a real sense of achievement and fulfilment in working with Ida and GSA and in gifting this fantastic mural to the local community.”
See the Reid Lane Mural as part of the City Centre trail
https://www.citycentremuraltrail.co.uk/murals/muralabout/77
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Further information contact
Lesley Booth
07799414474
Notes for Editors
Ida Henrich
Ida Henrich is an illustrator and mural artist based in Glasgow. She fell in love with the city studying Communication Design and specialising in Illustration at the Glasgow School of Art over four years ago. Ida’s work is colourful, energetic and often with a spark of humour. Ida works on editorial and commercial illustration projects, as well as painting murals around Glasgow. Her first Glasgow mural was at the Rogano and she has since painted projects for local businesses, UK Youth for Nature, RSPB Scotland and Climate Scotland. Website – https://idahenrich.com/Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/idahenrich/
The Reid Lane Mural was funded and supported by St Aloysius College, Friends of GSA and The Glasgow School of Art.