By Kath Gannaway
Visitors to Healesville High School’s art show later this month will be greeted with a funky, colourful mural providing a hint of what awaits.
The old ‘core building’ has been rebranded as the ‘Art Factory’, and when students met with Healesville artist Paul Sonsie to come up with a design for a large-scale mural, it was the industrial, factory theme that inspired them.
The school obtained funding from Healesville Bendigo Community Bank and Yarra Ranges Council for the project.
Media teacher and project co-ordinator Stephanie Opasinis said they were thrilled with not only the result, but the process as well.
“We put a call out to all the students, and it was a chance for kids who may not be into classroom art to get involved,” she said.
Fifteen students worked with Paul, a former Healesville High School student who works in visual art, graphic design and urban murals.
“For me, it’s about coming back to my old school and helping change the culture of it,” Paul said.
“This is a bit of a dead zone in the school, so it is about activating this area … adding some colour on walls that have not changed in 20 years.”
“Everyone loves colour; it inspires the kids, but it inspires everyone from the cleaners and office people to the teachers and visitors.”
He praised the students who worked on the mural, saying they were committed to making a change in their school.
“When you do a big project like this, it attracts people who are doing it because they want to, and they stay right to the end,” he said.
The exhibition include all the visual arts such as painting, photography, film, media, textiles and clay, but it is also an interactive experience.
“We have all this space, so we have put an emphasis on having interactive spaces,” Stephanie explained.
“It’s about immersion in these different spaces where you have sound, lighting, you can put yourself in the picture.
“More interaction means it’s not just a show for our students and their families, but that it opens it up to the wider community, kids, families … everyone.”
Paul and Stephanie expressed their appreciation for the support they have received for the mural project and art show.
“You need organisations like the Bendigo Community Bank and the council to make these types of things happen,” Paul said.
Stephanie said having Paul, as a former student, made the connection particularly rewarding.
“It’s good to have the support of these organisations in the community to enable us to link with the wider community, and to enable us to have people like Paul working and investing with these kids,” she said.
The Healesville High School Art Factory Art Show 2017 grand opening is on Wednesday, 25 October from 5pm to 7pm, and is open on the following Thursday and Friday afternoons from 4pm to 6pm.
Phone the school on 5962 4088 or visit www.healesvillehs.vic.edu.au for more information.
