Media Release – Tuesday, 13th June 2017

Painting Wellington beautiful to eradicate graffiti

A wall at 153 Cuba Street is set to get a make-over with an environmental message this week thanks to the Paint New Zealand Beautiful initiative run by Keep New Zealand Beautiful.

Wellington City Council is delighted their submission on behalf of local artists was chosen by Paint New Zealand Beautiful, which gives resources to make communities beautiful through the painting of murals and eradication of graffiti.

Weather permitting from tomorrow (Wednesday, 14th June) Wellington graphic artists Kelly Spencer, Sean Duffell and artist Stephen Templer will be creating a piece with an environmental message about the importance of bees.

“The wall has ivy growing upwards and bees are one of the few species who can feed off ivy plants,” explains graphic artist Kelly Spencer. “Bees pollinate a third of everything we eat, and play a vital role in sustaining the planet’s eco-systems. The message 'Hold Tight' is asking the bee population to bare with us while we as humans work to realign ourselves with the world and repair the ongoing damages done.”

Artist Stephen Templer says, “I’m excited to be part of a collaboration with two of the best street artists in New Zealand. I’m looking forward to planting a visual garden on Cuba Street, helping to pollinate the imagination of the city with this beautiful, environmentally themed work.”

Wellington City Council graffiti programme advisor Hine Sullivan, says murals commissioned by the council throughout the Capital have received only positive feedback in the past four years.

“We engage and promote local artists as they are known in the culture of graffiti and street art and there is honour and respect for their work. Even those doing graffiti illegally and not in a vibrant manner seem to respect these murals.”

The Paint New Zealand Beautiful programme is where artists nationwide can submit a mural idea that incorporates the natural environment surrounding it. They are provided the resources, with the support of Resene, in a bid to beautify the building or structure frequently targeted by vandals.

The South Island is also set to benefit from the Paint New Zealand Beautiful scheme with artist Deow Owen chosen to paint a wall in a rural setting in Southland. His mural "Mai Mai Girl" will represent the intertwining of humans in their natural environment.

Keep New Zealand Beautiful chief executive officer Heather Saunderson says, “The Paint New Zealand Beautiful programme works in collaboration with artists to inspire, imagine and engage projects that fuse street art with nature, develop a sense of communal ownership over space, represent diversity, and empower people to make change in their little neck of New Zealand. These murals are even more fantastic because they include living things.”

Charitable trust Keep New Zealand Beautiful has several other initiatives with the focus of community beautification, including Wall Worthy where five winners from early education centres, schools and youth groups can submit their ideas for a mural in their community and receive the resources needed to paint it.

Keep New Zealand Beautiful also provides graffiti eradication kits to community groups to use in their local communities through its Adopt A Spot programme.

New in 2017, Keep New Zealand Beautiful has partnered with Chorus as part of the Chorus Cabinet Art programme. Artists anywhere in the country can enter to bring their design idea to life on a local power box that is the subject of frequent tagging. Selected artists are commissioned anywhere from $400 to $1,500 to undertake the work.

Submissions to any of the above Keep New Zealand Beautiful community beautification initiatives are open now by visiting www.knzb.org.nz to enter.

ENDS

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