Mural Masterpieces - Wellington Art Club

Team:
Olympia Osborne (Pres WAC), Phil Dixon (Designer), Lualle Cash (Project Manager) and many Wellington Art Club members who each painted at least 1 of 42 tiles.

Accessible to public:
Yes.

Mural theme:
Early Miramar town centre.

Background to mural creation:
The mural was created to engage the local community and promote the Miramar Maupuia Community Centre and the Wellington Art Club.

The idea came after Wellington Art Club members Lucille Cash and Linda Smith saw a similar project in Whanganui. It consisted of individual tiles; each painted by a different artist and put together on a frame to make up a completed picture.

They gained the support of club members, then gained permission from the hall committee and the city council to paint the mural on the wall of the Community Centre next to the Art Club rooms. The club and locals were involved in painting each part of the mural.

Accomplished club member Phil Dickson designed the mural depicting an early Miramar scene. This design was copied onto an A4 sheet and precisely ruled up into 42 parts, each identified with a number and a letter. Phil chose the Resene colours and worked out the precise sizes for the frame to hold the tiles on the wall. The 42 tiles were cut from tanalised plywood, undercoated, numbered and lettered ready for people to paint their sections of the mural design onto the individual tiles. Once the individual tiles were completed, like a giant jigsaw the mural came to life.

Though it was a more complicated way to create a mural, it was a great way to involve lots of club members and the local community.

Leftover paint was used for a smaller mural for the front of the clubrooms. It depicts an artist’s palette with paint and brushes.