Auckland Artist Brigita Botma Unveils Award-winning Mural In Waiuku, Auckland

Auckland artist, Brigita Botma, has unveiled her award-winning mural in Waiuku, Auckland. The mural, titled ‘Keep Our Home Clean NZ’ is located on the side of the Waiuku Village Butcher’s building on the town’s main street.

Brigita was one of ten winners from across the country who took out the top prize in Keep New Zealand Beautiful’s Resene Nature Murals Competition 2020.

The mural features two Tui perched on branches littered with food wrappers and bits of plastic. One Tui has mistaken a plastic bead necklace for food in its mouth. At the base of the mural is the message: 'Keep Our Home Clean, NZ!'.

"This mural shares an important environmental message with the community and adds to the beautification of the local area. We've had a lot of people, including our Town Manager Sharlene Druyven, working very hard over the last few years to get a 'clean green' message across to the wider community. I feel it's important to have a bright, positive message for young people in our community to see so that they understand the importance of respecting our environment," says Brigita.

"It's been really special to know that I have contributed positively to the town and country I love and seeing the smiles and excitement from our community as I painted has been truly rewarding and something I really appreciate."

The Resene Nature Murals Competition, which is part of the Paint New Zealand Beautiful programme, ran from April to June 2020, with artists encouraged to submit mural designs which included an environmental message. Artists from around the country sent in their designs, with the top ten murals selected based on their environmental message, enhancement of the community, and originality/creativity.

Winning designs receive a $1000 grant upon completion, along with a $750 Resene paint voucher and other materials to paint their mural.

Keep New Zealand Beautiful CEO, Heather Saunderson, said: "This is the fourth year we have partnered with Resene to run our Nature Murals competition and we were absolutely amazed by both the quality and quantity of entries this year. Research has shown that the beautification of public spaces deters vandalism and anti-social behaviour such as littering and graffiti and increases civic pride. We’re proud to partner with Resene again on this programme and we’re excited to see these murals come to life and beautify their little corners of New Zealand.”

The ten winning artists and regions are listed below, with their designs visible on the Keep New Zealand Beautiful website.

• Brigita Botma, Keep Our Home Clean NZ!, Auckland
• Corey Harbrow, Adventures of Lucky n’ Bobs, Christchurch
• Elise Grangier and James Mitchell, Mind the Balance, Wellington
• Fiona Clarke, Our Planet, Auckland
• Jil Sergent, Trouble in the Pegasus Basin, Hawke’s Bay
• Kelly McGinley, Kaitiakitanga o te Moana, Tauranga
• Kiran Parbhu, Power, Wellington
• Mark Noble, Care For The World, And It Shall Care For You, Rotorua
• Nest Arts Collective, In Our Hands, Rangiora
• Ngā Atua Hou, Mangonui Mural Project, Mangonui

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