The Mural Project
The Mural Project was launched in July 2013 with the first mural to be painted in Leith in almost two decades.
The Leith Aquatic was painted by the artist collective Blameless on a derelict site at the bottom of Halmyre Street, and was produced in community consultation with some older residents of a local housing association. The resulting artwork included various Leith references, old and new, and was launched at a street party for the local residents. Participating artists included: Rabiya Choudhry, Fraser Gray, Martin McGuinness, Richie Cumming, DUFI and Fraser Douglas. The mural was funded by the Community Safety department of the City of Edinburgh Council, the Leith Neighbourhood Partnership, the Port of Leith Housing Association and Scotmid.
LeithLate’s second mural was on Leith Walk (on a site soon to be taken over by Origano) and was painted by international street artist Guido van Helten. The artwork referenced a Edinburgh Festival production of The Seven Deadly Sins from 1961 with Cleo Laine and Anya Linden as the two female leads. Although no longer in situte, another smaller mural by Guido installed during the same time period can still be viewed in the outside area of the Out of the Blue Drill Hall, depicting one of the last survivors of the Gretna Rail Disaster of 1915.
The third LeithLate mural was by Russell Dempster and a mixture of paste-up poster, paint and pastel on Henderson Street. The artwork was a portrait of one of the founders of British Pop Art who was also a little-known Leither, Eduardo Paolozzi. The artwork was funded and installed by City Centre Posters and The Friends of the Water of Leith Basin.