The powerful message behind this new 90ft mural in Leeds

The piece was unveiled on a canal-side building on The Calls on Saturday by In Good Company founder and curator Laura Wellington.

The 88ft-high mural, featuring the phrases 'you and me' and 'me and you', was designed by renowned graphic artist and former Leeds student Anthony Burrill.

The creators hope the work will offer a positive message of hope and unity for 2021.

Laura said: "We started this project in the middle of 2019 so way before the pandemic, but Anthony's design couldn't feel more relevant for the current time.

“From the start, the plan was that this piece will be here for the people of Leeds for centuries, but I think it's the perfect message of unity to start 2021 - a year when continued connection and community will be so vital."

Burrill’s work has been showcased in galleries and museums in London and New York, but despite him having studied graphic design at Leeds Polytechnic (now Leeds Beckett), this is the first time one of his works has had a permanent place in Leeds.

He said: “Leeds is the city where I first studied graphic design. The people and the place left a powerful imprint on me and has shaped the artist I have become.

"It’s great to return the favour and make a piece of art that connects me back to the city. And amazing to have such a huge canvas to work with.

"Putting art on the streets is a way to give a place back to its community, and it means a lot that we’ve been able to do it on this monumental scale.”

Jonathan Morgan, who lives nearby, said on Saturday: "Having plied my trade in City Living in Leeds for nearly 30 years, after decades of extolling the virtues of an urban life we made our home in the city at 32 The Calls a few years ago.

"It is so wonderful that the drab rendered eastern gable has had this dramatic facelift. It has lifted our building, lifted our spirits and we feel privileged and proud that this wonderful piece of work is now very much a part of our home.”

Burrill’s design was executed by multidisciplinary studio Bread Collective, and had funding from Leeds property company King & Co.

Laura said: “Trust is such an important part of a project like this.

"You can't do something this big and public for a city without property owners, but you can end up with design-by-committee.

"It takes a partnership with someone like King & Co, who really trusted me to find the right artist and then trusted Anthony to do something brilliant, to create a piece this powerful.”

In Good Company, a Wunderkind Group initiative, has curated several large-scale street art projects throughout Leeds, and raised more than £15,000 for the NHS with its Posters for the People public art initiative.

In Good Company is talking with developers who want to use their properties as canvases for "inclusive, forward-looking public art" and has invited interested property owners to get in touch.