Murals and street art

Families painting a mural on the court of a local basketball court.

Murals and street art add vibrancy and colour to our city. It's an easy way to liven up otherwise dull areas like thoroughfares or laneways. 

Street art can come in many different forms, from wall murals to footpath stencils.

Make your mark on your city

Palmerston North is a creative and exciting city. Public art can be a great way to involve a range of people in adding their mark on a public space in a way that's meaningful to them. Part of this is turning bland spaces into visual masterpieces through murals and other street art.

How street art benefits our city

  • Reflects the values of a local community or business
  • Brings increased foot traffic into an area, making a safer, more sociable, and economically healthier place
  • Enhances the look and feel of a place by reducing the depressing impact of blank walls and graffiti
  • Encourages creative expression from a range of people, from local artists to youth and community groups

Get inspired

Take a look at Palmy's Public Art Guide for an exhaustive list of all of the public art pieces across Palmerston North.

How we can help with your public art project

Support for local artists

Use the city's free walls (check our Public Art Guide for their locations). These are local walls you can make art on without Council permission. They can be a great tool for refining your style or testing out ideas.

If you don't yet have a portfolio in outdoor art, you can get support for materials to make a temporary piece of art on the free wall behind Te Manawa (Church Street side). Show us your style and work ethic, so we can recommend you for future commissions.

Send your portfolio and contact details to us to keep on file. We'll consider recommending you when the right private commission, infrastructure project, or street art festival comes up.

Support for businesses, tenants and building owners

We can help you with commissioning local artists or art collaborations that involve local artists. See the Street Art Manual for more information.

Support for neighbourhoods and community groups

Neighbourhoods and community groups wanting to lead their own public art project can get support in a variety of ways:

  • Apply to the Creative Communities Scheme for funding for materials or artist facilitation
  • Contact your local Resene store – they donate a portion of paint towards community art projects

Footpath murals

Chalk-art and temporary art can be a quickfire way to add colour to a place. You don't need permission, but consider enlisting support from any property owners or tenants next to the space so that there are opportunities for them to get involved. Have a think about how long you want the mural to last and which products will be non-slip. Feel free to contact us for help.

Learn a new skill and create a stencil using the vinyl cutter from Blueprint: The City Library Makerspace.

Road murals

Road murals can reinforce streets as places for people and can be a great opportunity to create a focal point for your neighbourhood. Combined with traffic-calming elements, road murals can help to create safer spaces for people on bike and foot. With five road murals already in place, we have figured out the right products and process to use to maximise community involvement and road safety. Get in touch with us about your road mural opportunity.