Mural guide and toolkit

Our guide to creating murals in Wellington.

Murals are recognised as having wide-reaching benefits to urban areas. Sharing ideas about what might be represented, and having a go at designing and painting one is also a great way to bring a community together.

Mural toolkit brochure.

The Council both commissions murals and partners with other organisations or businesses to facilitate them. We also develop resources like the Mural Toolkit below, which provides practical information for anyone interested in making a mural.

Step 1: Find a site

Identify a site, find out who owns the site and get permission. Be mindful that the site may have heritage value and therefore getting permission may not be straight forward, or there may be a number of owners - for example, a building owner and a property manager.

Step 2: Select an artist

Commission an artist to design a mural for the site. The project coordinator may require the mural artist to engage with neighbourhood residents and businesses in the design process - to discuss themes of significance or the concerns and values of a particular community.

Step 3: Get your design approved

Get approval for the mural design from the key stakeholders (eg: site owners, project sponsors, community, etc).

Step 4: Prepare

Prepare the site for mural painting - this may involve:

  • a Traffic Management Plan (see the Council’s City Arts team about this)
  • health and safety plan
  • cleaning the site
  • repairing the wall
  • undercoating the wall.

Step 5: Paint

When the painting of the mural is underway, make sure the process is well documented by film or photography and that key stakeholders, including the surrounding community, know what’s happening and when. Once painting has finished, the mural should be graffiti-guarded with a special graffiti protection coating to protect it from sun damage and graffiti vandalism.

Step 6: Celebrate

Celebrate the completion of the mural – this is really important for those involved in the development of the mural and for those who are most impacted by it. Celebrating the completion of a mural provides a chance to say thank you and acknowledge the achievement.

Short Guide to Making a Mural  (153KB PDF) | Text version (3KB RTF)

Mural Toolkit

For detailed information about the project management side of making a mural, including health and safety issues, costs and funding, check out our mural toolkit.

Contact us

City Arts team

Phone: 04 499 4444

Email: arts@wcc.govt.nz