Glasgow’s Street Art

Glasgow is quickly becoming a city known for the quality and quantity of its street art the City Council has embraced the concept of street art to promote the city centre, reduce the negative visual impact of vacant buildings and land, and provide features that will attract more visitors. On this page, I will provide links to current works in the City and also to some walking trails I have taken in the past.

If you know the name of the artist you are interested in, check out the Artists section of the site, where I try to maintain an up-to-date gallery of the prominent artists currently working in Glasgow and around the world.

Govan Mural Trail

Described as a magical musical journey around Govan, this tour explores both the area and the large murals that were created by artists from SWG3 in collaboration with Yardworks. The Glasgow Barons set about hiring local singer-songwriters to create new songs about each mural bringing their stories around Govan to life. Read about it here;

Yardworks 2023

Another year, and another wonderful Yardworks, with plenty of great pieces from artists from Glasgow and beyond. Read about it here:

Yardworks 2022

Across the two days of the festival, the building works in the Galvanizers Yard were put on hold whilst the yard became a riot of colour, creativity and collaboration as urban artists from across Glasgow, the UK and Europe come together to paint, draw, inspire, educate, or just hang out and eat fancy chips.

I began outside at the arches on the expressway before entering Eastvale Place and started walking towards the yard, and as expected, I was met with works by many fine artists and writers, watching and photographing them as they turned blank canvases and boards into stunning pieces of art. Click on the link above to see the photographs.

Yardworks 2019

The first day of this year’s Yardworks was brilliant, the weather for a change was great. The yard was mobbed with a huge crowd turning out to see all our local artists and all the highly talented visitors. Day 2 also had loads of sunshine helping to make it a brilliant weekend. lick on the link above to see the photographs.

Glasgow City Council Mural Trail

The official Glasgow City Centre Mural Trail website is a wonderful source of information on where to find the majority of the pieces, as well as a great many more, with a handy walking guide to get you to all of them. It’s also kept up to date with any changes.

The locations of the street art shown on the following pages and the artists creating them are credited where possible, although due to the nature of street art, some remain anonymous, I will add more detailed information if and when it becomes available.

My Walking Trails

Rather than using the council trail mentioned above, I created a number of Trails of my own and am happy to take anyone who wishes to join me on one of them. I have used Google Maps to create a series of easy-to-follow walking guides, with some photographs I had taken at some point earlier, I have included many photographs and, where possible, a description of the piece and its artist.

Trail #1 – trail #2 – Trail #3 – Trail #4

Trail #5 – Trail #6 – Trail #7 – Trail #8

The walking guides I have included here describe the routes, taken by me in the summer of 2018, with some photographs I had taken at some point earlier, I have included many photographs and, where possible, a description of the piece and its artist.

In wanting to share the exact locations of all these pieces, it should be remembered that street art in its nature is somewhat transient. Whilst I would like to think that these murals will be here for years to come, there’s always the chance that they’ll be painted over or replaced, as I have seen over the past few years – or hopefully, new murals will be added!

Trail #1

The Merchant City and the Trongate areas, with works by Smug, Rogue One and James Klinge.

This was a fairly easy trail of approximately 3.5km through the city, with plenty of opportunities to stop for a meal or refreshment.

Trail #2

The City Centre, Charing Cross, and Anderston Areas again with works by Smug, Rogue One and James Klinge.

This slightly longer trail of approximately 5km was relatively easy, plus there was a short journey on Glasgow’s famous Clockwork Orange, again there are plenty of opportunities to stop for a meal or refreshment during your trail.

Trail #3

The West End, as it’s known to Glaswegians, provided a wide and varied selection of street art, works by Smug, EJEK and the slightly politically biased Pink Bear. This was a 5km trail, which I finished in Òran Mór, a former parish church, which is now a thriving art & entertainment venue in the heart of the West End.

Trail #4

This 3km trail, inspired by a friend, took me around the Gorbals, the majority of the work is by Danny McDermott, aka EJEK, who is a major Street Artist in Glasgow.

Trail #5

Another 3km trail starting in George Square which takes you to Tennents Brewery on Duke Street and Glasgow’s famous Barras Market area, As usual, this trail finishes in a pub, this time the excellent west Brewery in the Templeton Building on Glasgow Green.

Trail #6

A 4km trail this time, starting in the city centre on Glassford Street, a 15-minute bus run along the Gallowgate to Shettleston to capture a Giraffe makes for an interesting time.

Trail #7

A short 3½km trail combined with a journey on the Clockwork Orange takes you to Partick and SWG3, the home of Glasgow’s street art scene.

TRAIL #8

A guide to Shawlands Art Trail, a wonderful collection of murals created in the summer of 2121, Organised by Shawlands BID and curated by SWG3’s Yardworks, which brought together a talented group of artists who certainly brought colour to the area.

Various Street Art Locations in the city and beyond

Tontine Lane

During the Merchant City Festival of 2018, I came across these hidden gems, I forgot I had taken them until I spotted a mural of a Golden Eagle by Belgian artist Dzia in Bodø on my recent trip to Norway.