A new 30-foot mural has been unveiled on the side of LMA Newcastle’s newly refurbished city centre home.
Created by internationally recognised North East artists Jimmy Turrell and Peter Manning, better known as Prefab77, the work transforms a previously overlooked gable end wall and provides a colourful new backdrop to the building.
We commissioned the mural in partnership with LMA Newcastle. It celebrates the creativity, character and changing face of the surrounding area, which is developing into an important creative quarter.
The finished mural brings together the distinctive styles of two artists whose careers extend far beyond the region.
The artists behind the mural
Jimmy Turrell is an artist, illustrator and creative director known for bold graphic work across music, fashion, publishing and public art. Prefab77 has spent more than two decades creating mixed-media artworks and large-scale murals in the UK and internationally.
Both artists are from and based in the North East. The commission gave them an opportunity to create a major new piece in their home city while giving an anonymous wall a new identity.
The mural transforms a previously overlooked gable end wall and celebrates the creativity, character and changing face of the surrounding area, which is fast developing into one of Newcastle’s most important creative quarters.
The institution will offer industry-led creative degrees spanning music, performance, music production, musical theatre, acting, dance, film and television production, and business.
Before opening its doors to students, LMA has been building partnerships, hosting free workshops and bringing figures from music, television, film, dance and performance to Newcastle.
Creativity in Creative Central
This commission is the latest addition to our growing programme of public art across central Newcastle.
Over the past two years, we have commissioned more than 30 street artworks and creative interventions, including large-scale murals, work across Pink Lane, hand-painted utility cabinets and the Forth Lane Urban Gallery.
Through this programme, we are creating meaningful, paid opportunities for artists while bringing colour, creativity and new identity to the city’s public spaces.
MA Newcastle Principal Deni Chambers said the mural captured exactly what the institution wants its arrival in the North East to represent.
She said: “We absolutely love it. It’s bold, creative and has a real Newcastle edge to it, and to see the finished piece here alongside our new campus makes September suddenly feel very close.
“We said from the beginning that LMA wasn’t coming to Newcastle simply to open a building. We want to become part of the creative community that already exists here, support it and hopefully add something new to it.
“Working with Creative Central and two incredible artists in Jimmy and Prefab77 is a perfect example of that.”