No one wants graffiti on their building… unless it's art. We are proposing a Special Art Zone (SAZ) in the 300 WestSide laneway, to let the most creative in our community be seen and heard.
Banksy was graffiti… then he was street art… then he was 250k+ auctioned fine art. He said things through art and said them beyond the censored filtering that often exists in private, walled-off spaces.
WestSide already has a number of unsanctioned pieces that brighten up dreary walls and reveal something about street life. What often looks like scrawl to the untrained eye involves a lot more talent to execute properly. And there is a code between artists — not to overwrite or deface someone else's art.
We're not talking about tags. Tags are a form of territory ownership and are a blight wherever they show up. Graffiti art and tagging are not the same thing.
Melbourne's organic graffiti scene transformed into a place people visited specifically to see the talent on display — then coffee shops followed, then restaurants, then apartments. The underbridge at Waterloo in London went through a similar transformation.
A SAZ in the 300 West laneway provides a meetup for those with creative skills to hit the spot day or night. Then the Musicworks musicians can jam street-level as the art is being made.
For local retailers worried about crime — Hastings CBD crime is already lower than Napier's, thanks to the epic proactive work by City Assist. Giving youth a voice and connection by meeting them where they are is an obligation, not an option.
Cafés follow as people come to experience expression and art without permission… and then restaurants follow. All good things for the townhouses already being built at 200 West.
