Commonwealth Games Mural Project

A Celebration of Sport, Place, and Community

This large-scale mural project was created as a celebration of the Commonwealth Games, bringing together sport, Scottish landscape, and community participation into one unified artwork. The central illustration was designed to reference three of the sporting disciplines featured in the Games, woven together with iconic Glasgow landmarks to ground the piece in the heart of the host city. To extend the narrative beyond the city itself, the composition also opens out towards the dramatic landscape of Glencoe, with the unmistakable silhouette of the Three Sisters forming a powerful backdrop—symbolising strength, endurance, and the natural beauty of Scotland that will be shared with athletes and visitors during the Games.

The project then evolved into a collaborative community artwork. Thirty-six individual panels were issued to artists within my art classes, each one becoming part of the larger visual story. Participants were asked to develop their section using carefully chosen complementary colour schemes—purple and yellow, orange and blue, and green and red.

This approach created both harmony and contrast across the full installation, while allowing each artist to bring their own energy and interpretation to their panel. The result was a vibrant rhythm of colour and mark-making that transformed the mural into something truly collective.

When brought together and displayed in the gallery, the finished piece became spectacular in scale and impact. The combination of the central illustration, the layered symbolism of sport and landscape, and the explosion of colour from the 36 individual panels created an artwork that feels alive with movement and community spirit. It stands not only as a celebration of the Commonwealth Games, but also as a testament to what can be achieved when artists of all levels contribute to a shared creative vision.

The piece can now be viewed at East Kilbride Arts Centre.