Carterton mayor Greg Lang and his wife Ali with the rainbow angel wings mural. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Carterton has a new uplifting mural – a pair of rainbow coloured angel wings.
Situated beside the police station in Holloway St, the multicoloured inspiration is rapidly becoming a must-do photo opportunity for young and old.
Sponsored by Resene and Wai Art Trust the angel wings are the brainchild of Anna-Marie Kingsley and Mike Osborne, the two volunteers who, with council permission, painted the snakes and ladders in Library Square.
“We didn’t get the rainbow clocktower, but we still wanted to create something Instagram worthy, not only to cheer up Carterton people, but also provide a drawcard for national and international tourists,” Kingsley said.
Given the number of times the angel wings are appearing on Facebook feeds this seems to be working.
“The police have been incredibly helpful in allowing us to paint in their station section, and even water blasted the path for us so we could paint the multicolour footprints leading to the angel wings and the community gardens.”
Stepping blocks are provided for vertically challenged selfie fans, with health and safety warnings attached in Kingsley’s unique sense of humour.
The first step says: “This is a step”, the second step says: “steps can be dangerous when used by idiots”, the third: “don’t use this step if you are an idiot”, and the last: “don’t make the council remove these steps because you were being an idiot”.
Carterton Mayor Greg Lang said the artwork was a great contribution to the central business district.
“It’s so cool, he said.
“It’s in a part of town that you wouldn’t think much of – a hidden wall on a council building next to a police station.
“Can you imagine 20 years ago asking to put something like that on a council building next to a police station?”
Lang’s advice to keen selfie-takers was to “smile as much as you can and let everyone else know about it”.
“I think we have the highest number of artists per capita in the country and this is just another sign of expression of our unique, friendly community.”
