Community takes pride in mural

The official opening of Lower Hutt’s newest graffiti-prevention mural drew the Naenae community together on Thursday to celebrate and feel pride for their neighbourhood.

The Kotare (Kingfisher) bird mural outside Seddon Street Four Square is the most recent project that aims to minimise graffiti under Hutt City Council’s ‘‘Murals in Schools and Public Places’’ programme.

Pippa Sanderson, Community Arts Advisor and co-ordinator of the programme, enlisted local artist Joe McMenamin to manage the creative process. McMenamin, who teaches part-time at Naenae College selected six students to work on the mural with him.

It was the first time he had had his artwork displayed on such a large scale and he thanked Hutt City Council for their vision for the community.

Student Tori Robb said at times the project was ‘‘a bit stressful’’ but she felt really special to have been a part of it and was ‘‘really happy to see the result’’.

Robb, along with f Jordan Te Paki, Santana Amohau, Dwayne Kanara, Theadora Wilkins and Akansha Kumar, together with McMenamin, worked hard on the mural in their own time to complete it to a high standard.

Spanning across the Waddington Drive side of the building and adjacent resident block the mural of two large Kotare birds is crafted with ornate detailing and is an eyecatcher from the road.

. Four large Kotare feathers were designed solely by the students, each one representative of their individual characters. McMenamin included his trademark flowing pattern that connects the two birds from one end of the mural to the other.

Matt Reid, General Manager of Community Services for Hutt City Council said the mural was ‘‘a really positive example’’ of what could be achieved when people worked together for their community.

Four Square owner Satish Patel was thrilled with the artwork and said after multiple occasions of arriving at his shop to find the space vandalised he hoped people would respect the artists’ work enough to leave it alone.

More of Joe McMenamin’s work can be seen at his his pop-up shop on the , Lower Hutt or on www.joemcmenamin.com