Connecting communities with art that inspires
Katherine Gail is an artist and muralist who has made a powerful contribution to the community of St. Albans in Victoria’s north-west, creating a hand-painted mural that illustrates the Victorian government’s recycling and sustainability initiative ‘Small Acts, Big Impact’.
Katherine’s design for the mural is a beautiful representation of how all kinds of people in local communities can do their part to create a sustainable future for Victoria. She stated, “I knew I wanted to create a mural that really revealed that potent beauty that exists in this fragile connection between humans and nature.”
Katie Pahlow, Director of Community Action at Sustainability Victoria is hoping that more art projects like this across the state will encourage people to reflect and be inspired to contribute small acts that have a big impact.
“It’s an opportunity, they can see themselves in the imagery and it gives you that sense of possibility and transformation.”
Katherine’s mural can be seen at Princess Street, St. Albans on the side of the Woolworths building and has fast become a must-see attraction in the area.
“I do think there is direct contact with the community when you work with art. So, I’m really happy that many organisations, big and small, are supporting public art as part of their own strategies.”
Sustainability Victoria’s Small Acts, Big Impact campaign aims to make it easier for all Victorians to reduce waste and recycle more by making simple changes at home.
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Presented by:
Katherine Gailer – “KATIRA”
Artist and MuralistKatie Pahlow
Director, Community Action, Sustainability Victoria[The visuals during this webinar are of each speaker speaking to camera, and also of Katherine Gailer painting a large mural on a concrete wall and people gathering to look at the mural when it is finished]
Katherine Gailer:
Art for me personally is like oxygen. It is the place where I don’t need to be anyone else. I think it’s the place where I can communicate the best. And on a bigger picture I think art really is a great way for us to digest and evolve and transform our lives.
From the beginning I knew I wanted to create a mural that really revealed that potent beauty that exists in this fragile connection between humans and nature and how can we with small acts be part of this new world in which we aim to create more connection.
Katie Pahlow:
One of the things we want to do with small acts is really have people register that it’s something that they can do at home every day. And art is this really great connector for everybody in the community. It’s an opportunity they can see themselves in the imagery and it gives you that sense of possibility and transformation.
So I feel really encouraged that this piece of art will be a day to day reminder to people that the small things that they do in their daily life can make a big impact.
Katherine Gailer:
I hope the mural invites the public in general to reflect on our ability to affect change by choosing small acts and to be able to recycle more and reduce our waste as well as value our resources.
Katie Pahlow:
I like the aspect that the mural is connecting that daily activity in your household to nature through the butterflies, the vines that are growing. It’s really telling that story, what you do can turn into something incredible if we make those small acts part of our day.
Katherine Gailer:
I do think that there is direct contact with the community when you work with art. So I’m really happy that many organisations from big and small are supporting public art as part of their own strategies. For the CALD community I hope murals like this really do create a sense of belonging and spread more positivity around multiculturalism and woman empowerment.
(Music Playing)
[Visual of slide with text saying ‘Small acts make a big impact’]
[Closing visual of slide with text saying ‘Sustainability Victoria’, ‘Victoria State Government’, ‘sustainability.vic.gov.au/small-acts-general’, ‘Authorised by Sustainability Victoria, 321 Exhibition St, Melbourne’]
[End of Transcript]