Chalk murals in Te Manawa get people connecting

A unique urban art mini-chalk festival has grabbed the attention of town-goers.

Students from the Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology urban art course drew three chalk murals on the ground in Te Manawa yesterday.Lecturer Glenys Courtney-Strachan said it was the first time this had been held for the course.

"It's a great way for students to engage with the public and talk about their work.

"It's been a great experience for them. We've had a lot of people come up to us and ask where we are from."

Courtney-Strachan thought it allowed people to connect with others who they may not normally connect with.

She said the course was free and held for four weeks over summer.

It was open to everyone and gave people a taste of community art and different types of mural art, she said.

Student Denise Ria said she joined the course because she loved looking at street art.

She had done a lot of travel overseas and always looked at the art of the walls.

Ria said they had been researching and looking at the work of different mural artists.

They then created individual designs and picked pieces from each one, so everyone had a piece in the final designs.

She said a highlight of doing the chalk designs in Te Manawa had been the number of people stopping, chatting and being interested in what they were doing.

"We've had lots of fun."