A new street art festival to be held in Canberra’s inner city over three days in November this year will see blank surfaces on buildings and laneways throughout the city transformed into works of art.
The Surface festival will see local and interstate artists work across three days painting walls with colourful, textured and wild artworks throughout Civic and Braddon, with feature pieces popping up across the suburbs, too.
Running 5-7 November, the event is being designed to allow festivalgoers to wander through Braddon and Civic to observe artworks being painted and get involved in public events across the weekend.
Event producer Tim Phibs will help deliver the festival and comes with previous experience in hosting similar events on the NSW South Coast and in Sydney.
He has previously developed large-scale street art projects in various locations across Canberra.
“Urban art has found its place in our lived environments, transforming the urban landscape, enriching, beautifying, and stimulating interest and pride in shared communal spaces,” Mr Phibs said.
“It also makes a positive economic contribution to communities by enhancing areas and creating social destinations.”
The festival production team is currently working with local stakeholders to identify artists and potential walls that will be painted in the Braddon and Civic areas, as well as negotiating with wall owners.
Locations will only be included in the festival with the full consent of property owners.
Expressions of interest have been targeted to relevant organisations to help shape the festival, with opportunities available to host workshops, panel talks, exhibitions, and tours in a COVID-safe way.
A broader expression of interest process for participation in the festival will remain open until 18 June.
Over the past 12 months, the ACT Government has worked with local artists, commissioning public street art and murals across Canberra.
Minister for Transport and City Services Chris Steel said the Surface festival will support local artists in addition to bringing more foot traffic to the inner-city business precincts.
The Surface festival will run from Friday 5 November through to Sunday 7 November 2021; for information on the expressions of interest, visit cityservices.act.gov.au
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