Kerry Nicholson working on his mural Sweet Sweet Surrender.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
After a decade of painting the town, the Rochester Mural Festival will mark its final chapter this year.
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The festival began in 2014 as a way to rejuvenate Rochester after the destruction of the 2011 floods.
The Rochester Mural Festival Committee members: Peter Anderson, Wayne Park, Tracie Kyne, Judy Anderson and Val Gledhill. Photo: Supplied.
Long-time organiser Judy Anderson said the festival had come a long way since its inception.
“After the 2011 floods, we hired a project officer who came up with the idea of buying the rights from Sheffield in Tasmania, who host a big mural festival over there,” she said.
“It started off with no money, we had to get by until we could get the funding but we always offered $5000 as first prize.
“Now we're in a financial situation where we can run this with confidence because we’ve got enough money to run the festival.”
Ana Armillas and her mural Your Heart Dreams.
Photo by
Shannon Colee
There are currently over 50 murals throughout the town that were painted as part of the festival.
In the past, applicants for the festival have been artists with varying styles from all over the country and even as far as New Zealand.
Marco Pennacchia’s Dream Unveiled in progress.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Despite the success of the festival, Mrs Anderson said the committee could no longer continue to run it.
“We’re all getting older ... so we decided this will be the last one for this committee,” she said.
“This year will be our 10th event, we missed one because of the floods but we kept going through COVID.
“It is sad but we’re all over 70 and it does take a lot of time and preparation to host it.”
Judy and Peter Anderson of the Rochester Mural Festival. Photo: Steve Huntley
Photo by
steve Huntley
Each year, eight finalists have been selected from a pool of applicants, and this year’s festival received a record-breaking number of applications.
The successful applicants for this year are a mix of local and non-local talent, including Christina Rankin, Isabelle Kawai Vincent, Kristina Greenwood, Steve Monk, Kerry Nicholson, Gren Freeman, Chris Duffy and Marco Pennacchia.
The artists will gather in Rochester from Saturday, March 29 to Saturday, April 5 to create their murals before the artworks are judged on the final day.
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