Robert Ewing / Ewing Arts

The StreetNet Murray Urban Arts Project

2011-09-30T19:44:00.008+08:00

Thanks, Jess Vati Youth Support Worker from StreetNet - George Street Hub - Pinjarra, for the invitation to be involved as an artist/mentor in this exciting and very rewarding project.

(L to R) Jess, Won Ling, Jahna, Emily, Denise, Kaya, Catlin, Katelyn, Zoe and Katie

Over an 10 week period, commencing 10th May, a series of Youth Art design and painting workshops were held at the George Street Hub of StreetNet. Each Tuesday afternoon from 3:30 pm till 6:00pm a group of enthusiastic and highly talented young people 12-15 years came together to create some amazing artworks and pick-up some new art making skills along the way.

In the Beginning........................................aah yes! that's right, start at the beginning and finish at the end....................

OK, participants were introduced to a range of urban and traditional art materials including spray paint, marker pens and acrylic paint with the aim to design and paint an artwork of their choice on a piece of 900mm X 600mm signboard. The only criteria was the designs would need to be positive and no advertising logos.................the rest was up to the artists.

Participants working on their designs

The workshop environment was established to encourage the creative process and provide stimulus for the artists. During each workshop a different Urban/Graffiti/Street Art film was shown on a laptop (set up at the end of the tables) with the movie soundtracks providing an interesting mix of music.

The movies shown included:

Graffiti Instincts
Alterego - A worldwide Documentary about Graffiti writing
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Style Wars
Basquiat -1996
Jean Michael Basquiat - The Radiant Child

and just to mix it up a little .........Who the #@*! is Jackson Pollock

The movies also provided a good point of release and inspiration to design, draw and paint. They also helped to instigate conversation about urban/street and graffiti art. The films provided an excellent reference to style, attitude and place. The Basquiat films were interesting especially in light of one being a documentary with real characters, whilst the other involved actors.

The workshop process was divided into distinct stages. With the completion of each stage the participants were able to better understand the value of developing a disciplined approach to their art making. The process also highlighted the importance of drawing as the foundation of the creative process. Firstly, each person developed a pencil image on A4 size paper, then introduced color and finally scaled up their image onto paper of an approximate size to the signboard. This allowed the artists to explore greater detail, work out design issues and to better access what worked and didn't in their artworks before committing to paint. Once the initial design and development stage was completed the artists translated their colour scheme in spray paints and used a range of techniques for the background of their piece, this included feathered spray edging, flat coverage, thin line work, cut stencil, found object stencil and spray splatter.

More traditional painting techniques were subsequently layered over the top of the spray base using acrylic paints and then detail markings were applied with marker pens.

Emily busy on her artwork

Katelyn working on her piece

Katie putting some paint down

Kaya doing some pen work

Won Ling painting

Towards the end of the program Jess organised a trip to the Perth metro area to view some urban art pieces. The day was a great opportunity for the young people to see some fantastic examples of commissioned pieces. It also highlighted the real potential of their art to develop into a source of income.

Jahna giving his approval to a top piece at Headquarters Leederville - Perth

The final images produced by the artists in the program were varied and exciting, with each displaying a unique style. The adage ........the more you exhibit your work the more familiar it becomes and once that happens more people accept it and then it becomes desirable and then people buy it................. hmmmm so that's what happens in the artworld? Yep, the artist sets the agenda by what they produce and by staying consistent and becoming familiar. Oh yeah! a little bit of luck also helps.

Catlin

Emily

Katelyn

Katie

Kaya

Won Ling

Zoe

Jahna

The Murray Urban Arts Project was very successful. At the conclusion of the program we all had pizzas and were able to talk about and assess the program. Participants were asked where they wanted to go next in terms of their art and being involved in future activities. All participants were very keen and expressed their desire to continue to be involved. There was strong interest for a future project that took their involvement and artistic skills to another level. Over the 10 weeks all participants had come to know one another and to appreciate the skills and contribution each had to offer. It seemed logical that they consider a different type of painting project, one that allowed them to combine their artistic skills by working in collaboration. A larger format mural was regarded as an excellent way to achieve their ambition. This would allow the artists to explore the use of signboard as mural panels. The increased size would provide an ideal opportunity to develop a theme and to expand their use of paint and marker pens with greater detail.

In response Jess began making enquiries regarding funding opportunities and partnerships. There is a possibility of attracting ALCOA World Alumina and Country Arts WA funding for an ongoing project, however this time the participants will be in full control of how the project is developed and delivered. In effect they will determine the scope of the project and what they want to achieve. They would also help to make the funding applications. Jess and myself will be there to guide them through the process. I hope it happens........ It promises to be an exciting time ahead.

This project has been proudly supported by:

StreetNet

Peel Community Development Group

The Office of Crime Prevention

PS Jess is in the process of planning an exhibition of the artworks at the local Alcoa Murray Library.

Living Histories project completion and summary

2011-09-28T15:51:00.010+08:00

The Living Histories Project 2010/11

Wow, the project is completed. This Blog post is a summary of what happened during the project. As a point of interest I've posted the response to the funding acquittal questions required by Community Arts Network WA in an effort to demonstrate the scope of project achievement. Some of the photos have been posted previously.

Living Histories - A Celebration of Culture

Describe the project or activity that was undertaken. When did it take place and where?

The Living Histories Serpentine Heritage and Culture Trail project was first discussed in 2008, over 2 1/2 half years ago, and was initially developed in consultation with Ewing Arts and the Serpentine Historical Society. The original intent of the project was primarily focused upon the Serpentine cemetery, however after consultation, it was agreed that the intent would need to be expanded in order to successfully attract the necessary funding required to realise the project. This was an important consideration early in the development of the project, and highlighted two factors, firstly any expansion of the project would need to be achievable within the time and resource constraints of the Historical Society, and secondly, a pragmatic project structure would need to be formulated that provided multiple opportunities for community members of Serpentine to be involved in any or all aspects of the project.

These key factors combined to establish a working foundation from which the project could be further developed and in careful consideration and recognition of these factors the scope of the project was established

The project employed two lead artists (Gloria Kearing and Robert Ewing) as cross cultural community development professionals and Karrie–Anne Kearing Salmon (indigenous cultural advisor) to facilitate comprehensive consultation and participation with community members from the regional town of Serpentine in the design, development and making of the Serpentine Heritage and Culture Trail/public artworks.

Karrie–Anne in collaboration with the Council of Traditional Land Owners and the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, assisted the project with information of Aboriginal cultural value.

Research was undertaken to confirm Nyungar cultural links to the locality of Serpentine with particular emphasis upon the Serpentine Cemetery. The cemetery contains a number of very old indigenous and non-indigenous grave sites. In respect to other sites of traditional Nyungar cultural importance, several localities were confirmed within the wider area of the Serpentine district; the Serpentine River being of particular importance due to its’ close proximity to the cemetery and town of Serpentine.

