Artist speaks after destruction of his Sunderland Metro mural at Millfield

Scottish artist Chad McCail created the 24 square metre work, which depicted the story of Sunderland’s industrial past while marking the present. It received a public unveiling in October 6, 2023.

However, overnight on September 26/27 it was irreparably damaged by stormy conditions in Sunderland. A large section of the mural was torn away by water ingress during recent bad weather. Sadly, the whole piece has now been removed.

The £10,000 work took Chad two months to paint, but it took two years for the idea to come to fruition. Much of the hard work came from community organisations Pallion Action Group and Young Asian Voices (YAV).

The end of the story told by the painting and the highlight of the piece was a giant man, comprised of the shapes of many men, towering over the adversities of modern living and representing the triumph of a community.

It had been hoped that the mural would be looked at for generations to come. Chad was selected for the commission on the strength of his previous work with the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art.

Chad, who lives in Edinburgh, told the Echo: "These things happen. I hope people took pleasure in it while it was there. I certainly enjoyed the summer I spent painting it and particularly my conversations with local residents and passers-by.

"I also hope people will remember its message about the value of empathy, compassion and courage and its story about the deeper roots of racism and intolerance lying in systemic injustice and profiteering and its conclusion that we will only really begin to enjoy each other when we act together to create a fairer society.”

David Turton, Marketing Services manager at Nexus, said: “The inclement weather has sadly caused the mural at Millfield Metro station to come away from the wall. It appears to have been caused by water ingress during recent heavy rain.

“It was a wonderful piece of work and we are really sorry to see that it has come down.”

The mural was commissioned by Sunderland Culture on behalf Nexus to mark Metro’s 40th anniversary.