Bird Song Welcome Wall. 2020. Mural commission, Grimwade Community Centre South West Health Care Lismore & District Health Service.
During 2018 I formed a connection with the Tone Deaf Choir through my work on Corangmite Shire’s Age-friendly Project. I was commissioned by Lismore & District Health Service to develop an artwork that engendered social connection. This project was funding by a Regional Arts Victoria Quick Response Grant.
Bird Song Welcome Wall draws on my connection to the Tone Deaf Choir while celebrating the diversity of bird life that can be heard throughout the district – a metaphor of course for the rich community life that animates this pragmatic building. The artwork incorporates birds species that are indigenous to the Lismore- Derrinallum district: Red Rumped Parrot (grass Parrot); Black Cockatoos; Brolgas; and several smaller species including the small grassland bird and a pair of rufus song larks.
Two Yam Daisies/Murnong flowers enmesh with the form of Mt Elephant, acknowledging the deep and on-going connection of the area’s first people with this sacred and rich Country. The patchwork of coloured squares represents the district’s rich farm land and many different families that this nourishes.
Acrylic sheet has been used add a textural layer while allowing coloured light through the artwork and into the entry hall behind it – creating a space that shelters and embraces those who frequent this important and familiar space.
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BeckyNevinBerger 