Port Kembla’s Wentworth Lane is slowly getting splashes of colour with one artist’s aim for every wall and fence from Jubilee Road to Cowper Street to have a mural.
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Urban Art Australia founder Anthony Jones is calling for other artists to join him in brightening up the suburb one wall at a time.
“My studio is on Wentworth Street and I’m always walking around there [and could] just see the potential the laneway has,” Jones said.
“It’s actually a dumping site for rubbish. It’s a shame really, people are just dumping rubbish everywhere so I thought if we had an opportunity to brighten the place up people might respect it a little bit more.”
So far two murals have been installed, a block colour piece on the side of an empty warehouse and a bunch of pink flamingoes on a residential fence.
Five other sites have been confirmed for coming weeks involving artists Gyro, Joshua Wiffen and Sion Griff.
Jones said he’s trying to be proactive and get the murals completed as quickly as possible but needs other people’s help but also said he didn’t want money to be a barrier.
“I would love to see versatile art, so many didfferent things that are going to appeal to lots of different people,” he said.
People are just dumping rubbish everywhere so I thought if we had an opportunity to brighten the place up people might respect it.
- Anthony Jones
“We’re saying to the wall donaters if they want to kick in some money for funding great, it’s going to entice artists to paint your wall, if not that’s cool as well.”
Jones has set a goal to have the one-way lane completely covered in murals within 24 months and become a destination for people to visit.
“Port Kembla totally needs something,” he said.
Meantime a Dapto business owner recently had a similar idea to freshen up walls in his suburb’s CBD.
Chase Murray encouraged the community to donate to a giant mural of red rosellas in the alleyway between the Dapto Hotel and his business, Alexander’s Cafe.
It comes as Wollongong City Council is offering to pay half of facade upgrades in Port Kembla’s Town Centre around Wentworth Street, part of a state government boost to help enhance the steel city.
Eligible businesses and landowners could receive up to $20,000 to improve the appearance of their street frontage.
All applications and supporting documents must be submitted to: pkfacade@wollongong.nsw.gov.au and have until May 18 to apply.
Artists or wall-owners wanting to help in the Wentworth Lane mural project should contact Anthony Jones via www.urbanartaustralia.com.au