Mr G’s magical mural

If visitors to Kaiko¯ura want to know what the coastal town is all about all they need to do is pop down to Farmlands.

Thanks to Kiwi artist Graham Hoete, aka Mr G, there’s now a vibrant 15-metres mural spread across the side of the building on Beach Rd.

It’s all part of the HeART of the Community project, where Hoete is painting a series of locally inspired murals on 15 Farmlands stores across New Zealand.

Kaiko¯ura was lucky enough to be chosen from 82 Farmlands stores throughout New Zealand.

Local communities were encouraged to express their unique experiences and sense of community identity.

Thanks to an inspirational submission written by Kaiko¯ura High School teacher Tracey Lean the seaside town shot to the top of the list.

Hoete had spoken to students at Kaiko¯ura District High School, different community groups and tourism operators about what was really important to their community.

Project manager heart of community project Brooke BaylissBrown said every group spoke about the spirit of Kaiko¯ura, the spirit of the community and the people.

‘‘In Christchurch people talk about resilience all the time. What they use here is the word spirit, and we thought that was beautiful.’’

Hoete said the trip to Kaiko¯ura had been unique because he had connected with the community first.

The Bay of Plenty artist, whose work has been compared to international street artist Banksy, takes his inspiration from the old masters and is also a passionate photographer.

‘‘Colour adds a mood - keeping it quite vibrant and colourful with joy and happiness,’’ he said.