GRAFFITI has been sprayed all over a wall at Hermitage Park this week – but this time it’s been entirely planned and authorised.

Gaz Mac and Guzla from the Yardworks arts programme in Glasgow visited the park on Tuesday to create a ‘graffiti wall’ which it’s hoped will deter vandals from disfiguring other areas in the park.

They were joined by Hermitage Academy pupils Kayla Morley-Smith and Holly Mason, who helped create a ‘Hermitage’ design and decorated the benches with some of their friends.

The girls said: “It was a fantastic experience – we really enjoyed it.”

Helensburgh Advertiser: The new 'graffiti wall' in Hermitage Park is adorned with plenty of eye-catching art courtesy of the Yardworks art initiativeThe new 'graffiti wall' in Hermitage Park is adorned with plenty of eye-catching art courtesy of the Yardworks art initiative

The wall designs include a depiction of the park’s much-loved play horse, Cramberry, which was restored in 2019 as part of the park’s £3.7 million regeneration.

The Yardworks team’s visit comes two years after the Friends of Hermitage Park, the local volunteer group working closely with Argyll and Bute Council on the park’s regeneration, said it hoped to create just such a facility following a spate of vandalism.

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Fiona Baker, chair of the Friends, said: “This project has been a long time coming since the former park manager Melissa Simpson and I went to meet Gaz Mac at Yardworks in late 2019.

“At that time we had a real graffiti problem in the park. It was everywhere, and we thought if we could create a dedicated graffiti wall, it might help focus the graffiti in one place and create something that really belonged to the teenagers and was their space.

“Of course Covid delayed being able to deliver this project, but we got here in the end.

Helensburgh Advertiser: Gaz Mac and Guzla from the Yardworks arts programme helped create the graffiti wallGaz Mac and Guzla from the Yardworks arts programme helped create the graffiti wall

“Last week we painted the wall black so Gaz and Guzla, who is 16 years-old, could work with the teenagers to create something.

“We are very pleased that the teenagers that took part had such a good time helping create the artwork and we hope the wall will become the focus for graffiti in the park.”

Gaz Mac, the founder and director of Yardworks, told the Advertiser: “We had a great day and really enjoyed working with the local teenagers to create the Hermitage tag and images of Cramberry and ‘grafheads’.

“There is a lot of more subtle artwork on the wall too, including quite a few tags from local teenagers.”