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SOCIAL JUSTICE
Art for a furry cause K
oalas are adored around the world and, when their habitat was devastated during the 2020 bushfires, we knew we had to do something to help. The Koala Project was born and has resulted in the creation of 23 large-scale Koala Sculptures decorated by Haileybury students and leading Australian artists. With varying designs and colours, the lifesize Koala Sculptures are stunning pieces of art. The Project will be celebrated in August with a live auction of the unique items with funds raised going to the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF). Last year, artists and LEAP students from our Early Learning Centres, Junior School and Middle School across Haileybury Rendall School and Haileybury’s four Melbourne campuses, began working on an immersive parallel collaboration between the art industry and our Haileybury Art community. While koalas aren’t native to the NT it was a wonderful opportunity for Haileybury Rendall School to work closely with Haileybury Melbourne on such a creative project, for a worthy cause. This good news event is sure to be one of the most inspiring and joyful celebrations of the year. Artists involved include Pamela Irving, whose imagery across painting, drawing and sculpture evokes humour, storytelling and irony. Her art is held in private and public collections internationally.
Students from the Ochre Art elective class created their design based on motifs from their natural world and homelands. Boab trees from the Kimberley region, water lilies from Kakadu wetlands, dragonflies evident of the dry season, stingrays from Saltwater locations and interweaving designs of circles, lines and dots that are part of the aesthetic of Indigenous art. The AKF is the principal non-profit, nongovernment organisation dedicated to the effective management and conservation of koalas and their habitat. Its main goals are to refine and update the Koala Habitat Atlas mapping of all wild koala habitats and to get the Koala Protection Act enacted to ensure koalas and their habitat are protected. The ethos of the Koala Project is to foster our students’ connection with the Creative Arts industry. Through the parallel participation with seven established and leading Australian artists, the project is a rare and amazing out-of-classroom opportunity for our students. An online auction will be held later in the year. The Haileybury Rendall School community will be contacted closer to the date to register to bid. So stay tuned and get those bidding panels ready … we already know which Koala we want for ourselves!
