Inspired by St Michael’s students, this mural celebrates the school values. At the heart of the artwork, children proudly perform the unique school song using sign language—bringing their voices and hands together to embody Manaakitanga (kindness) and ensure everyone is included. The student's candle beautifully captures Whanaungatanga (belonging), symbolising the Light of Christ and representing the blessed welcome candle given to every child as a valued member of the school community. In the background, two native birds represent Kaitiakitanga (guardianship). Radiating outward, diverse cultural patterns honour Tino Rangatiratanga (self-determination) and the proud heritage of their community:

Tongan & Fijian (Kaso): Canoe crossbeams for shared Pacific journeys and unity.

Māori (Kaokao): Chevron shapes for strength and protection.

Filipino (Sampaguita): Jasmine blossoms for hope and devotion.

Indian (Vine Blossom): Vines for the interconnectedness of life.

Samoan (Teuila): Spearheads for courage.

Following our Catholic School Review last year, we were looking for a creative way to ensure our school values were prominently displayed in the community environment for everyone who passes by. During a visit to another Catholic school, I saw Amy’s artwork and it instantly stood out to me. I knew immediately that I wanted that same stunning effect for our own school visitors. Beyond the final look, I knew the collaborative experience would be amazing for our students, and that Amy would successfully capture our unique school values through her work with them.

The overall experience of working with Amy was exceptional. Her project process was incredibly thorough, organised, and communicative. Her weekly reports detailing the completed work, accompanied by photos capturing the students' journey, were so very much appreciated and kept everyone connected to the project. There is absolutely nothing that could have been done better—the entire process was seamless from start to finish.

We are absolutely thrilled with the finished mural, beautifully titled “Shine your mana.” Within this stunning piece of art, Amy managed to perfectly capture our students' stories, our core school values, and the diverse cultures that we are so blessed to have here at St Michael's. She also beautifully incorporated the symbol of the candle—which all students receive upon arrival during their welcoming Mass—symbolising the unique journey they undertake while here at St Michael's.

The impact on our school environment has been profound. Not only does it beautifully represent who we are to the wider community, but the impact on the students themselves has been lasting. Our students love talking about their experiences and proudly share the new skills they learned while planning and painting the mural alongside Amy. To top off this incredible journey, our students took total ownership of the project by completely planning and preparing a student-led mural unveiling to showcase their hard work to the school community. We cannot recommend Amy's talent, inclusivity, and professionalism highly enough!

Clara Tuifao - Prinipal
St Michael’s School - Taita

This mural was created by local artist Amy Burrell alongside a group of 8 students who drove the research, concept development as well as painted the mural. This final artwork depicts the schools commitment to conservation with the two students planting a native kowhai tree in the centre. On each side of the mural are the native harakeke which are special to the school as they are used to learn and practice traditional Maori weaving techniques. The background features wildlife the students recall being found in the local Wainuomata region, anything from squid to sunflowers. In the soil cultural patterns celebrating the Maori, Pacifica and Indian cultures prominent in the school community radiate from the plant like roots.

“Having completed a couple of murals at school, it was a long process and took time to complete over many months. Therefore, having a professional artist who could directly focus on producing the mural over a set timeframe was very important, and seeing your other projects with other schools, it was a great fit and a good decision.

You engaged the students with the design process and listened to their research, which was lovely. They truly understood the complete design process and enjoyed painting alongside you. You were on time, shared photos and tasks, and kept the project moving along in a timely manner.

I feel proud of the students, and listening to their comments at the opening of the mural demonstrated how much they enjoyed it, the challenges, and what they learned along the way. It was a moment they will treasure over the years for sure.

It is bright, big and reflects our school culture, and what is important to us visually. I love it, as do the kids. Thanks, Amy!”

Cathrine Wong - Deputy Principal
Konini Primary School - Wainuiomata

This mural was created by local artist Amy Burrell alongside a group of 11 students who drove the research, concept development as well as painted the mural. This final artwork depicts the sharing of knowledge, traditions and ideas through the two students' heads in the centre of the mural. The kereru, a local NZ native bird, is paired with the peacock which is the national bird of India. Along the top of the mural are the native fauna of the Kowhai, Totara, Rata and Pahutakawa which the schools whanau groups are named after. Along the bottom are the national flowers of some of the highly represented cultures in the school. The Poutama pattern signifies the growth of tamariki, striving ever upwards. The Purapura Whetū portrays the many different stars in the sky. The mural serves to welcome the community and celebrate the wonderful diverse cultures at Eastern Hutt School.

