Walls for mural festival revealed

Securing ‘canvases’ not a problem

Eight new murals will be created in central Whanganui as part of the Whanganui Walls street art festival.

The festival gets under way tomorrow, with murals to be painted on buildings in Guyton St, Drews Ave, St Hill St, Ridgway St, and Maria Pl by the end of the weekend.

Organiser Si Ormerod, aka Cracked Ink, said the festival team had been on the ground for the past few days, preparing the walls for the incoming artists.

“Some of the walls were in really good condition, so it’s just a case of seeing if the artist wants a base colour put down,” Ormerod said.

“The walls that are in average shape need to be waterblasted and have the mould removed, then we prime them and put a top coat on.

“We want the artists to hit the ground and feel like they’re in a good space so they can just crack on with it.”

Though it might sound like a hard task convincing property owners to let the walls of their buildings be painted and sprayed upon, Ormerod said it hadn’t been too much of a problem securing the eight

“canvases” for the visiting artists to work with.

“The only tricky part is when you get to the concept phase.

“We try to pair up the artists to a wall that we feel suits their work the best. From there it goes through a multitude of processes.

“It goes through the building owner, maybe a different landowner, a steering group and iwi. There are a few hurdles to get over to get everyone on the same page.”

As well as the seven walls by featured artists, an eighth, at 25 Drews Ave, will be painted by local youth artists.

“The artists will get guidance from Dan Mills and Eli Lamont, and then Eli’s partner Tallulah [Lamont] takes over the programme when Dan starts his wall on Thursday.”

All the artists met the students yesterday for a chat and to offer advice. “It’s a cool little progamme which is offered out to schools around Whanganui,” Ormerod said.

He said the wall at 110 Guyton St, to be painted by Charles and Janine Williams, would be “absolutely epic”.

“We’ve done quite a few repairs on that one, so the transformation will be pretty amazing.”

Whanganui Walls is from March 18-21, with a full day of music at Majestic Square on Saturday.

For regular updates, go to facebook. com/whanganuiwalls

Photo / Supplied The building at 110 Guyton St is prepped, scaffolded and ready to go for tomorrow. Charles and Janine Williams will transform the outside of 110 Guyton St this weekend.