A strong female line up is among the talent secured for the seventh annual Graffiato: Taupo Street Art Festival to be held in Taupo's town centre this Labour Weekend.
Established artist Erin Forsyth, muralist Mica Still and type-designer Kelly Spencer are among the headline artists attending the festival next month.
"Street art is typically male dominated, so we're really excited to bring together some of New Zealand's most talented female artists into one festival" event curator Ross Liew said.
This year's festival is also the biggest line up of event first-timers since it began in 2007.
Mr Liew said visitors could look forward to brand new styles and approaches joining the collection this year.
"Over the years Graffiato has been running there has been a global shift in street-based wall painting culture. Originally the domain of traditional muralists and graffiti artists, we're now seeing artists come to muralism via studio practice and illustration as opposed to the traditional routes of graffiti and street art," he said.
"No other city has such a rich collection of walls where you can see the breadth of talent and vision that resides within our country.
"Sometimes the artist won't know what they're going to create until they start working, that's the beauty of street art."
The festival starts on October 20 with a one of a kind mixed media collaboration and evening with the artists at the Taupo Museum.
Festival artists will each have 10 minutes to contribute their design to an 'Exquisite Corpse', and five artworks will be auctioned off on the night. The evening is open to the public and drinks and nibbles will be provided.
From Saturday morning, visitors will have the opportunity to watch artists at work as they create their large-scale artworks over the three days. Visitors can pick up a walking map, chat to the artists, and discover many of the 80 other pieces around the town centre created at prior festivals.
"There's a real buzz around town over this festival weekend - it's a great opportunity for visitors to witness the walls of our town transform into works of art, and engage with the artists as they work" Towncentre Taupo general manager and festival manager Julie McLeod said.
"Our vision is for Taupo's street art to become an iconic 'must-do' for travelers and we're definitely seeing a growth in interest in Graffiato from visitors to the town centre" Ms McLeod said.
Later this year a more comprehensive walking map profiling key pieces, including 2017 artworks and their location, will be available for visitors wanting to explore the full survey of works.
For more information and event details go to www.TaupoStreetArt.co.nz
