One of Ashmont Public School’s most beloved figures Aunty Louise Niki has been immortalised, with her image painted on a mural at Jack Mission Oval. Photo: Wagga Wagga City Council.
Ashmont Public School’s former Aboriginal education officer Aunty Louise Niki has had her dedication to the school immortalised, with a mural of her painted on the club rooms at Jack Mission Oval.
The mural was painted by students of Ashmont Public School in collaboration with artists Amanda Newman and Natalie L Simmons as part of Wagga Wagga City Council’s (WWCC) Public Art Plan.
Aunty Louise passed away in 2019 and served at the public school for over 20 years. She has been remembered as a popular and significant figure of the school, with many students and staff remembering her fondly.
Wagga Wagga City Council’s Cultural Officer Lauren Reynolds said the idea for including Aunty Louise as part of the mural stemmed from a workshop conducted at Ashmont Public School, with many putting her name forward as the person who should be honoured.
“The school supplied an image of her [Aunty Louise] and one of the artists, Amanda Newman was able to recreate the photo-realistic image on one of the walls,” Ms Reynolds said.
“The mural wraps all the way around the building, but she’s placed on a wall that faces the school, so she’s still looking over the school and all the other kids in the neighbourhood.
“She’s presented beside an emu constellation, which represents elders who have passed.”
The mural was painted by Stage Two students from Ashmont Public School after several workshops to decide what should be featured on the building. Photo: Wagga Wagga City Council.
Ms Renyolds said WWCC wanted the latest installation of their public art plan to be something that was bright and colourful while also containing a First Nations storytelling element.
“Ashmont has a very large population of First Nations people, so we felt like that was a very fitting place for the mural,” she said.
“We then selected Amanda and Natalie to assist students of the school to get the mural up. It’s been a really great and beneficial collaboration, not only for the two artists and the students but for the broader Ashmont community.”
A requirement for the installation as part of the art plan was to include a school in the collaboration of workshopping and painting the mural. Ashmont Public School Assistant Principal Susan Brasier said members of the school leadership team met with members of WWCC to decide which artists should be involved in the project.
“One of our Stage Two classes as well as our leadership team did a workshop in the lead-up to the painting to discuss what they’d like to see on the mural,” Ms Braiser said.
“They shared some suggestions and ideas and ultimately the suggestion of depicting Aunty Louise Niki came from two of our current AEOs (Aboriginal education officers).
“The students were very excited to take part and help paint the mural. For them, they really enjoy looking at Aunty Louise’s picture every day. The students and their families really respected her and being able to see her every day is very important for our school community.”
Aunty Louise Niki’s mural can be found at Jack Mission Park in Ashmont.
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