History Mural Series
St Joseph's School is in the heart of Upper Hutt and shares a strong relationship and connection with the wider community. I worked with a group of students to create three large mural panels for display on their school building. The aim of these murals was to celebrate and bring light to the wonderful history the school has.
With a group of year 7 and 8 students we spent around 12 weeks diving into the history of not only the school but the wider Wellington region. We started with a trip into Wellington’s Te Wharewaka o Pōneke where we learnt about Kupe’s discovery of New Zealand and how life was for Maori. Next we talked to people throughout the school about the important catholic people who started the school and bought Catholicism to New Zealand. We created a historical timeline which included all important historical events from the pre historic age to now - featuring earthquakes, arrivals, treaty signings and buildings being burnt down. We picked out the events that were important and meaningful to the students to focus on for our murals.
Along the way each student created a fun animal self portrait using a plywood round and Posca paint pens. These personal works helped the students practice putting multiple ideas into a single artwork. It was also a fun way to use visual storytelling, symbols and metaphors.
We used these skills to draw each of the historical events that would feature in the murals. We started by drawing the events individually then trying to put them all together into a three compositions in a logical way. This involved a lot of fun collaborative whiteboards sessions and discussions. We created several rounds of concepts which we presented to the principal and deputy principal making changes to reflect their feedback. Once they were happy we started the process of transferring the artwork onto the primed panels.
We used the doodle grid method to transfer the artwork onto the boards. This was a challenging activity that worked really well with a large group as many hands make light work. Once complete each student worked in a single colour applying the paint to our designs. Once the colour was complete we added the black outline.
Once the murals were complete a Resene graffiti shield paint was applied to the panels to protect them from any damage. The caretaker then attached them to the side of the building. We celebrated by inviting the community to join us for the unveiling and morning tea. This was such a wonderful project and I am once again blown away with what students of this age can think up and create. I can only image what creative endeavours they will achieve in their futures. this project was funded by the Creative in Schools initiative.
