Local students brighten up Barwon Women’s and Children’s site

Catherine: Hello, I am Catherine.

Viyaan: My name is Viyaan.

Gracie: My name is Gracie.

Catherine: I go to South Geelong Primary School.

Gracie: I go to Torquay College

Viyaan: and I go to Wangala Primary School.

Gracie: My picture is about a cute mushroom village, and it was inspired by this mushroom sculpture that I made out of clay.

Viyaan: My drawing is about space and it's all about the planets.

Catherine: I drew a tree resembling happiness and positivity in the dark times, or when people are feeling worried.

[Text on screen: Louise Kahle – Principal, Torquay College]

Louise: Our school decided to participate in this artwork initiative because the arts is such an important aspect of our curriculum. So this really gave students an opportunity to showcase their skills in this area.

[Text on screen: Allison Whytcross – Visual & Performing Arts Specialist Teacher, Wangala Primary School]

Allison: It was a great experience getting them to create the art because they were so excited about having their art displayed.

[Text on screen: Lauren Walsh – Visual Arts teacher, South Geelong Primary School]

Lauren: Students were invited to come and participate in this campaign in art club at lunchtime, so they volunteered their time. They came and brainstormed some ideas of things that make them feel happy and then set off to do their artworks.

Allison: Oh, Viyaan was over the moon to have his artwork included and his family were too.

Viyaan: I'm very excited to see my artwork outside the hospital because it'll remind everyone all about their families and friends. I want everyone to be happy and excited to see their families.

Lauren: I think Catherine was initially really surprised to have her artwork included. However, now that she's accepted that hers is gorgeous, she is feeling quite humbled, but also quite honoured at the same time.

Catherine: It makes me feel good because other people hopefully will be feeling good when they see this.

Lauren: Catherine's artwork it just makes you smile. It's so uplifting, and it was clear to see why hers was chosen from our school.

Gracie: I'm pretty excited. It's like that's gonna be there for years, basically,

Louise: It's really important that we invest more in women's healthcare and children's healthcare in the Geelong region.

Allison: It shows the partnership between our health services and the community. It also gives our talented students a chance to shine.

Lauren: It gives children a real life platform to create an artwork for and then show it off in a, you know, a wider community than our school. Giving them lots of confidence to really go for it and show off their great artwork.

Gracie: Why was the mushroom invited to the party? Because he was a fun guy.

[Images: A sliding transition screen then displays the Barwon Health logo, then the Victorian Health Building Authority and Victoria State Government logos and the url vhba.vic.gov.au]

[End of transcript]