The historical Serpentine cemetery contains a number of very old indigenous and non-indigenous grave sites; it has also been designated as "Bush Forever site 371" in recognition of its remnant vegetation and diverse indigenous flora. The cemetery was utilised as the catalyst to underpin community connectedness with the project and to provide the foundation and starting point for a broader community enquiry into the Serpentine cultural identity. Community enquiry was centred within a cross cultural context and explored the cultural and historical significance of the cemetery and other Serpentine locations.

Project participation was promoted to all Serpentine community members through the utilisation of a local newspaper article about the project that included a photo of Serpentine Primary School students participating in a design workshop, and a schedule depicting community workshop times, venues and dates. A project flyer was also posted in the windows of several local business including the Serpentine General Store, The Rural Fringe Hairdressers and Opportunity/Bric-a-Brac Store situated in Wellard St, the main street of town.

Particular emphasis was placed upon engaging our local youth in an extensive series of free design, development and art making workshops over a 6 month period, commencing mid October 2010. The workshops were conducted at the Serpentine CWA Hall, Serpentine PCYC building and Serpentine Primary School.

Community consultation, design and development:

An extensive series of community consultation workshops commenced in September 2010 and was completed over a 6 month period. The design and development workshops sought to engage the participation of past and present Serpentine community members, including youth from Serpentine PCYC and all year 1 -7 students of Serpentine Primary School.

An informal and verbal approach was utilised by the facilitators during the workshop process with participants asked to respond to the following questions:

Do you have deceased family /friends residing at the cemetery?

Do you regard the cemetery as a special place?

What type of artwork materials do you think best suit the cemetery locality?

What are special qualities of Serpentine and its’ environs?

What should the artwork content be?

Gloria showing Year 1 student some bush medicines and tuckers found in the vicinity of the cemetery

To assist the students in better understanding the environmental values of the cemetery Gloria presented examples of a number of traditional Aboriginal bush medicines and tuckers growing within the Serpentine Cemetery and town environs and explained their uses. The plants included Bourn – a slender and sometimes tall (above 1mt) bulbous plant with a stem similar to an orchid. The plant is believed to contain anti-cancer qualities and has been traditionally used in the treatment of body and stomach pain. Students were also shown a live Bardi grub and learnt how to identify them in their habitat.

Lilly, Umm....................that smells like Eucalyptus

Cameron, Hmm..........I think you are right!

Wow .............a bush fig flower.

A short film titled “Karla” (meaning fire in the Nyungar language) was then shown to the students. The film served to highlight traditional Nyungar culture and the cross cultural importance of the cemetery. Several students expressed they have family and relatives whose deceased remains now reside in the cemetery, their sentiments reinforced the sacred nature and importance of the cemetery.

Orleans busy at work on her design

Jessica and Chelsea, working together on their designs

Bryce and Liam, Taking time out for a photo opportunity

Rachael and Kate busy translating their great ideas to paper

Taylah and Jesse

George and Caleb

Justine and Jessika

Students were paired-up and given the challenge of incorporating their designs onto a single tile. This created a creative challenge with some students choosing to make clear divisions of the tile and restricted their designs to within these defined areas. Others chose a more organic approach and integrated their images together, often forming new and exciting compositions.

Austin and Matt

Brooke and Bree

Carmeron and Stirling

Serpentine PCYC Workshops

During the week preceding Mark Warner (PCYC President) had spent some time informing all interested youth about the project, building up interest and enthusiasm, and when we arrived for the first workshop everyone was quite excited and eager to be involved.

After our initial introduction to the project, two entertaining and highly dramatic short films were presented that featured traditional and contemporary local Nyungar stories. The films provided participants with new knowledge, helping them to consider the project within a cross cultural context and to better appreciate Nyungar cultural connections to the region.

TJ, Alex and Clark discussing this thing called art making

CWA HALL Workshops

The CWA Hall workshops were completed and provided an excellent opportunity to meet community members and listen to their stories. Whilst the design and making of artworks remained the primary focus of the workshops, all were encouraged to share their knowledge and stories of Serpentine.

It was inevitable that many stories where to evoke nostalgic memories of a town and time that seemed less urgent and more relaxed than it appears today. Whilst some stories told were whimsical others served as a poignant and timely reminder of the need to consider the sensitivities of the wider community in the design and making of the artworks.

Workshops participants were introduced to the process of hand painting bisque fired ceramic tiles with a selection of under-glazes and many wonderful images were produced. The collective local knowledge, history and advice demonstrated by the participants was tremendous and provided an exceptional resource base for artwork content.

Dawn, Trevor, Myra and Mark painting ceramic tiles with under glazes under the watchful eye of Gloria

The consultative process generated much discussion with community members. Primary concerns included the need for the artwork to be subtle and expressive of cultural identity, history and the natural environment. Other considerations included the visual impact and function of the artworks within the cemetery environment? What was the role or purpose of the artworks? How were they to reflect the intrinsic qualities of the location and echo the sensitivities of the community? All these aspects were carefully considered within the context of how they could be integrated in contemporary artwork best suited to the area.

The community workshops generated the source material for the design and making of the public artworks, celebrating indigenous and non-indigenous historical and cultural values.

Athol, Dawn,Gloria, Trevor, Don and Strelley

Was your project able to express your local culture and identity? How was this demonstrated?

Yes, the project successfully expressed local culture and identity. This was achieved through the community consultative process, whereby community members determined the content, location and purpose of the artworks. An important aspect of the community workshops was the exploration of identified sites and their place within the contemporary community conscience. The community workshops explored and highlighted the interconnectedness of cultural diversity within the community and its contribution to the development of the town of Serpentine. Oral histories of community members were translated and integrated into celebratory community artworks. Workshop participants explored how the identified elements of cultural and historical significance could be incorporated into artworks and how those artworks would function in an interpretive context.

Mark painting a tile

Over 100 ceramic hand-painted tiles were produced by community members. The hand-painted tiles are to be incorporated into the Eastern and Western ends of the South facing area of the Niche Wall. Additionally, there is potential to incorporate the tiles into existing sites including interpretive plaques within the town environs.

The North facing aspect of the Niche Wall was regarded as the ideal place for the installation of artworks. Robust, durable and minimal maintenance are regarded as essential with “Corten” Steel being the preferred material due to its Patina colouring, strength and durability. The artworks are fixed flush with the wall to ensure minimal maintenance is required.

The overwhelming consensus of community members stated “Pre and Post Settlement” as the preferred theme, with the central Niche Wall gateway being the delineating point. Pre-settlement to the East and post-settlement to the West. Text was also considered an important element to be incorporated into the artworks. The preferred source of text was identified as local poetry and prose, together with selected phrases from the gravestones within the cemetery. The text was carefully integrated into floral artworks and placed on either side of the Niche Wall gateway entrance.

