New Stoke stadium mural takes flight
Two Auckland urban artists and a group of young Nelsonians have teamed up to create a new mural for Stoke.
Over the course of three days, including 14 hours of waterblasting and 18 hours of undercoat painting, the back wall of Jack Robins Stadium was transformed into a soaring ka¯ ka¯ against a sea of green.
Titled ‘‘raise’’, the centrepiece of the mural is a ka¯ ka¯ with wings outspread, complemented by 14 individual artworks from Nelson youth.
Charles and Janine Williams have travelled throughout New Zealand and the world creating their urban artworks, with an emphasis on Maori cultural design along with native birdlife.
To create the Stoke mural, they had help this time from about 30 members and staff of Whanake Youth and Youth Nelson.
Charles Williams said being able to work with young people on the project was a nice change.
‘‘Normally we do a lot of collaborative works but we’re working basically by ourselves to complete a project.
‘‘This time [the kids] were able to put some of the work into the mural itself . . . drawing out some of their creative stories.’’
Whanake Youth co-director Lee-ann O’brien said about 50 people turned out for the unveiling on Sunday. ‘‘It was great to see people’s joy about how beautiful the mural was.