On average 97% of respondents agreed they wanted more large scale  public art in their community.  Additionally, when travelling away Arts and Culture experiences rank second only to natural attractions and is more popular than food venues and sporting facilities.  With a maximum margin of error of 2.7%, these figures are hard to argue with!

IT'S WHAT PEOPLE WANT!

THE BENEFITS OF ORIGINAL ART

Do consumers prefer venues with original art?  In short, yes!  When asked in general 86% of rural locals agreed that they preferred original art over conventional commercial appearance.  Non-locals (or potential tourists) scored even higher with 93% in agreement.    Murals can often be an excellent point of difference for a business because of its ability to impress, connect and communicate with an audience instantly and instinctively, and is thus an effective way to better control first impressions.

MURALS I How effective are they?

MURALS I Cultural Relevance

UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT

The mural is located in a rural town in North Queensland.  The inner township is home to approximately 11,000 residents with the larger community extending to approximately 21,000 people.  The Shire is 53,457 square kilometers which equates to a population density of just 0.4 persons per square kilometer.  The Council  deamalgamated from a larger Council in the last 4 years and recently won an award for economic sustainability despite the additional costs of deamalgamation, low rate-paying base, and higher than usual infrastructure costs. Understandably, the Arts portfolio has not been front and centre in Council priorities.  The portfolio has received some attention during October, 2017, when the Council hosted a one day Arts Festival and invested in a single mural.  This was after the establishment of the Mareeba Centre Historical Mural that was spear-headed by the private sector.  The Historical Mural is the largest single public art piece in the township to date.  

The mural received national recognition in 2016 when it won a Gold Award for Category 4: Murals at the bi-annual ASGA Awards Night.

The information collected in the survey is based on the above specifics and may not be comparable outside a rural context with similar conditions. It is our experience that, while rural communities have no shortage of artistic talent, the value given to Art and artists may be lower than their metropolitan counterparts, with community leaders and members likely to be generally more reactive rather than pro-active in their responses.  Of the survey respondents, 75% identified as local and 25% identified as non-local (mostly from metropolitan origin).

"Respondents were asked how likely they were to recommend the mural to family or friends if they were visiting Mareeba.  Respondents could choose  a number from 0 to 10... with 0 meaning not likely at all, and 10 meaning extremely likely.

These scores can be used to calculate a Net Promoter Score (NPS). NPS measures loyalty between the organisation and its audience.  People giving a score of 9 or 10 are considered Promoters [of the organisation].  Detractors are those who respond with a score of 0 to 6.  Scores 7 and 8 are Passives...

The chart shows the proportion of respondents that would and would not recommend the mural..."

BUILDING LOYALTY & CUSTOMER-ORIENTATED PROMOTION

CULTURE COUNTS REPORT

"{The] survey contained 6 'dimension' questions, asking the public about their experience of the mural. These artistic quality dimensions have been developed with the [Australian] arts sector to measure the impact and value of art and culture.

AUTHENTICITY

It reflects the unique character of the area and its people.

Its insights into the past gave me a perspective on today's world.

PERSPECTIVE

SOCIAL IDENTITY

Its insights into the past gave me a perspective on today's world.

It made me feel connected to a shared history / culture.

HERITAGE

PRIDE

It strengthened my cultural pride.

The visual beauty of this place makes me enjoy spending time here.

NOTE: The wording of these questions are intentionally "general" in nature so as to allow a variety of creative projects to measure against them, thus providing a common denominator to effectively compare and contrast different artistic projects .

ATTRACTIVE FEATURES

SIX CULTURAL DOMAINS MEASURED

CULTURE COUNTS REPORT

"Warril Creative used Culture Counts to survey people visiting a 70 square metre historic mural painted on the wall of the Mareeba Centre.  265 members of the public and 5 peers were surveyed to find out what they thought of the mural,  The Culture Counts digital survey aims to capture responses via various methods at minimal marginal cost.  Achieving larger samples [as above]  enables organisations to be confident that the average scores of the survey group are representative of the total audience.

[This chart] shows the margin of error for each dimension from the sample."

HOW RELIABLE IS THE DATA?

