A new Marc Spijkerbosch artwork is being commissioned for the entrance to Kawerau thanks to the Kawerau Creative Communities fund and Hutec Engineering.

Industrial Symbosis Kawerau has been granted $4800 from Kawerau District Council's Creative Communities scheme for the project.

ISK project manager Su Cammell says the idea for a mural on the Hutec building had been around for a couple of years and Hutec had asked that it be about Kawerau history rather than specific to its business.

She's not sure when the mural will start taking shape.

'The first step is to get the concept design done. It's a very big space, so getting the design right is really important.”

She says they want a design that's not too detailed, so it doesn't distract people from driving.

'We've had approval from [the NZ Transport Agency], because you don't want to be distracting motorists.”

She says it will be good to see geothermal energy woven into the design as it was one of the connecting themes that tied industry to the early history of Kawerau.

'Māori first came here because they could use the geothermal energy to cook and heat and now it has become a significant source of energy for the country. That is one of the connecting themes that we have got.”

Mr Spijkerbosch will be sitting down with Hutec to come up with a concept and there may need to be some consultation with other groups such as local iwi before a design is decided on.

Ms Cammell says further funding will likely be needed for the installation of the mural as it's such a large project.

Creative Communities is an art fund distributed to local councils by Creative New Zealand to assist with art projects.

The council has more than $30,000 of unallocated funds for the latest round of funding.

The minutes for the Creative Communities scheme assessment committee, held in December, were received by the council on Tuesday.

As well as the funds for the mural, another $2075 has been granted to provide an art course specifically focused on the sea and its environment for the people of Kawerau.

The seascapes art course is being run by Jenny Thomas, in conjunction with the Kawerau Arts Society.

Two other applications were denied.

Every Body is a Treasure applied for $4000 for a Kawerau District Visual Poetry Jam and Joanne Black applied for $4421.81 for a beautifying Kawerau project.

These were declined because they didn't meet the criteria or didn't provide enough information.

Committee chairwoman Sela Kingi says they are encouraging those who did not make it through this round of funding to apply for future rounds with help and support to complete their applications.