The utilitarian red brick building in the car park of North Shields football Club, that houses the players changing rooms, seems at first viewing to be a slightly unlikely setting for the latest addition to the Elevation mural trail. The ground is the furthest distance away from the centre of Shields and any of the other murals, but it’s very much in a prime position as many thousands of people will view it each season when entering the ground, in addition to all those many people completing the trail.
Mural & graffiti artist Mark One87 has produced a work of spectacular significance, beauty and atmosphere and a wonderful addition to the area providing enrichment and colour. Mark is known for his bold, bright colour palette and dynamic artwork. He combines a talent for producing dazzling graffiti art with a long successful background in illustration and design to create large scale public artworks.
His design for the Elevation wall mural festival is a spectacular homage to the fishing industry in North Shields with a depiction of a modern day fishing boat in the wild waves of the North Sea, counterpointed with a beautiful sunlit vision of the old Fish Quay, which is central to the history of the area and provides a visual balance between the past and the present. He explained the more traditional subject matter as befitting the location “The people of Shields are no-nonsense hard-working people and proud of their heritage and I wanted to give them something that reflects that, many people in the area have either worked or have family who worked within this industry over time, so I felt this would be something which a lot of the community can relate to”. Dennis Scarth the club chairman said “From the beginning, when we started discussions with ‘Elevation’, we wanted something to reflect the history of the club and town, and the club was founded on the fishing industry”, after all the club’s motto is “Harvest from the Deep”.
Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, a resident of North Shields, Mark One87 is a freelance creative with over two decades of experience in mural and graffiti art. His distinctive style fuses traditional graffiti techniques with contemporary design and illustration, resulting in energetic, bespoke artworks that transform spaces across the North East.
Mark’s work is all about connection. He’s deeply passionate about community arts and facilitates workshops and collaborative mural projects that empower local voices and bring colour to public spaces in community art initiatives. Mark has expanded his creative practice and works closely with young people to nurture their artistic talents. He carried out workshops on this mural with the Phoenix Detached Youth Project, and many others in the past. Mark also organised the Elements Street Art Festival in the Ouseburn in Byker, and worked with many artists, organisations and community groups to provide enrichment and a legacy that lasts on many walls and projects
Elevation is a community arts charity founded by local residents and powered by volunteers. To mark the town’s 800th anniversary, the Elevation wall mural festival has brought together eight talented artists to create a series of large-scale public artworks over the summer of 2025. Selected by a panel of community members, the artists were set the challenge of capturing the spirit of North Shields. Find out more about the Elevation North Shields 800 Mural Trail.
Elevation has been documented and promoted in collaboration with I Love North Shields (www.ilovenorthshields.com) and Sira Studio (www.sirastudio.com).
More articles in this series:
Wall Murals are Coming to North Shields!
Painting the Town: Elevation Mural Festival Update
Other murals in the Elevation North Shields 800 mural trail:
The Siren – Prefab77 – Albion Road
The Chase – Nina Valkhoff – Norfolk Street
North Shields No4 – Anthony Downie – Trevor Terrace
I Beg That Sound – Ricky Also – Brandling Terrace
