'Seen by millions!' - South Tyneside artist marks 30th anniversary of his Metro station mural
The mural was created while Olley was working as artist in residence at the Customs House Gallery in South Shields.
A mural by a celebrated South Tyneside artist displayed on the Tyne and Wear Metro, featuring well-known people from across the area, is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
Famous Faces, by artist and former coal miner Bob Olley, has been on display at Monument Metro station in Newcastle since 1996.
Fourteen of Tyneside’s best known figures from recent decades are depicted looking out of a Metro carriage window.
South Shields’ own Olley, internationally known for his classic 1972 work The Westoe Netty, was commissioned by Metro operator Nexus to pain the caricatures.
Celebrities are shown from the worlds of sport, entertainment, broadcasting, literature, music, acting and religion. These include South Tyneside author Catherine Cookson.
It also features: Rowan Atkinson, Sting, Brendan Foster, Jack Charlton, Paul Gascoigne, Cardinal Basil Hume, Mike Neville, Robson Green, Brian Johnson, John Hall, Peter Beardsley, Tim Healy and Jimmy Nail.
The mural was created while Olley, now 86, was working as artist in residence at the Customs House Gallery in South Shields.
The Director General of Nexus in the mid-1990s, Mike Parker, loved the piece so much that he had had it displayed next to the staircase at the busiest station on the network.
In official film was commissioned in 2021 to celebrate the work, Bob Olley said: “I remember that I needed someone to open my exhibition at the Customs House and I asked the then director general of Nexus Mike Parker if he would help me out.
“I knew Mike quite well and thought if he’s opening the exhibition at the Customs House for me then I’d do a painting for Nexus in return.
“When the exhibition was over with I was pleased to learn that the mural was going on permanent display at Monument Metro station – and it’s still there to this day. I would love to know how many people have seen it. It’s got to be in the millions.”
Lynne Dickinson, Station Delivery Manager at Nexus, said of the mural: “We felt that it needed a wider and more permanent audience and so we acquired it for our Art on Transport Programme at Monument.
“It sits on one of the busiest stair cases on the Metro system and is seen by thousands of people each and every day.”