We created this mural in our home community of Port Melbourne in 2018 with the help of an awesome group of local young people as part of a broader project we participated in with Star Health’s Social Health & Inclusion Port partnership. As part of our involvement, we ran three workshops with the young people, teaching them about art techniques, concept development, mural design and social responsibility in creating outdoor art. The participants then helped write the brief for the artwork that was to become the final public-facing outcome of the project, taking into consideration the various user and community groups.

The mural theme is centred around Port Melbourne (obviously), specifically it’s history, indigenous heritage, location (bayside and close to the city) and natural environment. The young people were charged with community engagement to ensure all local community members felt involved and could contribute to the design process for the artwork.

The young people were tasked with research ideas for the artwork, specifically things they wanted to celebrate about the area. Dan built a final design using all of the participants’ artworks or reference imagery, which was presented to council for approval. We painted the mural over 2 days and guided the young people through the processes of mural production which they were very much involved in.