Images in keeping with the theme and of a realistic quality were the preferred content. Pre Settlement content to include images of Natural Flora and Fauna with specific emphasis upon species found in the locality of the Cemetery. Identified species included, Blue Leschenaultia, Flowering Red Gums, Red and White Tailed Black Cockatoos and Bob Tailed Goannas. There was strong support for the inclusion of a natural scene depicting the fresh water pools of the Serpentine Falls. Post Settlement content to include images of introduced flora and fauna including the Rose and farming animals with specific emphasis upon the Dairy Cow, Horse and beef cattle. The inclusion of a farming scene depicting early buildings, citrus orchards, dairy farming and timber cutting (pit saw scene).

Project lead artist Rob Ewing had the pleasure of meeting Mrs Midge Richardson of Lowlands Farm - Serpentine and was shown early images of local pit sawing activity, told of pit locations along the Serpentine that can still be found today and shown an incredible selection of early farming tools and equipment including several pit saw blades.

Subtle contemporary Nyungar design was carefully incorporated into certain elements, adding a refined sensibility, nuance and appeal to the artwork. All these aspects were considered and artwork designs were developed and presented to the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale Cemetery committee, Serpentine Historical Society membership and the project steering committee for comment and endorsement.

The project steering committee included

Mrs Myra Baldwin – Serpentine resident and Secretary of the Serpentine Historical Society Inc,

Ms Julie Sansom - Community Development Officer - Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale,

Mr Mark Warner - President, Serpentine PCYC,

Alex Warner - Youth representative, Serpentine PCYC

Mr Athol Wigg - Serpentine resident and representative of the Serpentine Historical Society Inc,

Mr Trevor Senior - Serpentine resident and President of the Serpentine Historical Society Inc,

Mrs Karrie-Anne Kearing – Indigenous Cultural Advisor

Was your project able to support one or all of the values of respect, social justice, creativity and resilience? How was this demonstrated?

Yes, the project supported the values of respect, creativity and resilience. Project participants reflected the wider community of Serpentine, including young primary school children, youth, and seniors.

Each community member contribution whether it be a hand painted ceramic tile or an idea for inclusion as artwork content added to the scope and integrity of the project. All contributions were encouraged and considered equally and without prejudice. The final artworks successfully reflect the input of community members.

Artists Gloria Kearing and Robert Ewing

Did your project achieve its aims and / or what you set out to do?

Yes, we achieved what we set to do. The installed artworks on the Serpentine Cemetery Niche wall have successfully established a foundation for an on-going design and art making process. They add significantly to the amenity of the cemetery by combining visual appeal with cultural and historical recognition.

Did your project encounter any issues or produce outcomes that were unforeseen?

Whilst the Niche wall artworks are very successful, they also present a unique problem and opportunity as they are in jeopardy of being isolated and regarded as ad-hoc without the enhancement of further artworks.

This was a major consideration throughout the project and generated much community discussion. Although complementary artworks were outside the scope of the original project budget, they were deemed to be an essential requirement for achieving an overall aesthetic integration with the Serpentine environment.

It was especially important given the opportunities such sculptural installations provide in the expression of theme and reoccurring motif. It is important that the Cemetery Niche Wall artworks do not become isolated, but rather be unified through the creative placement of other key artworks at identified locations within the cemetery and Serpentine environs. Complementary artworks present an exceptional opportunity for the lead artists and community members to collaborate in a deeper exploration of content and aesthetic, as they seek to expand the scope of interpretive theme and reoccurring motif through historical and cultural narrative. It also provides the opportunity to capture the momentum and interest that has been generated within the community and to utilise that enthusiasm to create more pervasive creative outcomes.

TK (Theo Kearing) playing didge at the project celebration

There is overwhelming community support for complementary artworks. Their realisation of requires the securing of additional funding that would provide the resources for their design and making. These artworks would be pivotal in bringing community aspiration for multiple interrelated artworks to fruition. Complementary artworks would ensure the initial Living Histories artworks do not remain isolated or regarded as ad-hoc, but function rather as important components in a larger, integrated community initiative that provides a cohesive and successfully achieved conclusion.

Who was involved in your project?

Who were the communities?

The Rural community of Serpentine in the Peel region

How many people took part?

Approximately 230

Who coordinated the project?

Robert Ewing

Who provided the artistic and cultural development skills?

Gloria Kearing and Robert Ewing

How did you promote your project to your participants? Have you got any documentation? Please provide visual evidence (photos/dvd) of the process and outcomes if available.

The project was promoted through:

The use of local Examiner newspaper (community interest article)
An outline of the project and workshop schedule was included in the Serpentine Primary School newsletter
Project flyers were posted in the front windows of local businesses
Photographs were taken of participants throughout the duration of the project, depicting their involvement in all aspects of the project
A project WWW Blog was established and maintained throughout the duration of the project. Please refer to

http://www.robewing.blogspot.com/

How have you evaluated this project? What did you find out?

The scope of local participation was deemed to be the benchmark factor in determining the success of the project. Throughout the community workshop aspect of the project an informal process of evaluation was utilised, whereby participants were asked their views on the project, what we hoped to achieve and their enthusiasm for participation.

The result has been a great success with many productive workshops and a solid number of participants benefiting through their involvement in all aspects of the project.

The response and enthusiasm from community workshop participants was unexpected, with so many ideas, stories and information being shared it became obvious that not all could be achieved within the original scope of the project. General consensus agreed that completing artworks of excellence was the primary focus of the project and in recognition a strategy was formulated that would allow for the making of artworks that could be achieved within the original project budget and time frame.

All agreed that it was more desirable to achieve fewer artworks of excellence rather than spreading the project budget too thinly by trying to achieve too much. A scale of priority was established based upon the viewing potential and cultural prominence of various key locations.

The success of the project is best summed up by the comments of community members at the celebration of the artwork installation ………………they look wonderful………………I thought they would be bigger, but now looking at them they are just right, subtle……… Yes, they look good……………….it was a long time since we first talked about these artworks, it’s very good to see them finally here……….

Do you think any of your anticipated short term goals were achieved? How has the project helped progress toward anticipated long term goals?

The project successfully achieved the short term goal of engaging local community members in the design, development and making of the artworks. The project uncovered several community members that are keen to be involved in any future developments of the project. The discovery of local artistic talent and creative skills is an exciting outcome and will add significant value to the realisation of complementary artworks. These are short term outcomes that have the potential to generate important long term benefits.

Due to the limited scope of the cemetery site for expansion, it will have reached its capacity within the foreseeable future. A replacement site has already been identified and with the passing of time the artworks will become intrinsically linked with the cemetery within an historical context.

Whenever and how long that process takes, there remains the fact that the artworks will always continue to function as a reflection of community sensitivities. Remaining as lasting expressions of community cultural identity, heritage and cultural values. They will continue to be a positive reminder of the creative role we all have to play in the expression of our community.

Artists Rob Ewing and Gloria Kearing posing for a photo op!

What next?

