Five-year-old Olivia Tait couldn’t contain her excitement when she saw the mural of herself on a wall in Hilton Avenue.
Her mother, Tammy Tait said although she was shy during the walk-through on Saturday, she was happy to see the final painting.
Tait said:
“We live in Hilton, so she’s seen the progress, but [she was] even happier seeing the final painting.”
She said everyone will see her on the wall and she was excited that the painting is of her reading a book since she loves reading,”
She said local artist Jono Hornby took a photo of Olivia at their house in order to do the painting, which forms part of the BOOMTOWN Public Art Festival organised by Hornby and Jaqui Hiltermann from Gallery ZAZA in Hilton. nine artists painted murals along Hilton Avenue between May 21 to 28, 2022.
The aim was to rejuvenate and beautify public spaces and to turn Hilton into a public art gallery.The mural was painted on the wall of the Electricity Building that Hilton Build It plastered and painted.
A break-even project
Hornby’s mural was sponsored by REMAX Midlands and marks the start of the Jackal and Hare audiovisual tour. This unique walking experience combines narrated stories (aimed at both adults and children) and murals.
The hare stories for children are centred around imagination and adventure, and the jackal stories for adults are based on memory and nostalgia. This was a break-even project where artists paint for free with the aim of doing more public art projects.