Peter Moyes Anglican Community School

PETER MOYES ANGLICAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL

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INDIGENOUS ARTWORKS BRING NEW LIFE TO CAMPUS

The campus of Peter Moyes Anglican Community School (PMACS) has had a bright new facelift, thanks to three new Aboriginal artworks throughout the School. PMACS Deans of Students, Alison Grey and Nicole Brown, successfully applied to the Anglican Schools Commission’s Special Mission Fund in 2021 to commission a local Indigenous artist to create a series of vibrant murals.

Local Noongar/Arrernte artist, Jade Dolman, spent time researching the cultural connection of the part of Whadjuk boodjar (land) the School resides on and designed the artwork to reflect these connections. Her designs reflect the colours of the boodjar and wardan (ocean), and native flora and fauna.

The mural in the Kindy/Pre-Primary playground includes the School colours of yellow, blue and green, and also features the native plant Banksia Attenuata. Jade explains the location of the School is part of the Banksia Woodlands, which is why she chose to feature the native Banksia Attenuata on the mural. The plant is used by Noongar people to make a sweet tea, as a torch when lit, or as a hairbrush! The mural in the Secondary School courtyard presented the first ever opportunity for Jade to work on a rounded wall.

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“I’ve never painted a round wall before, so this was a pretty exciting surface,” she said. She also explains the use of the imagery: “The cockatoo is a very special animal to me, as well as my family, and to Noongars. It represents healing and it’s kind of like our connection to people, to our ancestors and people that have passed on.” The round wall mural also features native flora such as Geraldton Wax, Milk Maids and Pink Fairy Orchids.

The Bush Tucker Garden mural features the worl (sky) and djinda (stars). Stars are very much connected to children in Dreamtime stories. This mural also features waterways, which represents the underground water in our part of Noongar country, which connects the major lakes in the area. The painting also features ‘Yandjip’, the bulrush reeds that surround the wetlands, which are a very important food source for Noongar people. Jade said the circles and lines within the waterways were the seasonal journey lines.

Images 1. Artist Jade Dolman with her finished artwork in the Secondary

School courtyard. 2. Secondary School courtyard mural. 3. Kindy/Pre-Primary playground mural. 4. Mural in Bush Tucker Garden “As the seasons change and we can see the changes in the environment, Noongars would travel to a different place to set up their camp, so this painting is kind of like a big journey, or a big map,” she said. Students, staff and parents have loved exploring the murals and learning about the cultural significance and symbolism behind each design. You can find more of Jade’s amazing work at www.jdpenangke.com or @jdpenangke on social media.