The Serpentine Historical Society has been successful in gaining Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale Locality funding support for a second stage of the project. Additional funding applications have been made to Community Arts Network WA, Country Arts WA, Department of Culture and the Arts and Lotterywest seeking support for Stage 2. The initial Living Histories project has generated a lot of interest and highlighted what can be achieved with continued funding support. Success in the applications for funding Stage 2 will allow for the full scope of community ambition to be achieved. The project is planned to commence January 2012 and end late July 2012. I'll post the progress as it happens..................watch this space!

The Living Histories Project 2010/11 is a community initiative of the Serpentine Historical Society Inc and made possible by funding support from:

The Department of Culture and the Arts

Community Arts Network WA

Country Arts WA

Lotterywest

and community support from the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale, Serpentine PCYC, Serpentine Primary School and the Serpentine CWA .

The Cemetery Wall

2011-03-27T16:53:00.000+08:00

Image shows southern aspect of the Niche Wall with daylight visible through a crack from top to bottom.

Since the last update, I’ve made two presentations to the Serpentine Jarrahdale Shire. Firstly to the Serpentine Cemetery Committee at which time I outlined the visual and structural condition of the Niche Wall. The presentation to the Serpentine Cemetery committee was very successful. A large part of the discussions centred upon the condition of the Niche Wall (both North and South facets). The following photos depict 2 major cracks in the wall, daylight is clearly visible through the crack located on the eastern section of the wall.

Northern Aspect of same wall section

Cracked from top to bottom

The crack located on the western section of the wall has had some rudimentary repair.

Efflorescence is very visible and pervasive over the entire wall surface, it could be cleaned with minimum cost. The wall surface would however need to be sealed to reduce the likelihood of the problem returning and this would also add to the general appeal of the wall.

The need to define an entrance pathway into the cemetery was also discussed, the following photos show the informal nature of multiple trodden pathways through the remnant vegetation directly adjacent to the southern aspect of the Niche Wall.

Looking South through the gate

Above photo depicts the main informal path.

Other paths to the left and right of the photo show that pedestrian traffic through the area of remnant vegetation is ad hoc at best and if let to continue will result in significant damage to the vegetated area. Options for formalising a single pathway suitable for disability access and establishing some protection of the remnant vegetation that is being adversely impacted by pedestrian traffic was also discussed. Fencing options were also considered as a means of containing the spread of bush mulch adjacent to the Niche Wall.

Vanessa Slater, Natural Reserves Coordinator, Serpentine Jarrahdale Shire is very supportive and acknowledged the need for urgency in finding solutions to these concerns. Secondly, a similar presentation was made to the Shire Council and their endorsement was sought for the commencement of repair work to the Niche Wall. Unfortunately, there were insufficient councillors present resulting in the need for a business case to be presented by Vanessa. I’ll assist Vanessa with a list of repair items to be carried out and a maintenance schedule for the installed artworks within the cemetery environs. My understanding is that due process will be followed and that repair work will commence albeit at a later date. Vanessa is progressing these issues through the appropriate SJ Shire channels to have the wall repaired and rejuvenated. Once this has been achieved the wall will be suitable for the installation of artworks.

Artwork concepts were also presented and elaborated upon and I’m pleased to say the artwork concepts have been endorsed by the Cemetery committee, Serpentine Historical Society and project steering committee.

The overwhelming consensus of community members stated “Pre and Post Settlement” as the preferred theme, with the central Niche Wall gateway being the delineating point. Pre Settlement to the East and Post Settlement to the West. Text was also considered an important element to be incorporated into the artworks. The preferred source of text was identified as local poetry and prose, together with carefully selected phrases from the gravestones within the cemetery. The text is to be carefully integrated into floral artworks and placed on either side of the Niche Wall gateway entrance. There was much discussion on the design of metal crosses and how they might be fixed flush to the wall within the small passageway of the gateway entry area. The installed artworks will need to be intimate and remain discreet in appearance.

The North facing aspect of the Niche Wall was regarded as the ideal place for the installation of artworks. Robust, durable and minimal maintenance are regarded as essential with Corten Steel being the preferred material due to its Patina colouring, strength and durability. The artworks are to be fixed flush with the wall to ensure minimal maintenance is required.

Over 100 ceramic hand painted tiles were produced by community members. The hand painted tiles are to be incorporated into the Eastern and Western ends of the South facing area of the Niche Wall. Additionally, there is potential to incorporate the tiles into existing sites including interpretive plaques within the town environs.

Images in keeping with the theme and of a realistic quality were the preferred content. Pre Settlement content to include images of Natural Flora and Fauna with specific emphasis upon species found in the locality of the Cemetery. Identified species included, Blue Leschenaultia, Flowering Red Gums, Red and White Tailed Black Cockatoos and Bob Tailed Goannas. There was strong support for the inclusion of a natural scene depicting the fresh water pools of the the Serpentine Falls. Post Settlement content to include images of introduced flora and fauna including the Rose and farming animals with specific emphasis upon the Dairy Cow, Horse and beef cattle. There was strong support for the inclusion of a farming scene depicting early buildings, citrus orchards, dairy farming and timber cutting (pit saw scene). I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs Midge Richardson and was shown early images of local pit sawing activity, told of pit locations along the Serpentine that can still be found today and shown an incredible selection of early farming tools and equipment including several pit saw blades.

Subtle contemporary Nyungar designs will be carefully incorporated into certain elements, adding a refined sensibility, nuance and appeal to the artwork.

There is overwhelming community support for secondary artworks within the cemetery grounds as a means of consolidating the initial appeal of the cemetery entrance and helping to maintain the respectful and sacred nature of the locality. This included the placement of two vertical Gothic arched screens, depicting the image of angels. The preferred appearance is that they be made of the same material as the Niche Wall artworks and evoke a wrought Iron quality.

Those councillors present whole heartedly endorsed the artwork concept and were very supportive in finding pathways to allow the project to be fully realised. An artwork concept presentation was made to members of the Serpentine Historical Society on Monday evening 7^th of March, with all members giving their full support for the artwork concept. Detailed artwork drawings will now be developed and presented to the Serpentine Historical Society on the Monday 4^th April. Following approval by the Society the drawings will be forwarded to Project Steering Committee members and Serpentine Shire Council.

The moment we have the OK, artmaking will commence.

Kingfisher Skate Park art project

2011-03-07T15:24:00.001+08:00

Kingfisher Skate Park art project - 2011

Members of the Nth Yunderup Community Association and project participants.

The project was completed over a three week period in 2011, from 10th till 29th January.

Week One and Two: involved an extensive series of workshops conducted at the local CWA Hall situated on Culeenup Road, Nth Yunderup. The CWA Hall provided an easy access and ideal venue for the design and art panel painting workshops. The workshops were open to all interested youth ranging in age from 8 to 23 years and all materials were supplied at no cost.

Initially, all participants were introduced to the intent of the project and encouraged to develop an image that was an expression of their own style. However there were two stipulations:

1) Keep it positive,

2) No advertising images! or logos!…………………..the rest was left up to the individual artists.

