For many cities, publicly funded murals are a highly visible statement of intent. They can be political, as in the sectarian murals of Belfast, they can be placed to suggest a city’s artistic philosophy, or simply intended for decoration. But wander around Glasgow’s many recently painted murals and it’s sadly obvious why they are disparaged by the city’s artistic community. Twee and often poorly executed, they’re simply not very good, something all the more conspicuous in a city with so many talented artists.

There’s even a mural trail, promoted by the council’s cultural department Glasgow Life. Amidst budget cuts, Glasgow City Council is increasingly aware of art’s earning power and its role in city-marketing, so has gamely promoted the murals: come to arty Glasgow, and traipse through some lacklustre representational paintings. There are several murals of animals, which while well drawn, hardly challenges the notion of popular artists being insulted as ‘cat painters.’ The murals vex many artists, who point out that public art is an excellent way to reach people who might find the Gallery of Modern Art intimidating, let alone smaller, more innovative artist-led galleries such as Transmission, or Tramway. Public art should touch the lives of those who are, as the saying goes, not hard to reach, but easy to ignore. But has anyone been asked if they want or like these murals?

The council commissions work by the same few names. Typical is the work of James Klinge, including a regrettably trite woman in black, or Smug’s ‘St Mungo’, depicted as a homeless man with a bird on his finger, a companion piece to a saccharine painting of Glasgow patron St Thenue, portrayed as a modern-day nursing mother. A series of depictions of local legend Billy Connolly attracted outrage from within the artistic community. The tale of these murals is instructive.

Paintings were commissioned as part of a BBC documentary to celebrate his 75th birthday. He was interviewed, and seemed delighted with these, but then, and nobody is quite sure how, the four paintings, including one by the otherwise blameless Rachel Maclean, but also the egregious Jack Vettriano, were turned into enormous murals. Nobody could object to Maclean’s offering as a print, until an over-ambitious BBC expanded her work and we were left with an enormous stylised portrait of the Big Yin towering over Gallowgate (complete, of course with ‘jobbies’) while also leaving us with the stuff of nightmares: a massive Jack Vettriano. 

The problem is not with murals per se; Portugese cities encourage muralists, and while they’re a mixed bunch, they have definitely seen better results. Other cities however have successful mural policies. Philadelphia has some wonderful examples of large scale, outdoor paintings, diverse in both maker and featured subjects, also with a city-wide, celebratory trail. Closer to home, Glasgow born and trained Lucy Mackenzie makes work in Brussels, where she is now based.

I’ve spoken with many curators, gallerists, artists, collectors, students and art-lovers about the mural policy, where it came from and how they are commissioned. Nobody was willing to go on record, but objections swiftly coalesced into a consensus. Firstly, that the council has one department commissioning works, avoiding consultation with other departments where relevant knowledge can be found; characterised by one insider as being ‘like artists commissioning new roads’.

The other objection was a complete lack of diversity in the artists being commissioned, indeed in the people being depicted, which flew in the face of all the measures that so many cultural organisations in the city pursue to achieve greater inclusivity. It was also noted that murals were placed near key cultural sites, without involvement of the organisations operating from adjacent studios and galleries, made all the more galling when these reluctant neighbours face diminishing funding. Professionals were keen to speak but reluctant to be named, because in many instances they rely on Glasgow City Council for promotion, funding or spaces.

It’s worth differentiating between Glasgow’s strong street art scene and the murals officially commissioned by the council. Arts hub SWG3 contains a graffiti yard, hosting work including by all-women artists The Cobolt Collective. There are also some fine examples of mural art in Glasgow, such as Ken Currie’s work commemorating the Calton Weavers massacre on the ceiling of the People’s Palace. But for a city so uniquely appreciative of visual art, and challenging work at that, there could be more to public art than figurative murals. Glasgow has produced a disproportionate amount of Turner Prize nominees and winners, including Charlotte Prodger, Martin Boyce, Douglas Gordon, and Christine Borland. So where’s the sculpture, the abstract painting, or a plinth holding work by Glasgow School of Art graduates? 

Most self-employed artists are currently struggling, lacking even basic furlough pay and facing sharply declining sales. During the Great Depression, the Roosevelt administration’s Federal Art Project commissioned impoverished artists to plan and create some genuinely challenging, engaging and politicised work across the country. If there’s a British city ideally suited for such a programme today, then it’s Glasgow. But the opaquely commissioned kitsch of these murals are a lesson in how not to make a democratic public art.