'You can't deny it': How a resurgence of public art breathes new life into old suburbs

"I just gently picked up its tail and put a hand under its belly," he said, "And it didn't mind at all; it was so relaxed and chill and then I let it go, and it curled up, and we just stood for a second making some solid eye contact.

"I was walking away, like, euphoric. I needed a glass of water and a sit-down."

Lucky's art is scattered about the city. It's sometimes in unassuming corners, like an alley in the CBD, and sometimes emblazoned across walls - but wherever it is, it's arresting.

His style of mixing photo-realistic portraits with dreamy, psychedelic natural landscapes and animals lends his massive public murals an almost magical quality that stops viewers in their tracks.

His work bounces off the surface, brimming with native flowers and animals and speaks to the spaces in which they appear. Still, he is careful about the animals he chooses and likes to draw attention to under-appreciated natives of the local area.

"I'll even pick ones that I feel like people might not love," he said, "I put a red-bellied black snake in on recently, and a lot of people weren't sure about it, but they are so symbolic of Australia. They have had ties to the culture here for thousands of years.

"At the end of the day, I want kids to learn about our native animals and think they are cool."

Lucky's most recent work, on the corner of Roe Street near Maitland Road at Mayfield, is filled with vibrant scenes of local flowers and bird life. He explained that the florals are all referenced from local gardens, and the brahminy kites - a kind of sea eagle - can be seen along the local coastline.

The portrait is of a friend of the artist, the musician Lilly Klein of Hamburg, Germany, who Lucky said had spent time in Newcastle and had an affinity for the suburb.

"In Mayfield, there's this undertone of culture," Lucky said, "I feel like the diversity here is really more on show than even in the CBD, and I think that's really positive."

Lucky - a self-confessed failed art student - painted his first mural at Port Stephens in 2005 and has since put up hundreds of pieces of street art around the world, from Europe to Asia. In 2022, he opened Play State in Newcastle West (since moved to Islington), which supplied paints for artists - particularly street artists - and doubled as a gallery to feature his and other artists' work of a diverse range of styles.

He sees public art as the glue between the pillars of public spaces around the city; it knits places together and creates the space where residents can reclaim the "third space" after home and work.

"Right now is the time when people need to be going to things, but artists need to be working in this area," he said, "Otherwise, it just ends up as a street of servos.

"Art, especially public art, is like the glue between things. I want to go to Coles, but I also want to get a coffee, and it's not bad to walk (when I'm surrounded by art) instead of just parking in the Coles car park and then leaving."

Lucky's most recent work was finished over about 30 visits to the corner on Maitland Road, just in time for the suburb's second Mayfield Art Trail, which returned on the weekend, inviting locals and artists to beautify the neighbourhood. The program was billed as an immersive experience where locals could make their own art or wander the streets following a walkable map to discover murals and street art from local and emerging creators.

Lucky was one among a creative set working on the weekend that included Tinky Sonntag, KEOB, Ruby Rickard Designs, Shan Primrose Art, James Jenkins, Broken Hartist, 085c3n3, Sewersidedream3r and Mini Zine Library.

The Mayfield Business Improvement Association organised the Trail in partnership with the City of Newcastle, Hunter Events Group, Castle Personnel, The Little Festival and UP&UP.

Tim Pfennigwerth has lived in Mayfield West for six years and grew up in the city. He felt like he had seen parts of the city's public life dying over the years as the streets became more isolating, but he was excited to see a resurgence in the communal benefits of public art.

"We've been so busy trying to make everything profit-driven, and all the community spaces are dying," he said, "But we live in a city full of artists - it always has been - and so it's cool to see culture make it back out onto the street where people can enjoy it.

"It knits a community together; it gives us a sense of ownership and pride in our space. People want to come out and enjoy it. It would be cool if more infrastructure could come around to make our city more walkable. My dream would be to see the tram come out here so that these could be more walkable spaces."

For the artist, making spaces more accessible and inviting was just the first step.

"I feel like we vote with our time and our money," Lucky said, "Council will see photos of this and more things like it and think that people need more bins, more park benches. But if it continues to die, then it just becomes servos, and everyone parking underground to make the street look even emptier.

"(We need) a resurgence of small spaces. How cool would it be to have a couple of other small bars pop up that are quirky, and then you got the day and night economy coming back?

As a steady crowd of about a dozen mingled around Lucky's imposing and vivid mural, he made time for everyone even as he put the finishing touches on the work and was sketching out another on a nearby wall.

"I keep saying to people that I can't wait to paint something big," he jokes as the image of Lilly Klein towered over him. "I've been dying for a really big canvas. I'm looking at a guy in Brazil who has done 11-storeys, and I thought, '11-storeys, eh?'.

"I think it's that impact; you can't deny it. If you didn't want to see street art, you would have to have your eyes closed. Art should be popular like that.

"Art is like music; it should be something people have in their lives every day."