An aerosol art workshop held in January has transformed an old Wakefield Regional Council Depot shed into a work of art. The Snowtown subcommittee of Wakefield Regional Council’s Youth Advisory Committee (YAC), together with the Snowtown Card Social Club, the Snowtown Progress Association and Community Arts of South Australia created a 20 metre mural on the front of the shed.
Established in 2002, Wakefield’s YAC comprises 12 high school aged young people, including eight from the Snowtown area.
Council’s Community Development Officer, Janine Hinton, said the YAC wanted to work with the community to upgrade the old galvanised building as it was an eyesore.
“They are also keen to use it as a youth space,” she said.
YAC prepared a successful funding application to Country Arts South Australia. They then used this funding to employ James Cochran, a renowned artist who recently returned from exhibiting his work in Paris.
The young people and members of the Card Social Club met to discuss a design and settled on a landscape depicting areas surrounding Snowtown. The Card Social Club members toured the region, taking photos and then met with the YAC to choose a number of photographs for the mural. The photos were placed on a computer print of the shed and sent to James Cochran.
Janine Hinton said ten people participated in the aerosol workshop, including six young people, three retired gentlemen and a teacher from the Snowtown Area School.
“James taught them aerosol art techniques using old MDF boards,” she said. “The participants then used their new skills and made a start on the shed. The enthusiasm of the participants contributed to the mural being finished in one day, with James adding more detail the following day.”
Located east of the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, Snowtown is suffering from the drought.
Janine Hinton said this recent transformation has become a talking point and has increased the resilience of the townspeople and inspired the development of further town improvements.
For further information contact Janine Hinton on (08) 8862 0800.
