The organisers of the Manawatū Street Art Festival were contacted by the family of Murray Ball regarding a mural that was created during the festival of “Wal and Dog” from Ball’s Footrot Flats.

Where the work is not an original design, artists are required to provide proof of consent for any artwork where copyright may be required. The Wal and Dog mural fell under this category. The organisers of the festival were under the impression that the right permissions had been obtained, however this wasn’t the case and so the mural raised potential copyright issues.

Between representatives of Manawatū District Council and the Ball family, it was agreed that the mural would be removed at the earliest opportunity and that work was carried out over the weekend. Work on a new mural has begun and it will be completed in the coming weeks.

“We understand that some people will be disappointed with the removal of the ‘Wal and Dog’ mural, however we understand the position of the Ball family and we wanted to honour their request as soon as possible. We can assure residents that another eye catching mural will be in place very soon,” says Manawatū District Council’s General Manager for Community, Lyn Daly.

“We want to encourage and support young artists but in this instance the right processes were not taken and the artist and the Working Group all have lessons to learn from this,” says Joe McMenamin, one of the organisers of the Manawatū Street Art Festival.

Funding for the Manawatū Street Art Festival was a joint venture between Creative New Zealand and the Manawatū District Council with Creative New Zealand contributing $26,000 and Manawatū District Council contributing $10,000.