The paintbrushes are down and Coastlands’ power boxes look brand spanking new, thanks to the efforts of several artists in the past few weeks.

Now, it is time to celebrate the fresh art adorning the suburb’s roadsides.

Coastlands resident Kay Montgomery co-ordinated the effort and is hosting a launch event this weekend to celebrate the art, but also the community as a whole.

From 4pm Saturday, Coastlands Beach Reserve will be a lively family friendly hub of music, food trucks and art.

Ms Montgomery urges people to come along with their lawn chairs and beach towels to enjoy the relaxed community event.

Talented musicians such as Andrew Kerry and Dave Stewart will be setting the vibes, while all the best food trucks will be serving tasty dishes Whakatāne knows and loves.

Display boards featuring before, during and after photos of each box will be set up for people to view.

The Enhance Coastlands Art Project saw 19 power boxes painted by artists, including up-and-coming names, school students and art class participants. One more box is due to be completed next week.

Abigail Bakker painted the formerly brown and green box near 9 Ocean View Road.

As a weaver, she drew inspiration from natural materials and chose to celebrate the pīngao plant, which plays a vital role in dune ecosystems.

“It’s all along the dunes in Coastlands, so I thought it would be really fitting for this area – and it’s such a gorgeous yellow that I thought it would be a nice pop of colour on the street.”

This was not Ms Bakker’s first time using a power box as a canvas; last year she painted one on James Street that featured two women weaving in a harakeke bush.

“It’s an ongoing theme of nature and celebrating material fibres.”

She said she was excited to take the opportunity to paint another power box when she saw Ms Montgomery’s call for expressions of interest.

Bakker employed her partner’s help to prepare the power box to be painted. It involved a lot of cleaning and priming before she could get to the fun part of painting.

“Life’s too short not to do fun paintings.

“I just wanted to bring some joy to this space.”

The painted boxes are scattered around streets throughout Coastlands.