Boon Arts

We’re proud to present After the Artists Leave: How Temporary Art Leaves Permanent Legacies. 🎨

A stunning, limited-edition coffee table book capturing the colour, creativity, and community that Boon Arts has helped shape in Kirikiriroa Hamilton since 2015.

This book is a The University of Waikato research project written and produced by Dr Iain White and Sasha McLaren and proudly supported by Hamilton Arts Trust.

This beautifully designed 250+ page art book tells the story of Boon through stunning images of the vibrant murals, behind-the-scenes moments and stories, reflections from the artists who helped transform Hamilton’s streets into a living gallery, and the community it has impacted.

Each of the 250 copies are hand-numbered and designed by award-winning studio Area Design, making it a true collector piece.

The Boon Arts team have been out and about packaging and delivering these beautiful books from Love the Centre - Hamilton Central - so make sure to snap a pic and tag us if you’ve managed to get your hands on one! 📸

A blast from the past! Throwback to the 2018 Boon Street Art Festival! 🎨

The Boon Street Art Festival 2018 transformed blank walls into powerful visual narratives. This event reinforced Boon’s commitment to making art accessible to all, turning the city into a vibrant outdoor gallery that celebrates community, heritage and artistic expression.

The 2018 festival featured a diverse group of both emerging and established artists who used large-scale street art to tell stories rooted in local culture, history, and community identity. One of the standout works was “A Love Story”, a striking mural by Charles and Janine William depicting a soaring kārearea (New Zealand falcon) carrying Māori twins, symbolizing local legend. (See previous artist spotlight post for more info on this!)

Through these dynamic artworks, the festival reinforced its mission to transform Hamilton’s urban landscape into a living, accessible gallery that connects residents and visitors alike to the power of creative expression.

Below are the artists who were included in the 2018 festival! 🤩

Charles + Janine
Cracked Ink
Flox
Gina Kiel
Jodie McBride
Kell Sunshine
Rachel Hope Peary
Three Little Lines
Underwater Collective
Ushy Ushy

✨Artist Collaboration Spotlight✨
Meet Charles and Janine!

Charles (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāpuhi) is a founding member & president of the world championship-winning crew TMD (The Most Dedicated), a collective of creatives from around the world who continue to push artistic boundaries.

Janine (Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara, Ngāti Pāoa) is one of Aotearoa’s first female street artists whose passion lies in works that reflect local stories.

Their Boon mural ‘A Love Story’ has had the privilege of gracing Kirikiriroa streets since 2018!

“With our murals we always find a local narrative or an iwi connection to a story,” Janine said

The piece speaks of a kārearea (New Zealand falcon) that carried high-born twins Reipae and Reitu from Waikato to Whangarei for marriage. (The story of Whangarei)

You can find their Boon mural alongside Victoria on the river, Hamilton Central!
If you’re out in the CBD, snap a pic and tag us!

We love seeing people enjoying the beauty of the city! 📸

Meet Dawn, our superstar administrator on the Boon Arts team! 🤗

You may have already heard from Dawn, as she is our first point of contact from our [email protected] email address.

She is also a keen cartoonist and animator, specialising in stop motion ✏️

Alongside her hard work at Boon, she is also heavily involved in project coordination, video production and run coaching 🏃‍♀️

With a love for all things public art, she enjoys how it can bring joy and whimsy to the everyday!

The Boon team has been out and about again attaching QR codes to our incredible murals! 🤩

This time we tackled the murals at the University of Waikato 🎓

The rest of the QR codes at the UoW will be attached soon.

If you’re out on about on campus scan them and you’ll be linked to our artist directory! Also, feel free to snap a pic and tag us 🤗

Meet Chey, the social media whizz on the Boon Arts team! 🤩

Currently wrapping up her Graduate Diploma in Communication at Wintec, Chey has joined us as an intern. 👩🏻‍🎓

Alongside her studies, Chey manages social media for Kirikiriroa-based comedy production company HaHaHamilton, while also writing and performing her own stand-up comedy! 🎤

With a keen interest in both the arts and digital marketing, she has definitely found her niche! ✨

Keep an eye out for more introductions from the rest of the Boon team coming soon! 👀

✨Incoming Artist Collaboration Spotlight✨

Meet Dreamgirls Collective!

Dream Girls Art Collective is the collaborative, creative mahi of Miriama Grace-Smith, Xoë Hall and Gina Kiel.

Motivating, stimulating and introducing new ways of looking at street art and modern art practices. Their striking work adorns many public and private spaces in Aotearoa, from the streets to gallery walls, across digital and hand painted mediums.

With the intention to express, inspire, to share stories and empower. Together they navigate the dynamics of collaboration with natural intuition and flow, combining their well established individual visual languages to create an entirely new entity that holds it's own uniquely powerful voice.

You can find their incredible mural on the side of the management building at the University of Waikato.

If you're out an about on campus be sure to snap a picture and tag us! 📸

✨Incoming Artist Collaboration Spotlight✨
Meet Flox & SWEATS!

Flox aka Hayley King is Aotearoa’s most recognisable and beloved muralist. Her distinct vibrant murals and art celebrate Aotearoa’s unique flora and fauna.

In this collab she painted with SWEATS aka Pierre Hadlow, an Auckland-based multidisciplinary artist, and we are beyond excited to be showcasing their unique creative fusion on a ‘hero’ wall in Kirikiriroa, the first city of our size to do so.

A little piece of behind-the-scenes knowledge: Flox didn’t use a template for the native-bird imagery in this mural, which is typical in most of her mural work. Due to the size and nature of the mural, she instead painted it freehand! Which we think is pretty impressive considering the size of the wall.

You can find Flox and SWEATS mural on Victoria Street, Hamilton Central.
Check out the talent in person for yourself (and feel free to snap a pic and tag us! 📸)

Thank you to our sponsor Longveld , who helped with gifting us this wall, making this mural posible!

We would like to take a moment to thank one of our sponsors: Thank you, Love the Centre - Hamilton Central! ❤️

Your continued support of our street art walking tours in our city centre helps us bring creativity and community into the heart of Kirikiriroa.

We truly appreciate everything you do for the arts. 🎨

Our Boon Arts team has been out in Hamilton East and the Kirikiriroa CBD attaching QR codes to all of our amazing murals! 🫟

Each code links directly to the artist’s profile on the Boon Arts website. From there, you can learn more about their background and even find other murals they’ve created around the city, with exact locations included.

Next up: the murals at The University of Waikato 🎓

We’ll keep you posted once all the QR codes are installed and ready to go!