Inside the Glasgow school covered in incredible murals over 17 walls

Seventeen walls in and around the grounds of Corpus Christi Primary in Knightswood were transformed over the summer with incredible murals of animals, birds, and sea creatures.

The artwork was designed during workshops hosted by Southside street artist Stephen Machin – also known as Mack Colours - at the Pikeman Road school between June and July and completed by early August.

The murals were designed by the pupils who identified creative learning in their school such as literacy. One mural - located in the library - even features one of the children - Willow McBride a P7a pupil - reading a book. (Image: Newsquest staff)Stephen told the Glasgow Times that he was initially asked to design three walls at the school but the youngsters incredible creativity meant the project was expanded.

He said: “I previously worked at another school in Rutherglen and I think the headteacher at Corpus Christi had spotted my work on X.

“I was then invited to initially do three walls and had started drawing up designs for them. We held workshops at the school and pupils from primaries four to seven got involved.

“During the workshops, we were able to create the murals by identifying things in the school that best represented creative learning such as literacy.

“The three walls turned into five as the kids and teachers were having so much fun with it and it was proving to be good for the kids’ self-esteem.

“It actually ended up being 17 walls in total. I think there’s some sort of rule now that schools aren’t allowed to put paper up on the walls or blue tac anything up as it’s a fire hazard and they [the school] felt the walls were kind of drab compared to what schools used to look like but that’s where the kids' creativity came in, they were amazing.”

Some of the murals feature exotic animals such as the red-eyed tree frog (Image: Newsquest staff)Stephen, who has been a graffiti artist for 21 years now, was also tasked with designing each of the school’s three stairways over the summer holidays as a surprise for the pupils.

Left to right: Stephen Machin, Zainab Almussawi (P7a), Willow McBride (P7a), Mohammed Ellsharrani (P5a), Jacob Niewiadomsa (P6), Ailith MacDonald (P3), and Calib Holmes (P2a) (Image: Newsquest staff)Taking inspiration from local wildlife and featuring animals from exotic locations he painted birds native to the Jordanhill area, a red-eyed tree frog, a whale, and a squirrel.

The 33-year-old explained that his ultimate goal with the project was to inspire the children to believe in themselves.

The murals brighten up many of the school's walls (Image: newsquest staff)He recalled an experience as a child that pushed him to pursue a creative career.

Stephen added: “When I work in schools my aim is always to tell kids that their ideas are valued and that they are all talented.

“When I was about 10/11 I went to an open day with my mum and whilst I was left to my own devices I came across a street artist who was there.

“He had a vinyl sign and was doing a workshop on street art I was too young at the time to realise what was going on but I still enjoyed myself and that feeling never left me when I started to get into graffiti.

“I’ll always remember that guy and I wanted to pass that feeling on to the youth of today, especially with the explosion of street art in Glasgow and the wider area.

“I believe that if you have passion and an idea you can do it. I’m not trained in any of the arts the most I’ve done is graphic design at college and a bit of landscape designing.

“I want to embolden children who may only see the graffiti and tagging side of this. I want them to know the first time they pick up a spray paint can shouldn’t be in angst or in a rebellious way.

“It’s about being creative and having a part in making their community brighter.”