St Brendan’s School reached out to me to create a large scale piece of art for their school grounds to welcome their community and celebrate St Brendan's adventurous spirit and unique story. This work was carried out alongside a group of students who drove the research and concept development. Our aim was to create an impressive, collaborative mural that is unique to St Brendan’s School.

While working with the students it became clear how important the story of St Brendan is to the school. It is the unique character that no other school in New Zealand shares. The boat/waka is the focal point of the connection between the students and their local history. Te Awa Kairangi / Heretaunga was once a very important transportation route for maori who travelled via their waka. The oceans that St Brendan explored and navigated align with the adventurous spirit of learning practiced at the school. The kura is surrounded by the remutaka ranges, tawa, tōtara, mataī, and kahikatea, kowhai, fantails, tui and kereru as well as kiwi who are re populating the mountain ranges surrounding the area. These fantastic subjects are celebrated in this artwork.

Taita Central School asked me to work with their students to design a mural that expresses who they are as a school and welcomes the community in. The school is nestled in the Hutt Valley near te awa kairangi. The school has gone through some exciting changes with their land guardianship over the past five years with the governance of the land now lying with several local iwi. This has bought a wonderful opportunity for more knowledge, learning and growth. The school is in the process of creating a harekeke garden where they hope to provide opportunities in harvesting and weaving flax. The weaving of this knowledge is a lovely metaphor for the schools access to their community for inspiration and guidance. With a large pacifica and maori role the students have chosen some cultural patterns that fit with their identity. The traditions and stories about the local area are alive with taniwha Awarua, Ngake and Whataitai and native birds particularly the Kārearea. The students have shared with me their strong value of friendship within the school which they are really proud of.

The taniwha in the final mural is based on a students drawing below. I had never seen a child so proud of himself. At the unveiling he stood in front of the mural while his family took a photo and he was absolutely beaming. I feel so very privileged to be able to share this wonderful journey with so many talented wee artists. Did I mention how much I love this job!!!

I was invited back to Upper Hutt School to create another mural to sit beside the one I completed last year. This mural was created with a different group of students who were year 5 and 6. The brief I was given was the theme of ancestry / whakapapa - human connection & relationships - tying in with the schools whakatauki for the year: 

“He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata! “What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.””

The students and I did some drawings and brainstorming around things that make our whakapapa unique and that we are proud of. We came up with the idea of getting some drawings from all the students in the school and using them in the mural. We received around 350 wonderful drawings of food, places, sports and most importantly people. This showed me how proud they all are of their whanau and who they are.

The mural group and I then explored the whakatauki - what does it mean? How can we illustrate it? What are some of the words we can think of around this: Trust, bond, friendship, support, love PRIDE

This pride sets us up to confidently go out into the world and chase our dreams. Our whakapapa support us and guide us through the journey of life, like a big net of hands there to help when needed. Lifting us up and catching us when we fall.

We used a maori poutama pattern in the background which symbolises growith and learning. Layered ontop of this pattern are the students drawings we collected. This took so long to paint but was worth every hour as all the children at the school proudly locate and share their drawing with their families and friends. At the bottom of the hands we weaved some patterns to share the wide array of cultures in the school community. You will see Chinese, Filipino, Samoan, New Zealand, South African, Maori, Pacifica, UK, Indian and Sri Lankan. The response to this mural was so touching and really helped me feel proud of this work and how important it is.

A huge thank you to Upper Hutt School for having me back to share this wonderful journey with you.

“I just wanted to share....

as the bell rang today, I felt a little tap on my back. A very shy student said to me
” I nearly cried today because I heard Filipino, and I never thought a school in NZ would mention me”

How gorgeous is that!
”

— Stepth Campbell - Principal, Upper Hutt School

Throughout term 2, 2025 a group of students and I have been on an incredible journey exploring the idea of their school whanau groups. St Claudine’s Thevenet School in Wainuiomata is surrounded by Rata, Rimu, Hinau and Totara trees. They populate the area in the expansive native bush of the valley. The streets near the school are also named after these important trees which expresses how proud they all are of them. When we dug a little deeper we found that the ages of children in each whanau group were named after each tree for a reason. The rata tree attaches itself to larger trees to help it climb into the light high above the bush. It eventually takes the place of the tree it climbed. Like the younger children at the school learning and being supported by the older students ‘Tuakana-teina.’ Eventually taking their place as the leaders of the school. The Rimu and Hinau trees both play important roles in the local ecosystem but are not the largest trees. The Totara is known for its large size, resilience and longevity and is often used as the symbol of strength and leadership.

