A TOP Ayrshire artist is set to paint a new mural in Auchinleck and is appealing for help from residents.

Tragic O’Hara will pay tribute to Auchinleck’s musical history at the community centre – and he is asking for residents to get in touch with their memories for the first in a series of pop culture heritage murals.

The North Ayrshire-based artist previously brightened up the walls beneath the Rivergate Shopping Centre up in Irvine and started creating his own free art educational videos under lockdown.

He said: “The community centre in Auchinleck had some massive bands play in it back in the day like The Who and Jimmy James and The Vagabonds – I also heard a story of how they knocked back The Beatles because they were too expensive.

“I want to capture the stories of the big bands that played, the local bands that played, the people who served the drinks, the people who drank the drinks and the stories of the people who were there.

“I want to capture these stories and make a documentary for my YouTube channel about a period in time that can’t be replaced and paint a mural to tell the story.

“This is the first in a series of pop culture heritage murals and videos I want to create with the communities involved. I’m looking for photos, tickets, stories and anything else that I can use to make this happen.

“Heritage is really important but we spend a lot of time celebrating things like wars and industry, which is important but with murals and video I think we could make some cool stuff that captures culture and the generations who were involved because once those stories are gone we can’t get them back.”

To get in touch just visit www.facebook.com/mrtragicohara