Finding a meaningful way to do it isn’t always obvious, but an initiative at two of our centres – in western Sydney and West Auckland respectively – have struck a chord between youth and business and resulted in some genuine street art reflective of the local community and culture. In both instances the centre was able to engage with the youth artist community in their area through a key conduit that helped make the collaboration genuine and productive.

The youth constituents of Westfield Mt Druitt are a core part of the centre’s trade area, and congregate regularly in the centre itself as well as in the large public space - Dawson Mall - directly adjacent to the centre. With the latter in particular often the site of unsolicited graffiti and other street art, Westfield Mt Druitt’s team saw a clear opportunity to connect with the youth and provide them with a legitimate opportunity to present their art in a more large-scale format endorsed by all surrounding stakeholders.

The project involved long-term collaboration between the local council, retailers, police and a local community group The Collab Movement, whose purpose is to foster positive youth engagement. The centre also engaged with a local street art mentor, whose involvement was instrumental in ensuring the participation of local youths. The outcome has improved the ambience of the area surrounding Westfield Mt Druitt with several large scale murals in place around Dawson Mall and a number of shopfront shutters embellished with engaging art.

At Auckland’s Westfield WestCity a similar opportunity was presented when external areas of the centre were regularly covered in graffiti by youths from the local area. Combined with a number of ‘dead’ spaces in the CBD area surrounding Westfield West City, a group of local partners identified a shared common goal of activating the space, improving the ambience of the precinct at large and engaging with the youth in a positive initiative.

The WestCity team linked with the Local Board, Unitec and Kakano – an art-focused youth development program to bring the initiative to life, to create a range of positive outcomes. A number of murals are planned with the first on one of the centre’s exterior walls incorporating elements of Maori and Polynesian culture and reflecting the immediate environment of nearby train services.

Both initiatives are progressive examples of Westfield shopping centres playing meaningful roles in their local communities to the benefit of all stakeholders.