Joel Van Moore is someone who never knew how to slow down. Two years ago at the very first Wonderwalls Port Adelaide in 2017, Joel welcomed his first baby, Violet, into the world MID-FESTIVAL. Flash forward to 2019, he and his wife have just met baby Van Moore number two and he’s in the midst of organising Wonderwalls once again.
With so much to organise, we won’t be seeing the man himself hit the paints this time round, but if you pop into the new Pirate Life Brewery you’ll see his 50m long piece that’s sure to take your breath away.
Returning to Port Adelaide this year as Wonderwalls presents The Big Picture Fest with a slightly new manifesto. So what makes it different to the Wonderwalls of yesteryear?
Well, not the talent, or the impact.
‘We’re going independent this year. Which is amazing. This event is now funded privately thanks to the team at Pirate Life Brewing and LOTS of other local Port Adelaide businesses, chipping in where they can. The Big Picture Fest is my venture to bring incredible artists to transform towns but only bringing a handful, so we can pay each artist a fair rate. In so many festivals around the world there’s such little payment for artists.’
Joining the team for Wonderwalls presents The Big Picture Fest are five international artists:
- Sat One (Germany)
- Peeta (Italy)
- Thufu (AFR)
- Phat One and Lady Diva (NZ)
- AKU 1 (Russia)
As well as acclaimed Aussie artists KAB 101, Scott Rathman, Sarah Boese and 10TKL.
Plus, thanks to an incredibly well-received Expression of Interest, three local artists have also been given the opportunity to have their creativity immortalised on the streets of Port Adelaide. We’re looking forward to seeing what Josh Searson, Dave Court and Jake Holmes do with the paintbrush.
The artists began painting for the festival on Monday with the three-day festival commencing this Friday. There will be an abundance of activity filling the Port streets with (of course) live painting, photography workshops, walking tours, a block party at Mixed Creative and on Saturday the ticketed event A Day on The Cans at the newly opened Pirate Life Brewery; featuring huge international music acts, live street art, a pop up tattoo studio, barbers from Robbie’s Chop Shop, markets and food trucks. It’ll be a Port party to remember.
Our Port is proud to have supported the start-up of Wonderwalls Festival in Port Adelaide and to see it grow not only to be part of the fabrication of what makes up the new Port Adelaide, but also into economic independence, funded by private industry. Part of our model for Port Adelaide is to show the community the possibilities of the area; through demonstration projects such as Wonderwalls we hope to see the private industry thrive in our community. Renewal SA are proud to have supported this event from its infancy and are now stepping aside to let private sector have further opportunities.
So what does Joel hope to see for the future of the festival? Well, it’s no secret that the decorated walls are reaching critical mass within the specific Port Adelaide area. “I’d like to see Wonderwalls grow to Enfield at some stage, open up the distance and create a lasting relationship in the area.” There are also big ideas for development of the style of street art, with day to night projection and bending the possibilities with other forms of street artwork from your typical painting.
Be sure to head down to the Port this weekend to experience the live action that Wonderwalls has to offer, but if you’re busy never fear, the Wonderwalls experience is here to stay in Port Adelaide so you can enjoy it all, or magic snippets of it, on your next visit through the Port.