Glasgow city centre is full of wonderful street art, most of it commissioned in the last 10 years by the City Council in a bid to liven up vacant lots and ugly blank walls. The idea has been to engage street artists to produce vibrant colourful works of art to help regenerate the city centre for the benefit of residents, businesses and visitors alike. And it seems to have been a huge success as every year more murals are added to the area in what has now become the very popular Glasgow Mural Trail. I love street art and find exploring a city through its murals a great way to get under the skin of the place. So with a free hour or so on a sunny afternoon, armed with a downloaded map of the trail, we set out en famille to discover parts of Glasgow we might not necessarily have seen otherwise.
Glasgow Panda by Kingatron
Wind Power by Rogue-One and Art Pistol
Honey…I Shrunk The Kids by Smug
The World’s Most Economical Taxi by Rogue-One
Argyle Street Cafe by Smug
Big Birds by Rogue-One
Dr Connolly, I Presume? By Rogue-One one of three murals commissioned by BBC Scotland in 2017 to celebrate Glasgow’s most famous son, Billy Connolly’s 75th birthday.
Famous Faces – Clutha by Rogue-One, EJEK and Art Pistol picturing the history of the area and famous personalities who have performed at this well-known music pub.
Spaceman by Recoat and Ali Wyllie
We didn’t manage to see all the murals, in fact I think we found just under half in the time we had. According to the map (when we were in Glasgow in October 2017) there were 23 but new ones are created and sometimes old ones are destroyed so this number may change. By its very nature street art is ephemeral, individual works can wear out, be added to, adapted, or even removed which means that when I go back to look for more, even these ones might have changed. I will go back to look for the rest without a doubt as the Teen now lives in Glasgow and it is fast becoming a favourite city destination.
If you’d like to walk the Glasgow Mural Trail or just find out the locations of individual murals you can check out the website and map here.
Do you like street art? Which one is your favourite? It’s a hard choice but I think I like the taxi best.
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Here’s a PIN for later!
I love street art and am always on the look out for it in London but didn’t realise there was so much in Glasgow.
Wow, completely stunning, the beauty that lies within a city! I love the taxi one #culturedkids
What incredible talent! Love the taxi cab and balloons. Reminds me of “UP!”
I like the Elephant in the cafe! Thank you for linking up to #CulturedKids
Just gorgeous, bold too. Even with rubbish bins in front of it the dandelion mural is just fantastic.
#culturedkids
Oh my word – Rogue One is a genius! What stunning artwork. Clever and witty, but bright and attractive, too. Now I just need to get up to see it ….. thanks for linking up with #CulturedKids
My favorite is definitely the wind powered one! Thank you for introducing me to some new muralists – love seeking out street art when we’re traveling. I’ve found most of them on Instagram now too! Cheers, Erin
As a passionate lover of murals, these pictures have stolen my heart, Phoebe. Glasgow seems like a definitely worth visiting place and these wall arts are simply amazing. 😉
The taxi with the balloons and the two lads hailing it is my favourite.
I went to Glasgow (and Edinburgh) for the first time, this summer. I fell in love with both cities and intend to return for longer. The art trail will definitely be on my list of things to do. Great post!
I love street art. I am saving this post in case we ever get to Glasgow.
How lucky you are to have an excuse to visit Glasgow regularly now, Phoebe – it’s such a cool city. I love that you can pick up a walking trail of all the street art. It’s a great idea for a family day out. Thanks for sharing on #FarawayFiles
My brother lived in Edinburgh for many years and always used to go through to Glasgow and tell me how cool all the street art was! Its beautiful! Definitely need to spend a weekend up there soon! #farawayfiles
I forgot to add #FarawayFiles !!
This is great. I wasn’t aware of the Glasgow Mural Trail. I visited Glasgow a few times about 3 years ago with a job I was doing at the time. I was so pleasantly surprised by what a vibrant city it was.
That’s so cool! I had no idea there was a mural trail with an app! I’ll have to check it out next time I’m in Glasgow!
We discovered the Glasgow Mural Trail quite by accident, and missed out on most of these, however we saw quite a few and I hope to get back one day to see more. Such a wonderful idea to brighten up the city! We even printed a few to hang on my son’s wall. I would have loved to see Honey I Shrunk the Kids, so we could pretend to be picked up! Thanks for sharing on #farawayfiles
Brilliant! I love street art too and it;s great to see murals appearing in cities all over the world. It gives artists the opportunity to express their crafts and brightens up a street – something different. #Citytripping
Wow, they are amazing. I love street art 🙂
Glasgow used to be well known for its dour grimness. It’s good to see that it has so completely changed.
Love these Phoebe! A great selection of murals. I rather like the big birds – the taxi one is fab too. #citytripping
I love this – I haven’t been to Glasgow for a couple of years but don’t remember the mural trail existing then, so would love to go back and check out some of the street art. It always feels like Edinburgh overshines the city a little (lovely as it is too) but we had such a great visit. Thanks for linking up with #citytripping
So many cools examples of street art! I love to discover places like this. It doesn’t matter how much I have to walk. #citytripping
We were in Glasgow in September, but only spent an afternoon there. I wish we would have had more time so I could have seen these murals. I like the balloon taxi one and the animals in the bar. #citytripping
Really cool!! Have not been to Glasgow, Edinburgh only. #citytripping
I honestly had no idea that Glasgow was home to so much street art! It’s all stunning with so much detail!
Ooh fun! I didn’t realize Glasgow had such a big street art scene! I love that Taxi with the balloons the best! Definitely pinned this for later!! #CityTripping
Wow. I love glasgow and these murals are far bwtter than drab wall. Love ths dandelion one especially. Good opportunity for local artists too. #citytripping
Glasgow has been on my list for a while, exactly for this reason. I love street art!