To turn a graffiti prone area into a public artwork, Auburn Council library and community development staff developed an art project called Drawn to Auburn.
The project involved adolescents and young people who regularly use the library, to help create a defined youth space within the library and to work on art panels to form a large artwork to cover a whole wall.
A number of workshops were held and facilitated by Auburn Library with a group of young artists. Concepts and designs were developed at these workshops and individual and collective artworks were created.
A local artist arranged and completed the public art work, incorporating written poetry in the final design. The final work reflects residents’ feelings about the local community and their sense of belonging.
“Auburn Library faces challenges with pre adolescents and young people who use the library due to lack of defined youth space for them to hang out in,” said Council’s General Manager, John Burgess. “Ongoing behaviour and graffiti problems within the library got our staff thinking about ways to address the needs of pre adolescents and young people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in Auburn.
“We hope that participating in this public artwork will help give local young people a sense of ownership of the library and its facilities and will also encourage a sense of belonging. The public artwork will be a striking and welcoming feature for all library users.”
As well as contributing to the social wellbeing of Auburn Library as a place, the public artwork has also provided much needed opportunities for young people in Auburn to be involved in artistic recreational activities.
A study published in 2005, ‘Bridging the Pre adolescent Gap: Addressing the needs of 8–12 year olds of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in the Auburn Local Government Area’ indicates that 23 per cent of local service providers and 17 per cent of parents thought that more art based services were required in the Auburn LGA.
Fifty per cent of high school students in the same study indicated that one of the things they most liked about going to High School was the opportunity to take part in art and craft activities.
Drawn to Auburn won the Bess Thomas Award and the Macquarie University Drawing Innovation Award.
