Eaglehawk
Primary School, Bendigo
Eaglehawk Primary school has been developing our Stephanie Alexander “go for your
life” Kitchen Garden this year. From the outset we decided that we wanted our garden to
be a beautiful, interesting place which both reflected and supported our local community.
To that end we approached Ben and asked him to work as an “Artist in residence” as the
garden was constructed.
Ben’s brief was to work with the children to enhance the garden in the way that he
thought best. We were able to provide eight large poles and 160 kids with vivid
imaginations.
The end result is truly fabulous. Ben and the children developed some designs with
which he has transformed the poles (and other places in the garden as well) The poles
reflect both the theme of ”Growing and Harvesting” and the Koorie heritage of our area.
There are also lots of little hidden touches throughout the garden which you need to look
closely to find.
And, of course, we have our very own “Stephanie Alexander” keeping an eye on the
garden……
The whole process is probably best summed up by the words of some of the children who
were involved…..
"It is an honor to me to have one of my drawings on the totem pole in our school. When I pass away my grandchildren will be able to say that “My pop did that”. It means a lot to me because I am representing the Aboriginals. My design is a snake with Aboriginal painting on it."
Jordan
"I feel happy about the way I have designed my snake. My snake is wrapped around the pole. I kept on practising and I got to the stage where I drew a snake around the pole."
Joel
"I am happy to say that I’m helping and also I like the idea of the poles in the garden. They will represent the people that did it. I like watching Ben do the carving. It was pretty easy to make something that is going to represent us and what we have done in grade 3."
Destany
"My design was a vine twinging around the pole. Ben carved my design and I am looking forward to painting it."
Jess
"Our design was made by our house team “Sword”. We have vines, chickens, sunflowers and lady birds. It is pretty cool to have our drawing carved into a pole. The garden would look pretty plain without the poles. The poles add another dimension into our garden."
Tayla, Alex and Zo
"We helped Ben paint the “Stephanie Alexander Bollard”. We felt happy, awesome and very glad about being asked to do that job. We had to be careful that we didn’t get the paint on our clothes or on the ground. We also had to be careful that we didn’t get the paint in our hair or on our nose, but some people did.
Ben helped us fill the little holes in the wood. Ben taught us to be careful and how to go up and down with the paint brush. He taught us not to get too much paint on the brush – you only have paint about half up the bristles.
We felt relieved when we had finished, because it was hard work and we had sore arms.
We think the our “Stephanie Alexander Bollard” looks extremely beautiful, awesome and fabulous!!!!!"
Jess, Imogen, Jaidyn, Chance, Jasmine and Kelly
.
Kings Park Primary School, St. Albans, Melbourne
Being in need of some colour and life I was invited to work at Kings Park primary school, St Albans, Melbourne to complete a creative project. As the school has a longstanding affiliation with a sister school in Japan an Asian theme was chosen for the first part of the project. A backdrop mural of Mt Kilimanjaro is fronted by bollards of a Ninja, sumo wrestler, and other cultural figures. We also made two others, a gardner and a chef to go in the schools veggie garden. This was complemented by native animals carved from Mt Gambier sandstone and placed in a newly constructed native garden.
Spring Gully Primary School, Bendigo
Here I am chainsaw sculpting native birds at project at Spring Gully primary school, Bendigo. These sculptures decorate the school grounds and add colour and interest in areas suffering effects of the drought. The school has some surrounding bushland with plenty of wildlife so they complement it nicely.
Golden Square Primary School, Bendigo
Here at Golden square primary school, Bendigo I worked with students using the different mediums of paint and sandstone. We have completed this mural of a typical Australian river system depicting flora and fauna including an environmental message, however a large part of the focus of the project has been to mentor and be a role model –particularly for boys who are struggling within the school system. We are currently working with Mt Gambier sandstone which will add a third dimension to the project.
Bridgewater Primary School, Bridgewater on Loddon
This is a mural depicting above and below the river, completed at Bridgewater primary school, Bridgewater on Loddon. The river theme was chosen because of the close proximity of the river but also because of its importance to the town historically and currently. It serves as a colourful, interesting and informative backdrop to the schools new play area.
Kangaroo Flat Primary School, Bendigo
This is an extensive bollard project I did at the new Kangaroo Flat primary school, Bendigo. As you can see the children were extensively involved in all aspects from initial design to the finishing touches of paint and then subsequently an official opening. There are twenty figures in total including a miner, Santa, fireman, tennis player, jockey, chef, and a family with dog.
Comet Hill Primary School, Bendigo
These are bollards of community figures decorating the grounds of Comet Hill primary school, Bendigo. The children designed them all on paper first and I helped them carry their concepts through to the final product. We have everything from a butcher and baker to police woman and wildlife officer.
