For a long time, the first thing people saw when they entered Byker was a wall covered in tatty, crude graffiti.
Now community activists have turned to the spray paint cans themselves to give people a more cheery welcome.
A massive new mural has been painted on the side of Kopernik Polish Shop close to
The strikingly colourful painting also contains a subtle tribute to graffiti artist Ewan Brown, who was found dead aged 27 in April.
Ewan, whose name is written on a train in the background of the mural, was a popular figure in the art community and his disappearance and death shocked many.
The artist Robert Hutchinson, 34, said: "I knew Ewan through the art and graffiti community and I just wanted to include a little nod to him.
"Other people who knew him have said they liked it which is brilliant.
"There was a mural painted for him in Ouseburn but that will be covered soon so I wanted there to be a more permanent tribute included in this mural.
"He was just a very well-liked lad who everybody had a lot of time for and who had a lot of time for everybody else."
The project was conceived and part-funded by the Tyneside Living Streets group.
Acting chair Liz Scarff, 73, said: "We want the streets to be more pleasant places to walk and graffiti makes places ugly and feel less safe.
"Byker doesn't always have the best reputation but it's a brilliant place.
"We have excellent transport links, Shields Road is a good place to shop and it's generally a good place to live.
"The mural just makes it look a little better when people arrive."
The mural cost £750 to bring to life and took the artist three days to complete.
It depicts kittiwakes and a red squirrel against
A colony of the seabirds nest on the Quayside and there are red squirrels in the Havannah Nature Reserve near Hazlerigg.
Liz, who has lived in Byker since 2001, said: "Tags are so ugly and only appealing to the person who puts them there.
"Repurposing graffiti is a good way of making the streets more attractive for everyone."
