Mural Masterpieces – Rust Ave, Whangarei

Location:
Rust Ave, Whangarei.

Team:
Trent Morgan and community helpers.

Accessible to public:
Yes.

Mural theme:
Life and community in the Whangarei district.

Background to mural creation:
The Arts Promotion Trust of Whangarei ran a competition to design a mural based around the above theme and Trent’s design was chosen as the winner. Trent tried to use as many images that represent life and community in Whangarei as he could. He also wanted to give the local community the opportunity to be involved in the physical painting of the mural. The mural depicts a weaving pattern, which symbolises the threads of the community woven together, and the green/blue side represents the Whangarei Heads, an iconic landscape for the area. Ultimately this mural project wasn’t as much about the end result as it was about community participation in an arts project. The reason for making the symbols solid blocks of colour was to help enable the community to take place using a paint by numbers concept. Trent focused on the drawing and outlines of the symbols and the local community helped with the painting. Another advantage of the solid colours is that it allows for easy touchup if needed.