By Abbey Cannan
Mural artists have been painting the walls of Tewantin with their incredible colours in preparation for the community’s street art launch party.
Tewantin Traders Association president Barbara Sheriff said they have been on a mission to bring the character of Tewantin to life.
“We received grants to commission four mural artists to paint murals on private walls in Tewantin CBD, as well as a mosaic artist to do four mosaic wall murals,“ she said.
“It has been in the planning for the last six months and is finally coming to the completion. Everyone in the community has been so excited and talking about it.“
Artist Andrew Kelaher, also known as Grassi, spent two weeks painting a detailed Tewantin themed mural on a wall near the local Woolworths.
“So far everyone is really stoked and loving it,“ he said.
Although his work is now featured in galleries across Australia, including Nissarana Galleries in Hastings Street, Andrew was initially embarrassed by his talent as a young man.
“As a teenager I didn’t want my friends to know I was an artist so I hid behind my nickname Grasshopper. I added an I instead of Y, making it Grassi, because I thought it was more artsy,“ he laughed.
“Where we grew up in Sydney was a bit of a rough area and you could get beat up for things like being an artist.
“I used to paint in secret. The funny thing was I had this alias for quite a while and I had sold a lot of works at a gallery in Sydney.
“This was until I did a snow sculpture for a Corona ad and I got sponsored by them. All my friends came to the next exhibition because there were cases and cases of free beer.“
Andrew said he usually works in a studio as a gallery artist, but on the odd occasion he paints a mural to get outside.
“It’s pretty relaxing painting outdoors and a lot of people stop for a chat,“ he said.
Another well-known artist, Travis Vinson aka DRAPL, completed his massive mural in Tewantin in just two days.
Check out these murals and more as Mayor Clare Stewart launches the street art party in Tewantin on Saturday 22 May from 10am to 12pm.
The party will feature musicians, stilt walkers, a roving magician, mosaic demonstrations and a kids painting workshop.
The Street Art Project was made possible by a RADF grant, Tourism Noosa grant and local businesses.
The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Noosa Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
For more information on Andrew Kelaher’s work visit grassi.com.au
