Paradox rumour ‘not true'

Charles and Janine Williams’ ‘Messenger’ which can be found on Dive Crescent and is one of six murals commissioned for the Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival. Photo: Bruce Barnard

'Morning,” the email sent to this reporter starts off. 'I had heard a rumour about the street art being painted over in about a month's time. Do you know if this is true?”

The street art in question is the six murals created by internationally-acclaimed artists Askew One, Fintan Magee, Lucy McLauchlan, Sofles, Charles and Janine Williams, and Jacob Yike, which were commissioned for the Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival.

And it's a rumour Tauranga City Council is quick to nip in the bud.

'The rumours that walls will be painted over following the closure of the festival are not true,” says City Transformation general manager Jaine Lovell-Gadd.

'All outdoor street art pieces commissioned as part of Paradox will stay on private buildings for at least one year, with longer times expected for public buildings such as Spring St parking building and the Dive Crescent wall.”

She says there's also been no indication from any of the private wall owners the art works will be removed 'due to their immense popularity”.

With that said, due to the nature of street art, in combination with a growing and changing city, some of the art works may have to make way for potential upgrades or rebuilds, adds Jaine.

A council spokesperson explains the 12 month stipulation was part of the initial agreement made between the council and private building owners, and what happens to them after that is 'up to the owners”.

'We hope they will leave it for a lot longer, but that was the agreement we came to them.

'In terms of public buildings, it always depends on what happens to those buildings. So the agreement is also 12 months, but at this stage we can't really tell what's happening after that.”

The 12-month agreement was also part of the contract signed by the six artists who were commissioned to create the murals, adds the spokesperson.

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