Bowtell excited for five-day Benalla Street Art Festival

And that artist list is looking pretty spectacular:

The rebranded, week-long Benalla Street Art Festival will take place from March 21-28.

And Bowtell said he couldn’t wait to meet visitors and locals out and about enjoying the art and the many other events.

“I’m extremely excited, as I didn’t know if I was going to have a wall or not,” Bowtell said.

“I’d missed out on the last Wall to Wall as I was painting some silos over in Colbinabbin.

“So I’m just excited that the whole festival is happening again. And to be included in the line-up is pretty special.”

At this stage Bowtell is sworn to secrecy about which wall he has, and his design is not quite ready to be shared.

One thing he does know is that his mural on the side of the Senior Citizens’ Centre is due to be replaced — one of many walls getting a facelift as part of the festival.

Bowtell said the nature of street art was that, while some works might remain in place for years, they were all temporary pieces.

“It will give the town a bit of a freshen-up and will strengthen that vibe that’s been missing from Benalla.

“A few arty things have gone by the wayside, like a lot of the live music and North East Artisans, for example.

“So hopefully, the street art festival will inspire other events and encourage people to do things that are really positive for Benalla.”

Bowtell said he had already come up with his concept and was in the process of refining it.

“I’m working on one that I’m really excited about. I just need to polish the design,” he said.

“After doing so much commission work, it’s nice to actually get a wall to paint exactly how I want.

“As scary as that might be.

“All I can say is that it will be family-friendly and something a little bit different from me.”

Bowtell said artists being given free rein to come up with their own murals made a street art festival special and different from commissioned murals.

“Basically, I was told that they wanted me to paint, I was given a wall, and I had to come up with the design.

“Something came to me pretty quickly, which was great.”

Bowtell said the week-long format was something he was excited about.

“It does affect the planning and painting in a good way,” he said.

“Obviously, we get way more time to paint.”

“With the three-day festivals, I feel for the artists that are international or coming from interstate.

“They end up really under the pump. As a local, it wouldn’t matter to me if I had to hang around for an extra week to finish up.

“Artists do try and design something that can be done in that time.

“But the five days will be a bit more relaxing, and gives the audience more opportunity to meet artists.

“And hopefully, the local businesses will benefit more, with visitors here for longer.”

Bowtell said audience interaction was one of his favourite parts of a street art festival.

“I really enjoy that part of it,” he said.

“Most of the time, I’m happy to have a chat. And people are aware when you are busy, and they might be stopping you from working.

“Generally, they’re very respectful.

“People enjoy talking about the process, and I think it’s a really good thing that so many people are interested.”

Bowtell said now he was just looking forward to day one of the festival, which was not too far off now.

“The artist line-up is fantastic,” he said.

“There are some really well-known artists and some I didn’t know.

“But when I checked out their work, I was blown away.

“It’s a really good gamut of artists, and each will bring something different to the festival.

“We are creating a tapestry in town, like a patchwork quilt, and we’ve all got our own patch.

“It will all come together to be an amazing addition to Benalla.”

Find out more about the Benalla Street Art Festival in the pages of the Ensign, via www.benallaensign.com.au or on Facebook @Benalla Street Art Festival and on Instagram @benallastreetartfestival.