Paint NZ Beautiful Month Starts Today!
New Zealand is set to take a stand against graffiti.
Councils, schools, towns, businesses and individuals are lining up across New Zealand to tackle graffiti and make their
corner of New Zealand a bit more beautiful this month.
Keep New Zealand Beautiful launched Paint New Zealand Beautiful month in a bid to create national awareness of the need
to protect our public spaces, combat graffiti vandalism and celebrate the efforts of communities that are graffiti-free.
This initiative is made up of multiple events and campaigns across the month and launches with the unveiling of the
winning Paint Your Town Beautiful mural in Te Arohathis Sunday.
Here is a sneak peek of one of the panels being prepared for the mural that artist Stuart Sheppard is working hard on.
The mural celebrates the beauty and history of Te Aroha that has attracted visitors to enjoy its hot water soda geyser
and soak in the spas for many years.
The mural will be on the side of Te Aroha Countdown facing onto the Te Aroha Historical Edwardian Domain so will have
wide exposure to a lot of foot traffic and be able to be seen and enjoyed by many people.
The biggest event scheduled for the month though is Graffiti Free Week, which will be taking place nationwide from March 14th to March 20th.
KNZB National Marketing Manager, Jodie Marinkovich said “Graffiti Free Week aims to increase awareness of New Zealand’s
graffiti issue, and to educate New Zealand on how easy it is to adopt a spot and make a difference.”
“Adopt A Spot Kits” are available from Keep New Zealand Beautiful free of charge to anyone who has graffiti issues in
their local community. The kits include a Resene paint voucher, roller, high ves vest, hat, t-shirt and more! To
register for an Adpot A Spot Kit you simply need to email Joanne on events@knzb.org.nz.
The most common question Ms Marinkovich said she is asked is ‘what determines what makes something graffiti?’ She said
the answer is simple - permission. “If you have not received permission from the space owner to paint there, then it is
considered graffiti.” She said graffiti is an unsightly form of vandalism, and one that’s associated with increased
neighbourhood crime.
In 2015 nearly 20 councils and regional groups worked feverishly to keep their neighbourhoods tidy and their cities
spotless, in total covering an estimated 28,150 square metres of graffiti.
Ms Marinkovich says they have had an overwhelming response to the kits with more than double the registrations from 2015
already. “I do not believe this is a sign that there is more graffiti, but it is an indication that New Zealand is
taking the issue more seriously and wants it gone. It is great to see more schools taking part in these initiatives as
education on the impact of graffiti at an early age is important.”
Keep New Zealand Beautiful has introduced educational lesson plans, stories and competitions for early childhood centres
and schools across New Zealand.
They are also currently running a competition called Wall Worthy, whereby early childhood centres and schools are encouraged to use the available resources to teach their students
about community art verse graffiti, then work with the class to submit a mural idea to beautify their school or centre.
Entries are open until the end of term 1. There will be 5 x winners selected who will win the resources to make their
ideas become a reality. All the competition details, lesson plans and extra resources can be found atwww.knzb.org.nz.
ENDS