These design parameters allowed for enormous flexibility and scope in the development of imagery. Additionally, each artist was required to follow a design - art making pathway based upon the completion of three distinct stages, with each subsequent stage relying upon the completion of the preceding.

Workshop participants

The design process incorporated three stages, firstly, each artist was encouraged to develop an A4 pencil image. Secondly, the participants were required to introduce colour, with the final design stage involving the up scaling of their image to A2 size on high quality drawing paper. All participants were encouraged to explore a variety of materials including, graphite pencils of various grades, Derwent Designer coloured pencils and Conte Pastels. This important stage enabled the artists to expand the detail and nuance of their design in preparation for the transfer of their image onto an art panel, slightly larger that A2 at 600mm X 900mm.

With the completion of each stage, the artists became one step closer to completing their art panels. There was no onus upon participants to attend all sessions, however it was explained to all that they would need to allow enough time to complete each stage.

Zac Cassidy working on an amazing art piece.

At the commencement of the art panel painting participants were introduced to a variety of art materials including traditional artist grade acrylic paints, modern street art sprays and a selection of permanent markers. Due to the high number of participants, two art panels were shared, this provided an opportunity for family members to work closely together in the process of reconciling the combination of their images. 18 art panels were completed, treated with an anti graffiti coating and fixed to the upper section of the Kingfisher Skate Park recreational area perimeter cyclone fencing. The art panels now form a permanent outdoor gallery within the recreational area, serving as an exciting display of the creative talents of local youth.

Throughout the two week period on-going consultation with participants was sought in an effort to develop the content for a mural to be painted in-situ upon the exterior walls of the public toilet block adjacent to the Kingfisher Skate Park Recreational area.

Design and art panel painting workshop image

Week Three: involved the painting of a mural on the Kingfisher Park toilet block. Importantly, throughout the design and art panel painting workshops all participants were informed that the painting of the mural would involve the use of Belton Premium Sprays and high quality Solver Brite - Glo sign paints. The use of these materials provided a useful tool in capturing participant interest with a couple of older youth being keen to produce a major piece of urban art upon the walls of the toilet block.

One participant in particular was very keen to be involved in the project and at 23 years of age was the oldest. However the younger youth proved to be equally if not more dedicated to be involved in all aspects of the project and brought with them a wonderful sense of excitement and enthusiasm.

The North and Western aspects of the mural

The resulting mural consisted of a river theme with local flora and fauna, including Gum leaves and nuts, a Gecko, Blue manner crab, Black Bream, Dolphin, Great Egret and Wood Ducks. The main south wall of the toilet block facing the Skate Park and recreational area included the wording Kingfisher Skate Park and an image of a Kingfisher. The wall was predominately painted by two youth, one having the task of painting the text, with the other completing the Kingfisher image. The wall was regarded by all as the major aspect of the mural and “THE” prime place for some urban art.

Finally, the entire exterior wall surface of the toilet block was treated with 2 coats of non sacrificial anti-graffiti coating.

Ben working on the script for the mural

Proud mum Kerry Beard taking photos of local youth involved in the project including Rick and Shari Beard.

The south facing aspect of the mural.

The project successfully expressed local culture and identity. The area is predominately used by youth, and provides a selection of recreational opportunities, including the use of skateboarding ramps, basketball courts and BMX track. An urban artwork in a spray paint style was determined by participants to be the most appropriate way of highlighting local youth identity.

Whilst an urban artwork featured predominately as the collective style of choice it did little to express individual artistic style and aspiration. The intention to consolidate youth ownership and pride in the space required a more individual and personal approach. This objective was achieved through the design and painting of art panels. The art panels provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the creative talents of project participants. 18 art panels were painted by local youth, or by those that had a close connection to the area, in their personal style and expressive of what they felt was important about living in Nth Yunderup.

The completed art panels have been coated with non sacrificial anti graffiti coating and permanently fixed to the perimeter cyclone fencing of the skate park recreation area.

Additionally, all participants were asked to consider the unique qualities of Nth Yunderup and how those qualities could be best expressed in a mural. Considerable feedback was received throughout the workshop process and incorporated as content into the mural. Approximately 7 youth helped to paint various aspects of the mural and displayed an exceptional degree of commitment to participating in all aspects of the project.

Shari painting her art board

The project successfully supported the values of respect and creativity and is best summed up by the youth themselves when they referred to the skate park area as………."this is our park now"……………….The statement clearly demonstrates the respect and sense of ownership local youth and in particular the project participants have for the Kingfisher Skate Park recreational area.

Creativity, has been resoundingly demonstrated through the permanent display of the 18 art board and the completion of the toilet block mural.

We set out to provide an opportunity for all interested youth to be involved in the project, regardless of artistic talent or cultural background. The only requirement was that they embrace the intent of the project and contribute their thoughts, ideas, suggestions and participate in the artmaking process. The project exceeded our aims in achieving local youth ownership, pride and respect for the Kingfisher Skate Park recreation area.

Rick working on his art board

The design and painting of art panels proved to be an excellent for empowering local youth and for showcasing their individual creative talents.

The painted mural is an exciting splash of colour, the theme and content serves to accentuate some of the natural flora and fauna and environmental aspects that are valued by the community. It is successful in that the theme, content and painting was achieved with local community participation.

Shae painting the mural

There were no unexpected issues encountered throughout the duration of the project and the outcomes successfully highlight the contribution youth participation can make in the expression of community values.

My capacity within the project was primarily facilitator of community participation and as an artist I provided material and technical assistance to all participants throughout the duration of the project.

Design and art panel painting workshop image

Local youth from the Nth Yunderup community were the main participants in the project, however there were a small number of youth from other localities that did participate. Whilst the project had an emphasis to foster local youth involvement, all youth that expressed interest in being involved were encouraged to participate.

Some youth participated in all aspects of the project, others participated in fewer aspects. In consideration of the festive period in which the project was conducted, it is quite amazing that 23 youth attended the design and art panel painting workshops at one time. Because of the workshop schedule it was not necessary for participants to attend all sessions. However, no less than 7 youth were in attendance at any one time during the workshop period including the Saturday morning sessions.

Art panel painting workshop image

I was assisted by Nth Yunderup Community Association President Penny Hoffman in the coordination of the project and whilst I provided the artistic and cultural development skills throughout the project, it is to be noted that local youth were responsible for the design and painting of their art boards. Additionally, local youth participants were responsible for determining the theme and content for the mural. Importantly, project participants were also responsible for painting the main aspects of the mural.

The project was promoted through:

The use of local newspaper articles,
An outline of the project and workshop schedule was included in the Nth Yunderup newsletter posted to all association membership,
A letterbox drop was made to all residents prior to the commencement of the project,
Project flyers were displayed at the local deli and school bus stops.

Kyle and Jack working on their designs

The scope of local youth participation was deemed to be the benchmark factor in determining the success of the project. Throughout the workshop aspect of the project an informal process of evaluation was utilised, whereby participants were asked their views on the project, what we hoped to achieve and their enthusiasm for participation.

