Tree Mural

At Elonera Montessori School I created a unit of work and a year-long project to paint a mural on the exterior wall of the Stage 3 classrooms. The project was led by Stage 4, 5 & 6 students who; organised, assigned project roles, and painted the mural. Students connected with Access Arts Facilitator from the National Art Museum in Canberra via zoom to speak about how to create collaborative community artworks. Students then created a video pitch to the board members of the school asking permission to create the project and seeking funding from them. They also selected colours and themes for the work. 

As well as the organisational components of the project, students were given the task to teach a stage 3 student and over a two week period, older students peer-taught an art lesson to a younger class. The lesson was focused on drawing the large gum trees which lined the perimeter of the school, directly opposite the wall where the mural would be painted. These initial student drawings formed the basis of the mural, each Stage 3 student’s drawn tree was enlarged, colour added and painted on the wall, the mural thus reflecting the surrounding environment and creating an amphitheatre of trees within the space.

This project connected students to art beyond the structure of the school environment, having various stages collaborate and create their own idea and design for the mural. Students had to seek permission from the school board, and relayed information to parents through the newsletter which gave a real world audience to their efforts. Verbal feedback from students reported a sense of connectedness and deep learning of how to create a mural. Students in younger years reported feeling a sense of connection to older peers with mentor/mentee relationships being formed, and a feeling of pride in the work they had created and exhibited. Overall wellbeing for this project was high, as students supported each other and were empowered through discovery learning to persist and problem solve as they faced challenges.

At the core of my ethos is creating collaborative projects which are led by the participants. Having a project which is open ended so ideas, roles, actions and decisions are led by the participants creates an authentic connection and sense of ownership by the participants.