MEDOWIE Public School is embracing Australia’s rich cultural history, with the official opening this week of their special new art installation.

In 2015 the Aboriginal Education Committee at Medowie Public School started the consultation process with Cherie Johnson from ‘Speaking in Colour’ to design an Aboriginal-inspired mural.

School representative, Vicki Winters told News Of The Area, “As a committee, we wanted something that was unique to our school and not your traditional Aboriginal artwork.”

“Instead, we wanted an artwork the students of Medowie Public School could relate to and understand the full meaning behind their creation.”

With the help of some students and Cherie, they came up with an artwork inspired by the work of Albert Namatjira and Gordon Bennett.

Vicki Winters said, “Our mural depicts the current setting of Medowie Public School, the tall trees, sand dunes and the water nearby.”

“The large Aboriginal symbol over the landscape is a depiction of our school at the heart of everything our students do.”

“The smaller circles and lines represent the various journeys our students will take into the outside world, how they will embark on many different paths, but will always have Medowie Public School as the core.”

To begin the process, Cherie Johnson drew the design and divided it into 378 pieces to be painted onto individual tiles.

Each student and staff member painted a tile, using the supplied piece of the artwork as a guide.

Medowie Public School then utilised the services of Irrawang High School and Back to Back Galleries to fire their tiles. Once all the tiles were fired the MPS Aboriginal Education Committee spent many many hours piecing together the large jigsaw puzzle, packing it away, then repeating the process.

After trying to find someone to install our mural we finally found two amazing parents who offered to hang the mural over a weekend.

On Tuesday 13 June, Medowie Public School unveiled their new Aboriginal Mural and invited all those who assisted with the murals construction.

The Aboriginal Education Committee of Medowie Public School would like to thank everyone who assisted us in some way to finalise the mural.

They include Cherie Johnson – Speaking in Colour, Port Stephens Council, Ian Mathieson, Mathieson Constructions, Glenn Coates, Chris King, Irrawang High School, Glenn Whitton and Back to Back Galleries.

 

By Rachael VAUGHAN