Waterford Walls Street Art Festival was founded in 2015 with the goal of brightening up the city's streets and buildings.
In 2018 the Festival increased the number of artists to 50, up from 25 the previous year. To facilitate the increase in artists and the number of walls bring painted, the Festival expanded from 3 to 10 days.
An estimated 10,000 individuals visited the city over the Festival.
Finding an Audience:
Living in the City, I have been involved with the festival since 2015. In 2017 I worked with the Walls Crew on the graphics and promotion of the festival and for 2018 we started work early in the year to maximise our scope of investigations.
Before entering into design production, I interviewed the production team, volunteers and as many artists as I could. The bulk of my research was carried out by talking to the public, going on the walking tours, attending workshops and observing the publics interaction with the city and the art.
More often than not, just bring around the artist while they worked sparked a conversation with the public. Everyone has an opinion on street art!
The Challenge:
As the festival has grown, the art has spread out from the city centre into the older, quieter, parts of the town, where there is a mature demographic. The community who live in these areas welcomed the artist into their community with a smile and endless cups of tea.
The challenge was to deliver a branded package that addressed the target audience, promoted the ethos of Waterford Walls and was community-centric.
creativity.
Community.
engagement.
regeneration.
passion.
The Solution:
After spending time on discovery, we came to the conclusion that the perception of street art was purely aesthetic, with little understanding of the concepts and ideas of the artists.
Approaching the 2018 festival from a user-centric perspective, we decided that the artist standing between the art and the user is the person best placed to inform the users of their concepts and ideas.
As part of the festival, Waterford Walls ran workshops, panel talks, social nights and fundraisers. The events were designed to encourage a discussion around the positive effects street art has on a community.
By empowering the community, they became stakeholders in the project, actively engaging and becoming friends with the festival artists as they painted on their street, on the side of their shop or on the wall on the way to work. In turn, the residents became gallery invigilators, proudly ensuring the legacy of Waterford Walls.
Video + Photography by Emagine
Graphics by nmcDesign
