Magically, we’ve condensed three weeks’ work into 91 seconds: click on this time-lapse video and you’ll see artists Frank and Margy Creber whizzing up and down the scaffolding as they paint the Whitechapel Stories mural in a rainbow of colours.

It was lovely to see our friends at Sonali Gardens again when they visited the mural recently. They were able to see some of the ideas that arose from their group discussions featured in the finished artwork, including hop-picking, the local Wimpy, and a market trolley.

Dip into this selection of short video clips – with the volume on – for a few glimpses of the mural unveiling event.

There was a buzz in the air when Sir Ian McKellen came to unveil our mural.

The inter-generational contribution towards our mural from children at St Mary & St Michael RC School and older people at Sonali Gardens was recognised recently with an award at the InCommon Age-Friendly Awards ceremony.

From the outset, we were keen to involve as many local residents as possible in the development of the mural. Here we take a look at the process – including heritage workshops, a community drop-in day, the Mural Panel, and Frank Creber’s art workshops with local schools and groups.

There are over 40 mini stories depicted in the mural and the Whitechapel Stories booklet pulls them all together in one place.

We were over the moon when Sir Ian McKellen – a long time East End resident – unveiled our mural. You can read his speech here.

Come along at 1.00pm on Sat 12th April to witness the unveiling of the mural, followed by a celebration in the John's Place gardens with refreshments, music, an exhibition and free copies of the Whitechapel Stories booklet to take away.

Come and see how the Sidney Street mural is taking shape. We've been working with local schools and community groups to gather ideas and inspiration for our Whitechapel heritage mural. This pop-up exhibition – at Tower Hamlets Town Hall and Watney Market Idea Store – is a chance to see the artworks that each of the four groups created, along with the working design for the mural

As the children at Blue Gate Fields Junior School painted fabric patterns, and and sketched coconuts and lemons, Julia Miranda zoomed in – by way of her visual minutes – to record the buzz around the table.

In our two mural development workshops at Blue Gate Fields Junior School, the children painted patterned fabrics and drew a harvest festival’s worth of fruit and veg. There was a real buzz around the table.

Overheard conversations and snippets from the InCommon inter-generational workshops at Sonali Gardens, captured in visual minutes by Julia Miranda.

We’ve had two lively and productive sessions with the InCommon inter-generational group at Sonali Gardens, working with children from St Mary & St Michael RC Primary School and older people from LinkAge Plus.

Our development workshop with students from Stepney All Saints School was artfully captured by Julia Miranda's visual minutes – which are peppered with overheard snippets of conversation.

We really enjoyed Frank Creber's recent mural development workshop with students from Stepney All Saints School at the Whitechapel Gallery. The session was focused on drawing bold forms that could then be developed into human figures.

With his first-hand experience of living in Whitechapel since childhood, we knew that Mohammed ‘Naz’ Nazrul would make an important contribution to the Mural Panel. Here, he explains a bit more about his background and how he found the mural selection process.

These fabulous visual minutes were created by Julia Miranda during our recent mural development workshop with local heritage enthusiasts. They really capture a sense of the session, with overheard conversations and ideas shared by the participants. From alphona folk art to pub tilework, cockney sparrows to Basil and Rose Henriques, and iron age dwellings to unexploded bombs – snippets and stories come together beautifully in Julia's minutes.

Throughout January and February 2025, artist Frank Creber is leading a series of mural development workshops with local schools, community groups and residents. The ideas generated during these workshops will feed into the mix and help shape up and refine the main mural design. And each workshop group also created a standalone artwork focused around a theme: heritage landmarks, creating characters, community connections, fabrics and food.

Born and bred East Ender, Loraine Myers – who lives around the corner from Sidney Street and serves on the John’s Place TRA Committee – is full of stories and snippets about local life. Here, she explains a bit more about her background, and her hopes for how the Sidney Street mural might provide a focus for the area.