The result has been a great success with capacity workshops and a solid number of participants benefiting through their involvement in all aspects of the project. The success of the project is self evident in the number of art panels produced and by the completed mural. Throughout the mural design and painting youth were asked questions like,…………. what do you think we should include?.........do we need anything else here?……..what about there, what do you reckon we should put in it?

This provided an opportunity for all participants to engage in an ongoing dialogue and contribute to the content and in-situ painting of the mural.

Local youth demonstrated their enthusiasm for the project through their participation, commitment and pride in the outcomes achieved.

Joel proudly showing his artwork…… The amazing Kingfisher

Rick, Chad and Shae…………….. “This is our park now”……………..

The project successfully achieved the short term goal of engaging local youth. In the long term the mural and outdoor display of the art panels will remain as an exciting, colourful and positive reminder of the creative role we have to play in the expression of our community.

Here are some more images:

Elizabeth

Harley

Jack

Chad

Nikki

Hannah

Charlette

Rebecca

James

Ryley

Alicia

Cooper

Shari

Joel

CWA Hall workshops

2011-01-18T07:44:00.000+08:00

Athol, Dawn, Gloria, Trevor, Don and Strelley

The CWA Hall workshops have been completed, the workshops provided an excellent opportunity to meet community members and listen to their stories. Whilst the design and making of artworks for installation within the local Cemetery and Serpentine environs remained the primary focus of the workshops, all were encourage to share their knowledge and stories of Serpentine. It was inevitable that many of the stories where to evoke nostalgic memories of a town and time that seemed less urgent and more relaxed than it appears today and whilst some stories told were whimsical others served as a poignant and timely reminder of the need to consider the sensitivities of the wider community in the design and making of the artworks.

Gloria and I introduced workshops participants to the process of hand painting bisque fired ceramic tiles with a selection of under-glazes and some great images were produced. The collective local knowledge, history and advice demonstrated by the participants was exceptional and provided a tremendous resource base for artwork content.

Myra, Mark, Dawn, Eric and Trevor painting tiles

Mark Warner painting a tile with underglazes

Artwork considerations for the Cemetery

2010-12-20T09:08:00.000+08:00

Throughout the consultative process there have been many considerations and expressions regarding the appropriateness of image/content/artwork to the cemetery location. Prominent amongst those considerations has been the need for the completed artworks to express respect for the sensitivities of the community. Subtlety and reflection also feature at the forefront of community consensus as does the expression of cultural identity, history and the natural environment of Serpentine.

The natural environment is particularly important as the cemetery is designated Bush Forever Site No 371 and effectively restricts future cemetery expansion. A new cemetery is mooted for the nearby locality of Karnup and could place the existing Serpentine cemetery within a predominantly historical context.

In consideration of the impact potential vandalism and the natural elements could have towards the artworks, they will need to be structurally and technically excellent, able to withstand the test of time, requiring minimum maintenance and remain permanent for the foreseeable future. That's about the standard call for non ephemeral public art.

Serpentine PCYC workshops

2010-12-15T18:20:00.005+08:00

TJ, Alex and Clark - discussing this thing called "art making"

It was great to see the creative action at the PCYC workshops. Thanks to the efforts of Mark Warner (club President) everyone was keen and ready to get into the art making straight away. During the preceding week Mark had spent some time informing all interested about the project, building up interest and enthusiasm, and when we arrived for the first workshop everyone was quite excited about the project and eager to be involved. After the initial introduction to the project, Gloria presented a couple of short films produced by Karri Ann Kearing Salmon. The films featured local community members from the nearby town of Pinjarra in the dramatic portrayal of local Nyungar traditional and contemporary stories. The films were both humorous and poignant, and provided participants with some new knowledge that will help them to consider the project within a cross cultural context and to better appreciate Nyungar cultural connections to the region.

Everyone is busy, busy, busy

The artmaking continues

2010-11-11T18:07:00.005+08:00

Wow what a week!

The students from Serpentine Primary School have produced some amazing artworks. Gloria and I have been very impressed by the display of enthusiasm and artistic skill of the students.

I can remember my time at school.......................hmm that was a while back...............

and throughout my entire primary and secondary schooling I never had the opportunity to become involved in a public/community art project or get to meet professional artists practising in their field. I'm certain the impact of such activities will encourage students in helping them to develop their artistic dreams and ambitions as they learn to realise the scope of art and how it positively interacts with our society.

Kasey busy at work on her design

Jessica and Chelsea, working together on their designs

Bryce and Liam, Taking time out for a photo opportunity

Rachael and Kate busy translating their great ideas to paper

The student workshops continue!

2010-11-01T15:19:00.005+08:00

Here are some images of the Serpentine Primary School students producing some drawings and reflecting upon the information Gloria and I had imparted to them the preceding week.

Taylah and Jesse

George and Caleb

Drawing in action

Justine and Jessika

Serpentine Primary School Workshops

2010-11-01T14:57:00.004+08:00

Gloria introducing Serpentine Primary School year 1 students 's to the project

Gloria and I completed the first series of project introduction workshops with the students from Serpentine Primary School on October 21^st , another 2-3 series of design and art making workshops will be facilitated with them, the introduction workshops were very successful and productive.

The intent of the workshop series has been to engage the students in a process of enquiry into the cultural and environmental values of the Serpentine Cemetery and town locality. Gloria had identified a number of traditional bush medicines and tuckers that are growing within the Serpentine Cemetery and presented examples of these to students (the presented plants came from other places) and explained their uses.

The plants included Bourn – a slender and sometimes tall above 1mt bulbous plant with an appearance similar to an orchid (flower is totally different). The plant is believed to contain anti cancer qualities and has been traditionally used in the treatment of body and stomach pain. Students were also shown a live Bardi grub as Gloria explained how to identify them in their habitat. A short film titled “Karla” (meaning fire in the Nyungar language) produced by Karri Ann was also shown to the students, helping them to better appreciate traditional Nyungar culture and the cross cultural importance of the cemetery.

Several students expressed they had family and relatives whose deceased remains now reside in the cemetery, and it was timely that their comments and sentiments reminded us of the importance of the task at hand. All were enthusiastic about being involved in the project and I believe the project introduction provided the students with a considerable amount of new information and successfully achieved our aim in highlighting the cultural and environmental value of the cemetery. I’m certain the newly acquired information will combine with their creative imagination and act as a spring board in helping them to generate sensitive and colourful artworks.

Gloria Kearing and I will facilitate the student engagement process and guide them through the development of their designs and drawings which they will then translate onto ceramic tiles. These tile artworks will later be incorporated into larger artworks that may be installed within the Serpentine cemetery, Primary school and town environs. Karrie–Ann Kearing Salmon (project cultural consultant) is collaborating with the Council of Traditional Land Owners and SWALCA and will assist the project with further information of Aboriginal cultural value as the project unfolds.

