Elaine Camlin and Megan Cameron with some of the 120 artworks that will form a community mural. Photo: Chris Roe.
There’s something awesome on the way for Riverina kids as the Wagga Wagga Marketplace prepares to unveil a new indoor playpark.
Not only will it reach high into the ceiling in the sunny spot outside Casey’s Toys, but it will have a regional theme and feature more than 100 local artworks.
“We really wanted this to be the community’s playground, not just another run of the mill design,” said Wagga Marketplace community marketing manager Chloe Sutton.
“We thought about what represents our community and workshopped ideas with some of the locals and we came up with the beautiful canola fields and the farming which surrounds Wagga and the Riverina region.”
Locals will have the chance to choose the name of the new playground. Photo: Supplied.
The new playground will include a windmill and a giant silo, complete with its own original silo art, and locals are invited to vote on a name for the new facility.
“They weren’t small scale pieces so we needed to find local artists or art studios that could collaborate with us to design these,” Chloe explained.
“Through that journey we have found some wonderful artists and art groups to help come up with these artworks.”
Megan Cameron has captured the local vibe with her spectacular artwork. Photo: Supplied.
Artist Megan Cameron has a background in graphic design and since moving to Wagga seven years ago, she has found her niche creating highly detailed portraits of working dogs and rural landscapes.
“They contacted me originally because they thought that my style was a good fit for the vision they had, particularly the slippery dip area which is shaped like a silo,” she said.
“So working with that silo art theme I’ve done the big gum tree, the farmer leaning against it with his working dogs.
“We’ve got some Angus cattle and some sheep and of course the beautiful canola and the rolling hills that are really iconic Riverina.”
Megan Cameron puts the finishing touches on the silo design. Photo: Supplied.
To help the Marketplace team connect with local art groups and disability services, Megan brought in printmaker Elaine Camlin from Unique State Art Space.
“Not only because she’s an amazing artist, but because she is involved a lot with the community and has a solid background with art therapy,” said Megan.
“It worked out perfectly because I’ve done the silo artwork, and now I’m able to use my graphic design background to help Elaine put together the community section.”
Elaine said she was thrilled by the idea of creating a community mural.
“They needed a really tight turnaround, so I pitched the idea of having lots of the people that already come into the studio produce original artworks that would then be used in a digital collage,” said Elaine.
“There’s over 120 different artworks that came out of workshops with groups like the Leisure Company, the Art Factory, the Guthrie Collective, Aspect Riverina and STARTTS Wagga with their refugee teens community.
“There’s such an amazing variety of work and now Megan actually has the very difficult job off bringing all these artworks into one single creation.”
The finished artwork will be unveiled along with the spectacular new playground on Friday 27 October at the Wagga Wagga Marketplace.
Loading ...
