rss feedAND IT GETS DONE!
Many of you will know that early this year I became embroiled in a rather public battle with Auckland Council over the removal of an artwork on Poynten Tce painted by Berst, Deus and myself. You can read back through the posts right here on this blog if you’re not already familiar with the whole saga. A lot of you are probably already up to speed though and so I’ll cut right to the chase.
A couple of weeks ago I met with Rob Garret who is Auckland Council’s public arts facilitator and we came to a very amicable agreement – one that is going to enable a positive outcome that will benefit everyone involved and hopefully also benefit many others.
The Council agreed to withdraw their call for submissions for the new mural and have instead agreed to make a settlement with me on behalf of the artists. I was asked to price out a fair figure on par with what we would charge for a similar sized mural work in a commercial situation. I came up with the figure of $10,440.00 which breaks down like this:
Materials: $3,460.00
Access Equipment: $1,100.00
Artist fees: $5,700.00
This morning we found that the amount of $10,440.00 + GST had been deposited into our account and as promised we put it to some charitable causes – after we paid the GST direct to the Government of course! This is where the money went:
$4,394.00 - Red Cross Christchurch Earthquake Appeal
$4,394.00 – Canterbury SPCA Earthquake Appeal
And in light of the passing of NYC graffiti Legend Case2 last week – we donated the remaining $1,316.00 USD needed to reach their goal of $5,400.00 for his funeral costs.
So that’s the first aspect of this all sorted – what about the art work?
At this stage – we can’t paint the replacement mural at Poynten Tce but in the next couple of weeks I will seek to talk directly with the landlords there and see if we can just return things back to the way it was. We will paint and maintain that site again if possible. In the mean time, The K’ Road Business Association have come to us with an alternative location, which is the side of 420/Rising Sun etc, the side facing the motorway. In an ideal world we will paint both locations or at the very least just the 420 spot but I have pulled together a fantastic team of local artists to get involved and will make more announcements about the project as it develops. At this stage it will likely be towards the end of the year as everyone involved are over-committed with their own projects for at least the next 2 months.
My vision in general though is to go a step further - I want to work with the people of K’ Road and Cross St to get as much public art installed/painted as possible over the next year. This battle has been stressful at times but the outcome is positive and I think everyone can enjoy that. I’m optimistic that there is change ahead in how the Council starts to think about art in public space and I’m grateful, humbled and inspired by how many people were outspoken with their support on this whole issue. I would in particular like to thank Cut Collective for initiating the petition and to all the people that signed it, Barb and Cleo at the KBA, Russell Brown, Peter McLennan and Hamish Keith for everything said and done throughout this drama. I would also like to thank Saber AWR for really pushing this issue on twitter and gathering the initial momentum that caught Mayor Len Brown’s attention.
Lastly, there is still in my opinion a huge disconnect between the ‘enforcement arm’ of the Council, elected Councillors and the idealistic people in there pushing for positive change in our city. I do feel optimistic though. I hope that if anything this has illustrated that people like me, that like or do graffiti do care and have a vision for this city just like anyone else. I hope we can engage and work more often towards creating positive projects that come with compromise and understanding rather than just applying robotic bureaucratic measures to every issue that comes about. I hope that we can start to see return this city to a place where everyone can feel a sense of belonging and ownership, where things aren’t constantly standardized, painted grey or rebuilt purely as a veneer to impress foreign Rugby punters. Like I said – today I feel optimistic.
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Congrats! And well done! What an amazing mural.
Good on you Elliot, this is brilliant.
Good stuff!
Congrats Elz, and I know that not only myself yet everyone that has pushed for this looks forward to that which will emerge..
I like what was done in Wellington years ago on faceless buildings where old balconies and windows were created (painted), & even a prostitute on a building just off Vivian St. Personally I’ll go for the old-style; preferably original (unlikely in Akl) else recreated – à la Welli…
Nice dude! You done good!
Wot? They paid? They paid you wot?
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Can’t wait to see colour back in the neighborhood. Choice bro
Big Up Guys, thats wicked news. Keep the energy flowing. Pow
Good result, and good work on using the issue to attract more attention from council and maybe get some attitudes changed and more art out there.
This is great news! Glad to hear that you’re sticking around for a while longer and will continue to contribute to Auckland in a way only you can. Your an inspiration!
Well done bro!
great news finally! so good of you to donate all that money. and so good that they paid up after such a long battle
Nice! On all levels.
Great to hear! I’m very pleased to hear about the positive outcome and very much look forward to seeing your work on display in the K’rd area soon.
Fantastic news! It just goes to show what can be achieved when people pull together and stand united in the face of narrow minded bureaucrats and the idiots who do their dirty work for them. Great outcome and thanks for all of your hard work 
Fantastic news. I would love to hear more about the new projects, maybe even lend a hand? Like you say this city is home to more than a single conservative group of rugby fans, and plenty of us would like to feel we have a stake in the environment we live in. It’s good to hear arts administration at the council is opening up to this idea.
THAT IS AWESOME! It is great that you donated it!
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Awesome news bro.