Umm....................that smells like Eucalyptus

Hmm..........I think you are right!

Wow .............a bush fig flower.

Living Histories

2010-11-01T12:35:00.011+08:00

Wow! the Living Histories project has finally got underway..........................it has been a long time (about 2 and a half years) in the development of this project...................................and I'm glad to say that things are going well. So without further ado here is a quick background on the project.

The project will employ two artists (lead artists) as cross cultural community development professionals and an indigenous cultural advisor (the creative team) to facilitate comprehensive consultation and participation with community members from the regional town of Serpentine in the design, development and making of the Serpentine Heritage and Culture Trail/public artworks. Project participation will be promoted to all Serpentine community members and in particular our local regional youth in an extensive series of free design, development and art making workshops over a 6 month period, commencing mid October 2010 with project completion planned mid March/April 2011. The workshops will be conducted at the Serpentine CWA Hall, Serpentine PCYC building, Serpentine Primary School and other locations as deemed appropriate.

The historical Serpentine cemetery will be utilised as the catalyst to underpin community connectedness with the project and to provide the foundation and starting point for a broader community focused enquiry into the Serpentine cultural identity. Community enquiry will be centred within a cross cultural context and explore the cultural and historical significance of the Serpentine cemetery and other locations throughout the Serpentine environs. The cemetery contains a number of very old indigenous and non indigenous grave sites; it has also been designated as "Bush Forever site 371" in recognition of its remnant vegetation and diverse indigenous flora.

The community workshops will generate the source material for the design and making of the public artworks, celebrating indigenous and non indigenous historical and cultural values. The artworks will be installed at each of the various identified sites and will include artist designed interpretive plaques incorporating Nyungar and English language.

An important aspect of the community workshops will be the exploration of identified sites and their place within the contemporary community conscience. The community workshops will explore and highlight the interconnectedness of cultural diversity within the community and its contribution to the development of the town of Serpentine. The oral histories of community members will be translated and integrated into celebratory community artworks.

A key emphasis of the Design Stage will be the determination by community members of the content to be incorporated into artworks and the type of artworks most suitable? Workshop participants will explore and determine how the identified elements of cultural and historical significance can be incorporated into artworks. Additionally, community members will determine how those artworks will function in an interpretive context and the appropriate locality for installation within the cemetery environment. The lead artists will facilitate community participation in the artmaking process and ensure skills exchange and enhancement is achieved in the making of final artworks.

Importantly, in regard to stories of Nyungar cultural significance, the lead artists will negotiate distribution guidelines with the particular community members to ensure correct cultural protocols and recognition is achieved.

Project community partnerships include:

Serpentine Historical Society,
Southwest Aboriginal Land and Sea Council,
Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale,
Serpentine PCYC,
Serpentine Primary School,

Project funding partners include:

Community Arts Network WA
LotteryWest
Regional Arts/Country Arts WA
West Australian Department of Culture and the Arts

The grant applicant body - Serpentine Historical Society.

Project lead artist - Robert Ewing.

Indigenous artist - Mrs Gloria Kearing.

Indigenous cultural advisor for the project - Mrs Karrie-Anne Kearing- Salmon

Project coordinator - Robert Ewing

The project steering committee includes:

Mrs Myra Baldwin – Serpentine resident and representative of the Serpentine Historical Society Inc,
Julie Sansom - Community Development representative - Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale,
Mark Warner - President, Serpentine PCYC,
Youth representative - Serpentine PCYC
Mr Athol Wigg - Serpentine resident and representative of the Serpentine Historical Society Inc,
Mrs Karrie-Anne Kearing- Salmon – Indigenous Cultural Advisor

Some images of the mural

2010-01-11T15:19:00.002+08:00

The last weeks of the school year 2009

2010-01-11T15:01:00.007+08:00

Kira painting

Nina painting

Beau painting

Curtis painting

Emma painting

Nina, Beau and Curtis painting

Alex painting

These are some images of students painting the mural as they prepare for the 2009 end of school year break. Since painting of the mural began I've been fortunate to have had the enthusiastic support of the Carcoola Primary school students. Throughout most mornings from 9:00am till around 11:30am groups of 4/5 students have been contributing their painting skills and ideas to the development of the mural. They have all been a fantastic, positive and highly creative group........well done!

Painting on Saturdays

2010-01-11T12:16:00.008+08:00

Rhys, Jayden and Zac chillin out

Chad and Rhys take a break

Aleasha and Jayden painting

Since painting began on the mural, Saturday mornings has been promoted as an open session to all interested members of the community. Anyone who would like to paint and or contribute their ideas and suggestions on how the mural might progress has been encouraged. I'm pleased to say there has been a very enthusiastic group of local youth that have embraced this opportunity and played an important role in the unfolding of the mural. Their contribution has been significant, helping to shape the content and design of the mural.

The intention of the project has always been to allow the mural to evolve through the input of community members. Whilst the design stage of the project was important as determined through the extensive series of workshops conducted with Carcoola school students at the primary school and with community members at the Carcoola Community Hall. The outcomes of the design stage were never intended to be fixed as the exclusive content of the mural, but rather serve to provide a starting point from which painting could commence.

Throughout the painting process participants have been encouraged to comment on the development of the mural through questions such as:

What do you think we should paint there? What would be a good colour for this or that? Someone suggested ..........what do you think about that and what would you like to see in the mural?

The ideas as suggested by the participants have been incorporated where ever possible into the mural as it is being painted. The process of constant renewal of mural content has provided an interesting dynamic in that it has allowed the mural to develop and remain relevant to any participant at the time of their involvement.

It has also provided an excellent mechanism for ensuring community ownership in the mural is enhanced. Another interesting outcome of the process has been the inclusion of multiple themes and designs upon each panel of the concrete walls of the underpass.

More images of those that paint

2009-12-06T18:05:00.004+08:00

The crew from FloeJoes

Saturday morning is a busy time and a good time to be painting

Nina painting

Cyril painting

Bradley painting

Let the paint flow free, the young crew that are painting are really enthusiastic, on Saturday mornings I spend all my time mixing colours that the painters tell me I should mix. I just go with the flow and it seems to be working out well. We even have a blue rabbit with white spots, wow!

Paint and enthusiasm combine to create?

2009-12-06T17:59:00.003+08:00

Pricilla painting

Amber, Zac, Megan and Tayla taking a break to pose for ther camera

Chris painting

Brodie, excited to be painting

Beau painting

The painting has begun!

2009-12-06T17:51:00.004+08:00

The painting of the mural has taken off with a blast, and yes we cleaned and prepared the wall before painting.

Community workshop images

2009-12-06T17:30:00.003+08:00

All in all the community workshops were very successful, considering past experience the level of community participation was relatively good. Several groups of committed youth regularly came along to the workshops as well as the those that dropped in for a look and stayed to produce some drawings and contribute ideas. All that attended added their thoughts on what should be included and what was important. Here are a small selection of images of those that participated.

