Aotea College, Bishop Viard College, St Theresa?s, and Plimmerton School and Kindergarten are all on board to adorn five large wooden panels with their inspirations.
By Jamie Melbourne-Hayward
The Plimmerton Residents Association (PRA) has teamed up with five local schools to add some colour to their underpass to the railway station and domain that opened in May. Aotea College, Bishop Viard College, St Theresa?s, and Plimmerton School and Kindergarten are all on board to adorn five large wooden panels with their inspirations. PRA coordinator Meryl Harwood says the project will see local students studying things from around Plimmerton and transferring them with artistic flair onto the murals. ?The new Plimmerton underpass is a horrible cream colour and we want to brighten up that area. ?It?s great to have had so much community support for this project,? she says. The art works are less likely to be vandalised if local children produce them, says Mrs Harwood. Aotea College art teachers? Ray Burns and Tessa Schulza are organising their school?s efforts to create the mural. Mr Burns says, ?We will take a candid photo essay of the Plimmerton community and then focus on the details. ?Each student will focus on one photograph,? he says. Having the materials supplied by the PRA and Resene has helped the school pick up the project with ease. ?Our school community extends out to Pukerua Bay, so it?s good to have this community involvement. ?This is better than having your shoulder tapped and asked to help with local art work; the financial contributions are much appreciated,? says Mr Burns The school has enlisted students with good artistic ability, because they want to produce a piece that will last the test of time. A year 10 group will work on the art piece this term, and Mr Burns has a vision of incorporating shingle and boat sheds? into the mural. The murals are expected to be finished by the end of the school year.
