Pride Values and Celebrating Upper Hutt School
“It was really fun working with Amy and the other kids”
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!”
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”