Graffiti Art Project to Light Up Gordon Street Reserve

Dargaville's Gordon Street Reserve will be lit up by an art project with a difference on Wednesday 7 October 2009.

Local artist Simon Gray has organised a 'light graffiti' evening for the community, starting at 7.30pm as part of a project to revitalise the area which runs between Gordon and Tirarau Streets.

"All people have to do is bring a torch and have a go. Light graffiti is simple to make, all you need is a camera set to a long exposure so you can capture the patterns you make with the lights, its kind of like drawing in the air with a sparkler. The evening will be a chance to experiment with some creative ideas and get some great images of the reserve as well."

The light graffiti evening is part of a wider project headed by Mr Gray and supported by Kaipara District Council which looks at creative ways to tackle vandalism. The project seeks to find community-based solutions to problems and has been awarded $27,000 funding from the Ministry of Justice's Graffiti Vandalism Programme, for the next two years.

"The graffiti on the reserve's fences has the potential to spread to neighbouring areas, so we are looking for a solution that is community owned and that has involvement from as many different people as possible. There is no point in just keeping on painting over graffiti week in and out, we want to find more long term solutions."

Lots of ideas are on the table from developing the reserve's drain into a healthy ecosystem to adapting fencing to be more resistant to vandalism, the light graffiti evening it just the beginning.

"Get down to the Gordon Street Reserve for the light graffiti evening and see what it is all about," says Mr Gray.

Photos of the light graffiti will be exhibited at the Dargaville library in the weeks to come and you can check out more information on the project at www.goodfencesmake.blogspot.com.