The popular artist has been asked by Middlesbrough Council to exhibit some of his work at the station which is used by more than one million passengers every year.
Mackenzie is creating a couple of significant new pieces especially for the exhibition which will see nine paintings displayed in fixed frames on Platform 2 for two years.
The 58-year-old’s work has been shown as far afield as the USA, Australia and Japan but he’s never happier than when his pictures are on show in Middlesbrough.
Teesside University and the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum have hosted recent local exhibitions, and in November he visited the town’s Dorman Museum to sign copies of his latest book ‘Out of the Shadows’.
He said: “I have always been a great fan of railway posters and so who would have thought that me, a boy from the ’Boro, gets the honour of having my work hung in my home town railway station.
“It is a real honour and even more so because it is Middlesbrough Station, the place I have stated and finished so many memorable journeys.”
Mackenzie was one of seven children, spending his early childhood in a terraced house near Union Street before the family moved to the new Beechwood estate when he was a toddler.
He began his working life as a labourer and at Smiths Dock, before his vocation drew him to tell the story of the people of Middlesbrough through his art.
First TransPennine Express Station Manager Mike Drewery said: “Middlesbrough Railway Station is used by around 1.4 million passengers every year, so it’s vital to us that they have a good experience and they form a good
first impression of the town.
“Mackenzie Thorpe is hugely popular, and rightly cherished by the people of his home town, so he was the perfect choice to create some eye-catching art works for the station.
“This is a real coup for the town and we are sure those who live, work in and visit Middlesbrough will get a great deal of enjoyment from the new pictures.”
The nine works are due to be installed at Middlesbrough Station in March.