Russell Pepper wins Dundee's citizen of the year award
Russell has been recognised for his "inspiring" work in the community
Each year Dundee City Council seeks out a Citizen of the Year who has provided outstanding service to their community and this years winner is Russell Pepper.
Russell has been recognised for his work with Open/Close Dundee, an initiative bringing art to the streets of Dundee and encouraging residents and visitors to visits areas of the city they may not ordinarily do so.
As part of his work with Open/Close, Russell works with artists, community groups, small businesses, funders, sponsors, and the council which has seen the creation of art trails in the city centre and Stobswell.
Alongside this, Russell's work has seen the creation of two large gable end murals in Tay Street Land and Cardean Street.
On winning the award Pepper said: "It's very nice, it's very very flattering. There's tons of other people in Dundee doing really good stuff so to have received the award is quite over whelming and quite honoured to have received it."
He added: "It's nothing I'd really sat down and thought about setting out to achieve, if you know what I mean. But, it does feel like a really nice recognition of the work that I've been carrying out with Open/Close, so yeah it's very nice to have."
Lord Provost Ian Borthwick said: “We had an extremely high calibre of candidates this year for Dundee, showing the true community spirit we have in the city.
“I’m delighted to unveil Russell Pepper as this year’s Citizen of the Year. We have all been impressed by the colour and vibrant art work Russell has brought to the streets of Dundee.
“Dundee is a city with a proud cultural history and it’s great to see people in the community, such as Russell, add to this work.
“He is an inspiring individual and one who encourages, supports and motivates the local community.
“I would like to say congratulations Russell on this award.”