Festival organisers have high hopes for event’s 10th anniversary
BOOM! Neon pink letters frame a young woman’s face as she blows a kiss towards the sky, her circular sunglasses standing in for the ‘OO’. The colourful mural, courtesy of UK-based artist .EPOD, is one of many pieces featured on what might be mistaken as an otherwise unassuming street. Tucked away in Glasgow’s West End, Eastvale Place is home to SWG3, a premier events venue and parent of Yardworks Studio—a purpose-built arts hub that functions as a workspace, gallery, and community outreach centre. Next month, Yardworks Studio will host their 10th Yardworks Festival, a street art extravaganza that spotlights local, national, and international talent.
In a second-floor office with a view of SWG3’s Galvanizers Yard, site of the Yardworks Festival, street art legend GazMac glances out of the window at a sea of people, scaffolding and spray paint cans. GazMac, civilian name Gary Mackay, is Yardworks’ founder and Creative Director. Raised in Penilee, Mackay says that his journey from aspiring artist to his current role was a winding one that reflected street art’s evolution in wider mainstream culture.
A young father with a growing family to care for, Mackay secured a role as a bus driver. However, the pull of street art was strong. He soon found a way to monetise his passion, pursuing art as a full time career.
“I left my job to go and do graffiti, what is now called street art, in pubs, nightclubs, et cetera. I wrote the book on the Glasgow version of that. Clubs were playing a lot of house music during that time, and there was a crossover with hip hop.”
Modern graffiti, sometimes known as ‘tagging’, has its origins in the 1960s New York City and Philadelphia. A response to systemic oppression experienced by poor and minority communities in US cities, tagging, ‘bombing’ and ‘burning’ straddled a thin line between artistic expression and vandalism. Following a graffiti craze in the 1980s that coincided with the rise of rap music, the art form declined in popularity during the 90s before making a comeback at the turn of the millennium.
“I think it took a face-down in the nineties. The introduction of rave culture, and the drug culture. I think a lot of youngsters rather went to that and never had the capacity for what I’d seen in the eighties, growing up with that hip-hop culture and breakdancing.” Despite this, street art experienced a resurgence with the rise of the internet. Upon its revitalisation, graffiti and street art acquired legitimacy and a newfound cultural capital. Mackay believes that these laurels came at a cost.
“Street art grew through the internet. It never grew on the streets. The internet was street art’s platform—that was its hand up. People enjoyed looking at it. They enjoyed the mystery behind it. I wouldn’t say that mystery was there now so much because of the internet. It’s very, very accessible now.”
While accessibility for mystery is a tradeoff that some artists take exception to, Mackay saw the changing landscape as an opportunity to pivot and cement his role as a mainstay in the local scene. Mackay’s talent heightened his profile, but a willingness to support up and coming artists is what solidified his reputation.
“You started to see a new generation coming through again. But by that time I had created this sort of job for myself. I was that graffiti-guy that was kicking about, and had almost a monopoly on the city centre. You then had people like Smug who came into the arena, who came from Australia with an amazing ability, and everyone’s going who’s this guy? I remember going to see him at his front door and saying you know, you need to come and paint with us. He stayed next door to my friend, and would come and paint with us down the tunnels over at Braehead. There were all these old spots, and still there are some of them.”
Mackay says that the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit have curbed some of the growth that Glasgow’s street art had been experiencing, but believes events like the upcoming Yardworks Festival represent steps toward turning the tide and bringing more international artists back to the city. Additionally, engaging local youth ensures that the next chapter of Glasgow’s street art story benefits from homegrown talent.
Enter Devon Poole, the Youth Coordinator for Yardworks and staff member of SWG3’s registered charity Clydeside Initiative for Arts Ltd (CIA). Housed in SWG3’s Yardworks complex, CIA runs programmes for young people. Workshops in spray painting and mural design are led by committed mentors who aim to equip participants with new creative skills, also offering support and guidance.
Poole’s own pathway into street art began with an appreciation for the craft as a child, and a desire to learn more about the people whose creative visions were transforming walls and buildings across the Greater Glasgow area. The 28-year old is quick to clarify that he is not a graffiti artist, admitting that his passion for the medium opened the right doors.
“A big thing for me was meeting like-minded people. A massive part of my job is passing these opportunities and experiences on to the young kids who were in a similar position to me. They maybe didn’t know where to get involved or who to get involved with, and the stepping stones towards doing what they want to do.”
Pool says that Yardworks’ programmes have been taken by adolescents who might be struggling in school, facing troubles at home, or having difficulty finding their place in society. Exploring your passion, honing your skills, and creating are major confidence boosters—a positive cycle that’s reinforced for participants by being around others who are going through the same process.
“One thing the kids always say is I’m rubbish at art, I can’t draw. And it’s always because they can’t draw a wine bottle and a pear that they need to draw at school. But I’ve met some wonderful, amazing artists from all over the world who have their own style and their own area that they work within. They might not be able to draw a wine bottle or a pear, but they can travel the world and do what they want to do, and do it in their style. That’s one thing that I would say to the kids—there’s no right or wrong way, this isn’t maths. You can make it your own.”
Mackay echoes Poole’s sentiments, sharing his desire to see the next generation of Glasgow street artists bucking the rules and creating outside of existing boundaries, similar to the earlier days of the genre.
“(Street art) maybe needs to get its edge back. I feel as if there’s too many jobs getting done legally. If it’s street art, it should be getting done in the street. Where are these street artists that are doing street art? As opposed to these people who are coming out of art schools and looking for a job from it. They seem to be tackling it with money in mind.”
So how does one break the art-for-profit capitalist spiral that the city has found itself in? Mackay reiterates the solution in simpler terms.
“I don’t run graffiti in Glasgow. I house a facility that is sympathetic to graffiti and street art, but I think that out there in the streets people need to be more proactive in what they want to do and how that’s taken forward.”
The 2026 Yardworks Festival runs from Saturday the 3rd of May until Sunday the 4th of May. Tickets can be purchased here.
(Headline Image Credit: Grae Minors) – Artwork by .EPOD, 2026