More images

2009-11-23T18:43:00.003+08:00

Artwork by Tnaya

Artwork by Daniel

Artwork by Amy

Artwork by Kyle

Artwork by Joel

Artwork by Kyle

Artwork by Shannon Lee

Images from the community workshops

2009-11-23T17:55:00.003+08:00

Artwork by Andrew

Artwork by Chad

Artwork by Clay

Artwork by Tealah

Artwork by Bree

All community workshops have been completed. Design workshops were facilitated with all year 1-7 students from Carcoola Primary School and produced some fantastic images. Additional community workshops were conducted at the Carcoola Hall, on a Saturday morning from 9:30-11:30am over a 5 week period. The workshops attracted a committed group of youth and provided an opportunity to talk with a number of locals about the project. An additional design workshop was also facilitated with FloeJoes Friendship Club an intellectually challenged group that regularly meet here in Carcoola and have done so for the last 20 years.

Whilst participation in the design workshops has been predominately by youth, a small number of adults have contributed to the content of the mural through their comments and suggestions. It's unfortunate that the project has been generally perceived to be youth orientated, that's not a bad thing, in fact the level of youth support has been very encouraging and I suspect that as the painting of the mural progresses more youth and adults will continue to add content and scope to its development.
The natural environment featured strongly throughout the images generated with suggestions for mural content including:

Images of plants to reflect the street naming within Carcoola (all streets are named after Australian plants/trees.

Feminine and masculine qualities that could be depicted through colour and image, for example sports.

Bright and colourful, images that evoke qualities of the bush and farmland around Carcoola (the location of Carcoola is essentially surrounded by cattle farmland.

Carcoola Primary School student images

2009-08-15T14:20:00.016+08:00

Caleb Waller (year 5 student)

Monique Cleary (year 6 student)

Patrick Withers (year 1 student)

Harmony Dunstan (year 3 student)

Aleasha Pilot (year 5 student)

Connor Cardilini (year 2 student)

Courtney Hitchcock (year 7 student)

Kelvin Kennedy and Raagon Woodhouse (year 2 students)

Chade Woodhouse (year 2 student)

Tayla Watson and Monica Ymas (year 2 students)

Dylan Brown (year 3 student)

Carcoola Primary School design workshops

2009-08-15T13:06:00.019+08:00

Jordan Dawson and Cameron Starling year 3 students of Carcoola Primary School

An initial series of design workshops have been conducted with the year 1-7 students from Carcoola Primary School. During the last 2 weeks I've visited each class of students and introduced the project, what we hoped to achieve and how they could become involved. I asked all students to draw a picture or write something special about Carcoola, their school or themselves. The response has been fantastic, its very refreshing to be involved with such an enthusiastic and pleasant bunch of students.

Sure..........they are a captive audience......in school and on their best behaviour, however in my experience with them they have all shown respect and enthusiasm for the project. Quite frankly, the students generally seem delighted to be involved and keen as mustard to "actually" do some painting on the walls of the underpass. Unfortunately, only students from years 4-7 will be able to participate in the painting and only in groups of 4 or 5 at a time.

It has been very interesting to see the imagery that is produced when the students have been asked to draw or write something which they regard as special. Some of the younger students have drawn drag cars, people playing cricket whilst others have chosen to write poems or produce quite detailed drawings of the Carcoola environment.

Next week I'll return to collect all the completed images and text, I'll post a selection of the work soon. Until then check out some photos of the student workshops.

Testing an anti graffiti coating

2009-06-16T09:44:00.004+08:00

The surface of the underpass is a 30 year old cement render that has been painted (numerous times and with various types of paint?) and it appears to have been coated, albeit sometime ago with an anti graffiti coating. About 2 weeks ago I contacted Crommelin a paint and industrial coatings manufacturer to source a suitable anti-graffiti coating. The technical chemist was very helpful and offered to conduct a sample test on site ( 1 hour south of their facility) to determine suitability of their product. I was impressed, especially in light of the relatively small amount of product to be purchased. The Crommelin product had originally been developed as a clear barrier for dense substrates including:

marble,
granite
terrazzo,
reconstituted stone,
polished concrete and
vitrified stones.

If successful the mural project had the potential to open up another target area for the product.....................and it was successful..................the product proved ideal, it is water based, non sacrificial and can be spot retreated. The product is called Cromshield - Barricade MG1 at around $16.00 per litre from:

Crommelin
72 Division Street,
Welshpool 6106
Western Australia
ph: 9458 5711
also available from other outlets

Nth Pinjarra Pedestrian Underpass Mural

2009-06-15T10:34:00.002+08:00

Please watch this space..........an exciting community art project taking place at Nth Pinjarra. Nth Pinjarra is also known as Carcoola a Nyungar name meaning "Place of many trees".

The project is a grass roots initiative, developed, designed and managed by the local Nth Pinjarra Progress Assoc and has been funded by the following:

Community Arts Network WA

Alcoa World Alumina Australia

Shire of Murray

with the support of the Carcoola Primary School.

The location of Nth Pinjarra is peculiar within the greater Peel region and has the unique history of being originally established in the early 1970’s as the housing estate for a new and emerging mining community employed by alumina producer Alcoa World Alumina Australia. Interestingly, in 2009 with a population of between 1300 and 1500, Nth Pinjarra finds itself situated in a precarious geographical void of being “too close to existing urban infrastructure to develop autonomy of identity and yet not close enough for inclusion and a sense of belonging”. The historical town of Pinjarra is located 4 kilometres to the south.

Whilst, the Nth Pinjarra community enjoys cultural and generational diversity, relatively low crime rates and a general sense of community safety, there is a wider community perception of semi isolation in regard to its locality within the Peel region.

The project is aimed at engaging local youth in its design, development and making. The emphasis upon youth participation in all aspects of the project is significant in light of the semi isolated nature of the community and the detrimental implications of alienation, be it social, geographical or economical. Through the medium of a community mural, the project seeks to provide community members with an exceptional and creative opportunity to explore and express their cultural identity, and through their actions achieve an enhanced sense of community ownership and pride.

The pedestrian underpass is situated in a prominent location, is easily accessible to the general community and maintains a strategic link in the urban design of the Nth Pinjarra public open space environment. The underpass has continued to function as a main safety access conduit for students of the near-by Carcoola Primary School for over 30 years.

In partnership with the Nth Pinjarra Progress Association, I will facilitate community member participation in a series of free design workshops at the local Carcoola Community Hall and conduct whole of school design workshops with the students from Carcoola Primary School. The intention of the workshops will be to encourage community members to explore social and environmental aspects of personal importance, and to consider the varied aspects that make Nth Pinjarra unique. Importantly, workshop participants will determine the mural theme through the incorporation of these aspects into the overall design of the mural.

All interested community members and school students will be encouraged to participate in the painting process. The mural will be painted with a combination of traditional mural paints and high quality modern urban art materials, and will be treated with an anti graffiti coating upon completion.