A drab Aberdeen park is to be given a splash of colour by a well-known group of graffiti-loving pensioners.
The Granarchists are to work with nursery and primary pupils to brighten up a wall across the road from Gilcomstoun School.
The group is a spin-off of The Graffiti Grannies, who were brought together for the city’s Nuart festival in April.
They grabbed headlines across the country and, at the height of it all, were even invited onto ITV’s This Morning to show off their skills.
As part of the city’s street art festival they were taught how to make stencils and spray their designs on walls in the city centre.
Now separating themselves from NuArt, The Granarchists hope to offer their work far and wide across the city.
Their first project will be working with the children from Gilcomstoun to brighten up the Skene Street park, but they hope to follow it up with a string of projects across Aberdeen.
One of those brightening up the park, Rosemary Murray, said: “We are absolutely chuffed to have our first commission to make the play area a nicer place to be.
“We will go into the school for four weeks in September and teach the children what to do. They will do everything but cutting the stencils, as we cannot let them loose with scalpels.”
The 77-year-old retired head teacher of the former Raeden Centre in Aberdeen added: “Just now it has a couple of swings and a picnic table, it is so boring.”
The art will celebrate the diversity of Gilcomstoun School, where there are 30 languages spoken by pupils.
Children will decorate the imposing grey wall with words meaning “play” in their native tongues.
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The so-called Skene Street Project has been a long-running effort by Aberdeen City Centre Community Council to make the space more attractive.
Chairman Dustin Macdonald said: “This is extremely exciting and we always wanted the school kids to be involved.
“It was important that everyone felt involved from young to old – and we definitely have that covered.
“What comes of it will be a really nice space that will brighten up the place, and people will stop to look at it.”
