An initiative to colour the streets of South Dunedin has become a chance to highlight the cultures and history of the inner city suburb.
The South Dunedin Street Art Trail project has had a very busy year, not only transforming concrete pillars and dull walls, but also becoming a champion of community collaboration and cultural representation.
South Dunedin Street Art Trail committee member Rachel Elder said the project began with a discussion between herself and fellow committee member Claire Rye.
After an initial discussion about creating a street art festival, the conversation turned to finding a way to create some street art.
A modest grant of $5000 from the Ministry of Social Development helped "spark this idea".
"It was not much money, but it was a start .
"And then we applied for Creative New Zealand funding and we got about $60,000."
These two grants helped kick start the project at the beginning of last year.
Further support was provided by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, as well as KiwiRail, who got on board with the idea, Mrs Elder said.
KiwiRail sponsored the first major piece by artist Koryu Aoshima, who transformed the abutment of the King Edward St railway bridge near the Mayfair Theatre with a scene of a Chinese lion imagined as a locomotive emerging from the sea.
He also turned two pylons under the King Edward St motorway overbridge into totem poles featuring birds and beasts.
"So that was really exciting."
More murals soon followed, including a mountain and bird tableau at 98 Glasgow St created by Sean Duffell.
The mural, painted on supporting columns of the King Edward St overbridge, paid homage to the pre-colonial estuary and wetlands which were a mahika kai site for Māori.
"So that was really, really exciting."
In March and April mural artists Sweats and Flox turned a bare industrial wall at 121 Hillside Rd near the South City Shopping Centre into a colourful scene of birds and plants called Shifting Tides, featuring the titipounamu or rifleman bird.
KiwiRail provided $29,000 for a mural by James Bellaney and Guy Howard-Smith on the walls and pylons of railway bridge number 228 in Andersons Bay Rd.
This piece was a depiction of the three waves of migration in South Dunedin.
In the last week of December, Dunedin artist Ana Teofilo concluded a busy year of artistic creativity with her piece called The Journey is never ending.
The circular mixed media piece on wood was installed on the side of Pacific Trust Otago’s building in South Rd, Caversham.
Mrs Elder thanked the community groups, funders, sponsors and local businesses who had all helped enable the installation of all the street art murals, including KiwiRail, Kowhai Otago, House and Roof Painting, Resene Dunedin, Bunnings South Dunedin, South Dunedin Community Network, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, Bramwell Scaffolding, Commonground Coffee, Danish Delights, Dunedin City Motors, Otago Community Trust, Ministry of Social Development and Creative New Zealand.
"This is democratic art, this is art everybody sees, everybody drives past.
"It is public art, no-one has to pay to go in there or cross any barriers, there’s no barriers whatsoever, and that’s what we really like about it."
Committee member Hayden Raw said the group had several more pieces planned for 2024.
"Which ones are going to land first is still a bit of a hustle, but it is looking like we have got another couple of paintings next to road corridors to do."
The group was also considering the idea of creating a community wall that could be a chance to develop new street art talent.
"So helping young people who have got an interest in street art actually start to practise in a live environment, in a controlled environment, and help them hone their craft so that we can get more artists to commission more great pieces."
