After a couple of years in the making, we were delighted to formally unveil our water mural this week! A commission from an earlier World Water Day, this large scale, water-themed mural has now been installed – and revealed – on the wall of John’s Kitchen.
As Dean Marshall (SWE Business Development Manager) explains “We are delighted to be here, celebrating the gifting of this water mural to the community of Marlborough – and we hand it over to John’s Kitchen to be its kaitiaki (or guardian) today. We hope this brings enjoyment to John’s Kitchen, it’s visitors and passers-by.”
The mural is made up of four large panels, featuring fifteen images of water in various forms. The entire artwork was painted by local artist, Gynelle Blake, who is passionate about public art and has worked on other large-scale murals and numerous Chorus boxes around Blenheim. Gynelle says she is “elated” to have it out where the public can enjoy it.
Dean says “Our intention with this mural was to help beautify our town environment as well as make people reflect on the importance of water to our community – which is a part of our broader community initiative. We want to extend our warmest thanks to Gynelle for the very many hours of blood, sweat and tears she has put into this mural. Her artwork reflects the beauty of the Marlborough environment and the way we as people interact with water in our day-to-day lives. It is truly outstanding and a special gift for the community.”
Yvonne Dasler, Founder and Trustee of Crossroads Marlborough Charitable Trust (the organisation which runs John’s Kitchen) was on hand to witness the unveiling, and said she was “blown away” by the generous gift of the mural. “It links symbolically with what we do, the way everything flows in together…how we care for our land is related to how we care for our people. And it is just a beautiful work of art.”
The mural can be found on the wall of John’s Kitchen (6 Redwood Street – on The Warehouse carpark side – near The Plant). Map link here.
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- Yvonne Dasler (Crossroads Marlborough Charitable Trust), Dean Marshall (SWE) and Gynelle Blake (artist)
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- The mural
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- Gynelle Blake (artist) Dean Marshall & John Ihaka (SWE) and Yvonne Dasler (Crossroads Marlborough Charitable Trust)
You can also see articles about the mural in
- The Marlborough Express, here: https://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/marlborough-top-stories/119752299/large-scale-marlborough-mural-a-timely-reminder-that-every-drops-counts
- The Blenheim Sun, here: https://issuu.com/blenheimsun/docs/blenheim_sun_200228/8
