Painting a new vibe on Nikau St
The first work completed on the corner of Nikau and Flower Streets confidently announces "you've arrived" in Uptown. It sits high above the development site and it can be clearly seen from the Western Line station platform.
Created by the artist Component, it's a big, bold, friendly marker that you are in the Uptown neighbourhood. Its composition echoes the classic postcards that were once sent to family from a road trip. Close observers will recognise a nod to Uptown's rich musical heritage - Ray Columbus and the Invaders, who played in nightclubs on Symonds Street in the 1960s, are featured.
You'll also see the exterior of the legendary King's Arms Tavern and the ceiling feature of Orange Ballroom, where courting couples once danced into the night. The female singer is a nod to soul legend Sharon Jones who played with her band The Dap-Kings at The Powerstation in 2010.
All are spaces that evoke entertaining memories for people here. Component has been a working artist for over 25 years and is self-taught in the art of stencilling. "I was shaped by my environment - now I help shape it," he says, reflectively.
Being on Nikau Street right now brings on a sense of anticipation... very soon it will become a pedestrian gateway to many of Uptown's popular places.
As the street slopes down towards the west, the new Maungawhau Station comes into view. After long years of digging, drilling, building and testing, it's finally close to opening. Beyond the operation of the station, attention is turning to the four hectares of development space that surrounds it. With time, new homes and spaces will emerge from the gravel.
Finally a promised future is becoming the "now."
Soon, you'll be only a 10-minute ride from Waitematā Station to our neighbourhood, or just three minutes from our friends at Karangahape. When you alight at the station here, the most direct route to head into the commercial and hospitality heart of the precinct is to head up Nikau Street.
The Uptown Business Association has been planning for the introduction of this new pedestrian gateway to our neighbourhood. Working with property owners, a series of public artworks has been commissioned to make the route more appealing, and to reinforce a sense of what makes Uptown. We want to bring a little more surprise, beauty and-yes-joy to the place.
Not far up the street is Finn Gerry Wilson's eye-popping montage of what Uptown means to him. Finn lives in the precinct and was born and raised in the shadow of Maungawhau.
His absorbing work meshes places and people from the neighbourhood in a fresh way. Locals will recognise the historic shot tower, that until recently, was a landmark in the Normanby Road area. The Cityside Church, which has been on Mount Eden Road since 1906, is depicted beautifully. While the gleaming train is a nod to the moment, curious out-of-towners can have a chuckle counting the number of JAFAs that feature on the wall.
The bespectacled man with the prodigious mane is, of course, local resident and artist Dick Frizzell. "Ever since I first got interested in art, I've been an admirer of Dick's work. So when I got the commission, I knew he had to be part of this," says Finn.
More murals will be completed soon, making the stroll up Nikau Street alone worth a train ride.
But as evidenced by every issue of this magazine, Uptown has so much to discover.
Words: Brent Kennedy
Photography: Blink Ltd. & Supplied
Artists: @finn.gerry.wilson & @component
