North Bridge Mural

Walking from church to our CLIC Hospitals Choir rehearsal in George Street we passed a large mural on the hoarding at the entrance to the North Bridge, which has been under repair for about three years.

Instantly recognisable as the work of Chris Rutterford we paused to take in the detail. Photo shows the south-facing end but the entire western face is also covered with images, mainly of horses, as far as i could tell. I can't find a suitable link so have typed out the information from the panel, should you wish to read it*. The thumbnail is of Chris, Lubi his wife and Rona, his dog.

Chris is well known for his work on the Colinton Tunnel, Braidburn Park and many other places.

We then descended the Scotsman Steps (each being made of of different stone type), cut through Waverley Station and arrived for our practice on time. We rehearsed all the pieces on the programme, noted all the instructions and are ready to give a sound performance on Wednesday at The Dean  on Ravelston Terrace.

*
At the start of 2013 Edinburgh Festival, Chris set up a painting residency in the Tron Kirk with 14 blank mural panels. The Tron Kirk was then operating as a lively bar and music venue. His goal was to paint a mural that captured the spirit of the traditional Hogmanay party in a huge crowd mural, filling it with real people.

In his mind, to complete the undertaking, he needed to exhibit the qualities of Scotland's national animal, the unicorn. Focus, generosity, faith and gritty determination. He had his eye on the prize.

Clad in a red top hat and a kilt he worked from 10am til 3am for an entire month and painted over 650 portraits of real guests, chatting amicably as he went. Real oasis of focus and calm in the melee of the festival. He put a sign above his head that read 'if you want to be in the party, tap me on the shoulder', and yes, everyone in this painting did exactly that. 

He would hold up his iPad and say 'you are at a fabulous party, having an awsome time (just don't look at me)'. Visitors had a free reign to pose as they wanted. After the festival finished he took the mural back to the studio and added 2000 more portraits from the photos he had taken.

This painting has been waiting for its moment to shine for nearly ten years, and now has a home.

In 2018 North Bridge was partially covered by ugly hoardings as major structural repairs were undertaken on the bridge. Local businesses struggled under the weight of the hoardings and a major central artery of Edinburgh was being crippled by the weight of the infrastructure.

In 2022 Chris was asked by Rapyd, an e-commerce company specifically focussed on empowering small businesses, to paint a mural that could transform the hoardings and help the struggling local traders.

Edinburgh city council transport convener Scott Arthur threw his weight behind the project, and Balfour Beatie helped facilitate the installation. Chris retrofitted a new spectacular unicorn to the mural illustrating his inspiration, his fuel for the painting and his pride in being Scottish.

A new threshold for North Bridge from the Royal Mile was born.

Hogmanay came home and it was like it had never left.



www.chrisrutterford.com