THREE months of waiting to see a CBD laneway cleaned of ugly graffiti has proved too much for Bathurst street artist Stephen "Sven" Rogers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Sven took the job of rejuvenating Macquarie Plaza into his own hands on Thursday, clearing away the graffiti and tags, repainting the signage and adding his own special touch - a set of angel wings that are sure to become a social media hit.
He said the job took less than $100 worth of paint and about six hours of labour, and showed what could be achieved on some of the blank walls around the CBD.
ALSO MAKING NEWS:
"The problem of graffiti can be easily tackled by replacing what's there with a mural or piece of street art that graffiti artists will respect," Sven said.
"If it's tags that are the problem, if they're not removed straight away they will just attract more tags and graffiti.
"I was shocked to see just how bad the plaza looked and after speaking to some of the business owners there it was clear they were becoming quite frustrated."
Concerns over the state of Macquarie Plaza were first raised in the Western Advocate in February while the plaza's owner told the Advocate in March that a clean-up had been on his agenda for some time.
Sven had read those articles and when June arrived with no signs of action, he decided to do the job himself.
He said he started the clean-up by painting over the spray-painted graffiti with stain-blocker paint before colour matching (by eye) the coloured squares in the Macquarie Plaza design.
Sven next taped out the wall to paint the squares before repainting the white wall and the black Macquarie Plaza signage over the top.
Then came the pièce de résistance.
"At the end of the mural was a white wall that was one of the worst graffiti-affected areas in the plaza," Sven said.
"So rather than just painting a white blank canvas that would attract new acts of vandalism I decided to paint over it with dark blue reclaimed paint.
"I then did the angel wings which have become a bit of a global movement in public art."
The angel wings have become a bit of a global movement in public art.
- Stephen 'Sven' Rogers
Sven said nearby businesses had welcomed the new look and the wings were already proving popular among passersby who were stopping for a photograph.
"It was half a day of work but it was well worth the effort," he said.
Do you love Bathurst news?
- Sign up now for our free morning headlines and breaking news emails