Work in Schools
I have worked on several school projects mostly in primary schools. In 2012 I created a mural to brighten a dull blank wall with the grade 6 students at Welshpool primary school, Victoria.
Creating story as metaphor: The Magical Adventures of the Rainbow Serpent

This project was a powerful example of how story as metaphor can be used for community recovery. I was working with the Royal Children's Hospital at Buxton Primary School in their 'Cartwheels' program, following the Black Saturday bush fires. We started with making artworks to go into the new playground for Marysville. We created a 5 metre mosaic rainbow snake, mainly because everyone kept drawing snakes and rainbows in our after school art class, that we thought we'd combine them and make one huge mosaic. Also we had lost a big mural that we had painted three years previously on the back of the kindergarten, that had a big long snake and everybody's handprints on it; so it seemed a good fit.
the process

Cartwheels gave us a great platform to write stories, make clay sculptures and create puppets out of the sleeves of old jumpers that had been donated (but not used) to the material aide centre. We made sets out of the discarded polling booths from the 2010 federal election (a great lesson in recycling) and filmed their puppet shows. This was edited by a professional film maker and along with stills and children's voiceovers creating a series of short films which were presented to the community, along with a stage performance, songs, circus acts, exploding popcorn barrels... you name it!
This performance was based on the story that I pulled together from listening to all of the children's stories, and interpreting the mythology that emerged over the 18 months we worked together following the disaster. I used my graphic design skills to publish a book for the school. See the slideshow below or a copy of the pdf can be downloaded here:
This performance was based on the story that I pulled together from listening to all of the children's stories, and interpreting the mythology that emerged over the 18 months we worked together following the disaster. I used my graphic design skills to publish a book for the school. See the slideshow below or a copy of the pdf can be downloaded here:

rainbowserpent_lr.pdf |
After School Art

Our after school art program following the fires was very rich and diverse. The children were involved in many projects that expanded their skills, and gave them a sense of contributing to the wider community. Here we painted chairs and tables that were made by the men's shed for the local kindergarten.
The after school art program involved six local artists (forming TAG - the Triangle Arts Group), initially funded by Regional Arts Victoria, and then the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund. Eventually it became incorporated into Royal Children's Hospital & Berry Street's Cartwheels program, involving seven local primary schools impacted by the 2009 bush fires. I was TAG's founder and president for its first year of incorporation.
The after school art program involved six local artists (forming TAG - the Triangle Arts Group), initially funded by Regional Arts Victoria, and then the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund. Eventually it became incorporated into Royal Children's Hospital & Berry Street's Cartwheels program, involving seven local primary schools impacted by the 2009 bush fires. I was TAG's founder and president for its first year of incorporation.