We found this lovely Whakatauki that compliments this idea of leadership within the school. 

🌱E kore te tōtara e tū noa i te pārae engari me tū i roto i te wao-nui-a-Tāne

🌱The tōtara tree does not stand alone in a field but in the great forest of Tane

We also looked at a Samoan proverb Le ala i le pule o le Tautua ‘The Pathway to Leadership is Service’ which felt like a nice way to look at the journey through the whanau groups and links to the schools values.

St Claudine’s school is rich with pacifica, maori, asian and pakeha students. We looked at some great art and motifs from these cultures as well as some New Zealand artists and muralists. The students created some of their own patterns and designs which are featured in the detailing on the mural. The patterns they chose were special to them and their heritage which are samoan, filipino and maori. The shapes and motifs they used represent strength, protection, resilience, family, power, guidance through difficult times, unity, union and faith.

Throughout this mural concept development journey the students created a large amount of drawings of trees, people and cultural patterns. They then put these three elements into their own compositions and mural designs. These drawings are what I have based the final concept on however I have played with scale, layout and composition to create the desired impact and communicate our ideas clearly. The mural features 4 students from the school, one from each whanau group chosen by the mural students. The mural students then painted majority of the artwork themselves and I completed the black outlines and finer details. This was such a wonderful project, I am always blown away with what each group of students comes up with.

Birds playing Settlers of Catan painting

This painting was a commission for two friends of mine. They came to me with the idea of a tui and a little blue penguin playing Settlers of Catan. They like to play boardgames together and I just loved the challenge of creating this fun, cosy scene in my style. I haven’t done a commission for a personal client before but this was such a lovely experience and I can see how rewarding it was for both them and me the artist. I was able to buy a framed wooden round from a local framing company ‘Wallace Studio Designs’ which was so easy to use and looks fantastic. I uses a mixture of Resene Paints and Posca paint pens with a clear satin varnish to finish and protect it.

“It was really fun working with Amy and the other kids”

— Rian - Upper Hutt School Year 6 Student

Upper Hutt School reached out to me to create a mural with a small group of their senior students. They didn’t have a too much of idea around the theme of the piece other than it being about their school. The students and I created a set of worksheets which we got each child at the school to complete. We then had around 400 drawings, notes and ideas around what makes their school special. We collated these ideas and narrowed them down into these themes.

The schools culture is one that values friendship, supporting one another, aroha and safety. Each child knows what is expected of them and how to treat one another because of the PRIDE CAR values. Whether they are riding bikes around the bike track, playing snap or working their way across the monkey bars everyone loves being at school. They welcome people “into their family” through waiata led by the kapa haka group as part of the regular powhiri celebrations. They are surrounded by large oak trees which have been around a long time watching the tamariki grow and move through the school. The tamariki are connected to the history of the land and our country through the maori legends and gods.

“I really enjoyed painting the mural. Working with Amy was amazing and super great!”

— Aisha - Upper Hutt School Year 6 student

Upon presenting three concepts to the school management they liked them so much they decided they wanted two panels instead of one. We developed two of the concepts through to the final artwork and painted them onto plywood panels. The murals were then finished with a Resene graffiti shield product to protect them. This was such a wonderful project and the finished artwork really fits nicely into the schools strong culture.

Amy Burrell - Artist, Steph Campbell - Upper Hutt School Principal

“Amy is the best art teacher”

— Elijah - Upper Hutt School Year 6 Student

In term 4, 2024 I was asked to create a special piece of artwork featuring the ‘Fruits of the Holy Spirits’ for St Brendan’s School in Upper Hutt. I worked with a group of year 4-6 students over the course of six weeks. The students and I researched what a dove looks like and how to draw one. The finished artwork was based on one of the students drawings and another students typography design and layout. To get the dove as big as we desired we had to use two pieces of plywood and join them together. We painted the design onto the boards using Resene paints and covered with a graffiti shield to protect it. The colours were chosen around the schools branding and house colours. This was a fantastic project and I am so proud of how amazing it turned out!