A City Council programme that aims to reduce graffiti vandalism in Christchurch has won a major Creative New Zealand award.

The Christchurch City Council’s Legal Art Programme has won the Community Participation category of the 2002 Creative Places Award.

The programme won praise for its ability to turn the negative experience of graffiti into something positive, for its acceptance by the community and for being an exciting project that other Councils can learn from.

The programme works to reduce graffiti by encouraging young people to take part in legal art activities. In doing so, it aims to promote respect for graffiti artists and their work and reduce the amount of graffiti vandalism.

The Council’s Legal Art Co-ordinator Sharon Williams says the award recognises the commitment of the programme’s coordinators, mentors and graffiti artists who have worked so hard together on legal art projects throughout Christchurch.

“When the young graffiti artists and their supporters are on a project site, they discuss the project with people in the street. They’re engaging each other, asking questions and getting answers. The result is that people feel part of a community; it’s empowering and motivating,” she says.

Since the launch of the programme in 2001, 29 legal art projects have been completed in Christchurch. These have involved more than 150 young people and 50 youth offenders. A number of mentors have also been trained.

The annual Creative Places Award is awarded in seven categories from which an over-all winner is selected. The awards have been running since 1998.