Striking new mural revealed at Manchester Oxford Road station: Oxford Road Artwork 02

Wednesday 30 Jul 2025

Striking new mural revealed at Manchester Oxford Road station

Region & Route:
North West & Central
| North West & Central: North West

A bold, new mural now transforms the façade of the former Screen One building at Manchester Oxford Road station, celebrating the city’s creative spirit, and marking a milestone in Network Rail’s placemaking journey.

Visible from Station Approach and Whitworth Street West, the mural serves as a gateway to the Music for the Senses art trail.

Delivered by Wild in Art in collaboration with Manchester City Council, the trail runs across Manchester city centre from 7 July to 31 August 2025.

It features a vibrant mix of artworks, including painted guitars, mosaics, digital installations, and more - all celebrating Manchester’s musical heritage and sensory experiences.

The artwork, created by internationally acclaimed street art duo Nomad Clan, also forms part of a wider initiative by Network Rail to reimagine public spaces through creativity, storytelling, and community engagement.

It reflects Manchester’s identity as a city of movement, music, and innovation, which brings new life to a vacant structure in the heart of the city.

Rebecca Foy, regeneration and placemaking specialist for Network Rail, said: ‘’The artwork at the former Screen One building marks the start of a wider placemaking and regeneration aspiration that we have to bring more life into our stations and rail assets, that truly reflect the people that they serve and the communities they come into contact with.’’

To celebrate the completion of the mural, partners from Network Rail, Manchester City Council, Northern, Wild in Art, HOME, the artists and the creative community visited the site on Monday 14 July. 

Nomad Clan artist, Jay Gilleard, said: ‘’Public art is important because it's accessible to everybody. You can improve an area that was once a little bit intimidating, and suddenly it's full of colour.’’

Neil MacInnes OBE, head of Libraries, Galleries and Culture, neighbourhoods directorate at Manchester City Council, said: ‘’It's fantastic that public art brings parts of the city to life and allows people to engage in art and culture, in a non-institutionalised way. This is a fantastic example of animating and activating part of the city, and that contributes to people's health and wellbeing.’’

Ben Reed, head of creative development at Wild in Art, said: ‘’We worked closely with the City Council and the partners to put an art trail on that's free for people to engage with, whilst they're coming into the city to watch a music concert. And this is one of 88 pieces of artwork that have been installed throughout the city centre.’’

The initiative demonstrates how public art can turn grey spaces into places of pride and identity, while supporting local artists and cultural partnerships.

The mural at Oxford Road station will remain in place as a short-term feature, marking the first step in a rolling programme of art-led engagement at the station, delivered in partnership with HOME.

Karen O'Neil, CEO of HOME, said: ‘’It was exciting to be asked by Network Rail to collaborate, and we're always looking for opportunities where we can work with artists and communities and bring those two pieces together, so we can have a conversation about what makes our city great.’

Over the next two years, HOME will lead a creative engagement programme to explore Oxford Road station’s role as both a transport interchange and cultural intersection, and what that means for passengers and communities who use it.

Through public art, storytelling, events and community collaboration, the programme will invite new, creative ways of thinking about the future of place at Oxford Road station and how it can better reflect its cultural position within the city.

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We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

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