Colourful industrial area mural putting city on the map
A DUNEDIN mural will provide tourists with a more creative way to get their bearings in the city.
However, its creator says it should probably not be used for journey planning because of the ‘‘artistic licence’’ used.
Artist Frank Gordon has been painting an 18m by 5m wall in Halsey St in the waterfront industrial area since midDecember to resemble a map of the central city.
He was commissioned by infrastructure company Delta, which owns the wall.
The artwork is across the road from where many longdistance buses arrive and depart.
Mr Gordon said the idea was to ‘‘brighten up’’ the industrial area.
‘‘It is pretty grim and noisy and this would mean people coming off the buses would see something ‘Dunedin’.’’
Bus drivers would often approach him with corrections to his map, such as the relative lengths of certain roads, he said.
‘‘I’m not a cartographer. It wouldn’t line up with your GPS.
‘‘It’s more that you stand back and have an idea of the general layout.’’
He aimed to finish the map within a week and then start on the wall next to it.
‘‘For that one I’ll do something quite different — some big fanciful drawing using spray cans.’’
The map was taking him longer than expected because of other works and his day job as a mental health nurse.
A Delta spokeswoman said The Street Art project was part of a Delta initiative to tidy up its surrounding office space area.