Hangar's Home by SwiftMantis, 2021

Whanganui Walls is a biennial street art festival which hosts world-leading street artists to create a vibrant open-air gallery for passers-by.

SwiftMantis was inspired by the story of a Whanganui stray Cat, Hangar, who found his home at the local Airport hangar in 2019. The artist goes on to tell the story below:

Although very timid at first, Hangar quickly befriended not only the staff and Pilots but also their resident Cat, Sherman, who was already notorious for sneaking on planes. After showing him the ropes, Sherman has since moved up to Tauranga leaving the entire kingdom in Hangar’s furry paws.

On any given day you can catch him hanging in the hangar, sleeping on the plane wings or the warm engine hoods after they’ve been freshly flown. But it’s not all naps and pats he’s got a real job too, taking care of the mice, rats and rodents from causing any damage, and keeping the nesting birds out of the hangar.

Not even the noise phases him now, “He’s not afraid of anything or anyone…You can start an aircraft up right next to him when he’s sleeping on the taxiway and he doesn’t flinch”, Flight instructor Leroy Johnson said. “He also wanders down the apron and tries to get into the Air Chathams Saab while it’s on layover, and wanders down to the terminal to greet the passengers.”

Photo credit - Mark Brimblecombe