CULTURE COUNTS REPORT

One mural is a destination within a community.  Many murals make the community a destination.  ‍ Whether it be simply through a collection of complimentary values among local entrepreneurs, or by considered council-led approach, it is always benefitial to have more than one mural spread throughout a community.  In fact the more the better.  As indicated, approximately 97% of respondents agreed that they would be interested in other locations with similar content. The knock on effects for neighbouring businesses or townships that have all invested in murals is obvious.  

Note also that, more than sporting venues or food orientated activities, Arts and Cuture events are one of the most sought after recreational activities for travellers, second only to natural attractions.  Murals, as part of any town beautification strategy, play an important part in developing a destination for tourists.

POWER IN NUMBERS

REPEAT / INCREASED FOOT TRAFFIC    & ORGANIC ADVERTISING

There are two ways to paint a mural pending specifics and context of each job. One way is to paint onto removable substrate and relocate them to the intended position. This way allows for more overall efficiency as it gives the artist more control over the environment and better access to specialist equipment.

The other way is to paint onsite, as is the case with the Mareeba Centre Historical Mural.    Generally this is a more time consuming approach and can slow an artist down between 10 and 50% pending conditions; however, the benefits may outstrip the inconveniences when considering foot traffic and organic online and verbal advertising.  As shown in the graphs, 70% of locals revisited the site of the mural to seek out any new art as it developed (to the benefit of the commercial client and the client's tenants).  Of those who only viewed it online, 85% indicated they would seek the venue out because of the mural if they were to visit the area.

Over 70% of respondents told at least one other person about it and 20% shared the mural via online social media platforms.

The success of any art piece is largely dependant on context and what works for one may not work for another.  What is clear from the survey is that art that is inconsiderate, boring, marginalising or of poor quality may not be the best approach if a broad appeal is required.  According to respondents the Mareeba Centre Historical Murals' three most effective attributes are the high quality of the painting, its proven ability to engage the viewer, and how enjoyable the experience is.  ‍‍High scores in these three areas demonstrate how integral they can be in developing large scale art assets that effectively contribute to individual feelings of connectedness within communities and the obvious commercial benefits that murals can offer.  In our opinion, none of this is possible without a considered approach and a mode of development that allows the mural to evolve as community responds.  But ultimately, a client that can accommodate this process and is willing to invest in the required artist-driven research is what can ultimately make  or break it!

SO WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE MURAL?

As is evident in the charts, this mural had a high-scoring broad appeal among all age cohorts. There was also very little difference in opinion between male and female, although females did tend to score higher.

Given the growing trend in experienced-based tourism (especially among 20 to 25  year olds) a high score in all six of these cultural domains is to the benefit of the commercial client as much as it is to the local community.  As with many public art projects, this mural maintained an organic process throughout with the artists responding in turn to the feedback and anecdotes incidentally offered by the public.  Much of the detail is a testimony to their input and is absent in the original design.   The anecdotal evidence of consumer engagement is vindicated by these high scores, with examples of engagement ranging from recounts of premonitions prior to local disasters, newspaper clippings being left onsite for the artists, and demonstrations on how to tie tobacco leaves using danger tape and bollards!

Interestingly, the mural scored almost as high among those identifying as non-local.  Clearly the murals was inclusive and culturally sensitive enough to allow non-local respondents to make relevant connections to content in a meaningful way so as to appreciate a story that was not necessarily their own.  As an educational tool. the mural is proven to successfully promote all six cultural domains among viewers, both local and abroad.

BROAD CULTURAL APPEAL

CULTURE COUNTS REPORT

STRONG IMPACT ON LOCAL COMMUNITY

"The majority of people strongly agreed with all six dimensions, with high average scores above 80% received for five of the six dimensions.  Over 90% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the mural reflects the culture and identity of its community (Social Identity), reflects the unique character of the area (Authenticity), makes people enjoy spending time in the area (Attractive Features), and helped them to feel connected to a shared history/cutlure (Heritage).

Pride received the lowest  average score (79%), indicating that while many respondents agree that it strengthened their cultural pride, 18% were neutral or disagreed.  13% of respondents were also neutral or disagreed that the mural's insights into the past gave them a new perspective of today's world.  The high levels of agreement recorded across all dimensions demonstrate the strong impact of the mural on the local community, and it's ability to capture and reflect Mareeba's identity, heritage and character".