Eaglehawk Primary school has been developing our Stephanie Alexander “go for your
life” Kitchen Garden this year. From the outset we decided that we wanted our garden to
be a beautiful, interesting place which both reflected and supported our local community.
To that end we approached Ben and asked him to work as an “Artist in residence” as the
garden was constructed.
Ben’s brief was to work with the children to enhance the garden in the way that he
thought best. We were able to provide eight large poles and 160 kids with vivid
imaginations.
The end result is truly fabulous. Ben and the children developed some designs with
which he has transformed the poles (and other places in the garden as well) The poles
reflect both the theme of ”Growing and Harvesting” and the Koorie heritage of our area.
There are also lots of little hidden touches throughout the garden which you need to look
closely to find.
And, of course, we have our very own “Stephanie Alexander” keeping an eye on the
garden……
The whole process is probably best summed up by the words of some of the children who
were involved…..
"It is an honor to me to have one of my drawings on the totem pole in our school. When I pass away my grandchildren will be able to say that “My pop did that”. It means a lot to me because I am representing the Aboriginals. My design is a snake with Aboriginal painting on it."
Jordan
"I feel happy about the way I have designed my snake. My snake is wrapped around the pole. I kept on practising and I got to the stage where I drew a snake around the pole."
Joel
"I am happy to say that I’m helping and also I like the idea of the poles in the garden. They will represent the people that did it. I like watching Ben do the carving. It was pretty easy to make something that is going to represent us and what we have done in grade 3."
Destany
"My design was a vine twinging around the pole. Ben carved my design and I am looking forward to painting it."
Jess
"Our design was made by our house team “Sword”. We have vines, chickens, sunflowers and lady birds. It is pretty cool to have our drawing carved into a pole. The garden would look pretty plain without the poles. The poles add another dimension into our garden."
Tayla, Alex and Zo
"We helped Ben paint the “Stephanie Alexander Bollard”. We felt happy, awesome and very glad about being asked to do that job. We had to be careful that we didn’t get the paint on our clothes or on the ground. We also had to be careful that we didn’t get the paint in our hair or on our nose, but some people did.
Ben helped us fill the little holes in the wood. Ben taught us to be careful and how to go up and down with the paint brush. He taught us not to get too much paint on the brush – you only have paint about half up the bristles.
We felt relieved when we had finished, because it was hard work and we had sore arms.
We think the our “Stephanie Alexander Bollard” looks extremely beautiful, awesome and fabulous!!!!!"
Jess, Imogen, Jaidyn, Chance, Jasmine and Kelly
.
Kings Park Primary School, St. Albans, Melbourne
Being in need of some colour and life I was invited to work at Kings Park primary school, St Albans, Melbourne to complete a creative project. As the school has a longstanding affiliation with a sister school in Japan an Asian theme was chosen for the first part of the project. A backdrop mural of Mt Kilimanjaro is fronted by bollards of a Ninja, sumo wrestler, and other cultural figures. We also made two others, a gardner and a chef to go in the schools veggie garden. This was complemented by native animals carved from Mt Gambier sandstone and placed in a newly constructed native garden.
Spring Gully Primary School, Bendigo
Here I am chainsaw sculpting native birds at project at Spring Gully primary school, Bendigo. These sculptures decorate the school grounds and add colour and interest in areas suffering effects of the drought. The school has some surrounding bushland with plenty of wildlife so they complement it nicely.
Golden Square Primary School, Bendigo
Here at Golden square primary school, Bendigo I worked with students using the different mediums of paint and sandstone. We have completed this mural of a typical Australian river system depicting flora and fauna including an environmental message, however a large part of the focus of the project has been to mentor and be a role model –particularly for boys who are struggling within the school system. We are currently working with Mt Gambier sandstone which will add a third dimension to the project.
Bridgewater Primary School, Bridgewater on Loddon
This is a mural depicting above and below the river, completed at Bridgewater primary school, Bridgewater on Loddon. The river theme was chosen because of the close proximity of the river but also because of its importance to the town historically and currently. It serves as a colourful, interesting and informative backdrop to the schools new play area.
Kangaroo Flat Primary School, Bendigo
This is an extensive bollard project I did at the new Kangaroo Flat primary school, Bendigo. As you can see the children were extensively involved in all aspects from initial design to the finishing touches of paint and then subsequently an official opening. There are twenty figures in total including a miner, Santa, fireman, tennis player, jockey, chef, and a family with dog.
Comet Hill Primary School, Bendigo
These are bollards of community figures decorating the grounds of Comet Hill primary school, Bendigo. The children designed them all on paper first and I helped them carry their concepts through to the final product. We have everything from a butcher and baker to police woman and wildlife officer.