BUILDING ARTWORKS

🌿 Celebrating Culture Through Art – Artist Visit and Community Collaboration

Mickleham Secondary College were honoured to welcome Aboriginal artist Tinika Clifford, who shared her stunning artworks and deep cultural knowledge with our school community. Last year our school community connected with Tinika through her connections with a local primary school. 

Our Student Representative Council (SRC) met with her to discuss ideas for using art to create building signage for our school buildings. All of our buildings are named after native plants: Acacia, Banksia, Correa, Darwinia, Eucalypt and Ferns. The student workshopped ideas with Tinika and discussed the design elements they thought would work as well as what other things we could consider linked to indigenous culture. The project is a true collaboration between Tinika and our students, whose ideas and feedback helped shape the final pieces.

At the grand unveiling on 15th May, six vibrant artworks were shared, each representing the native plants our buildings are named after, a corresponding native animal linked to the plants such as Yellowtail Cockatoo, Possum, Koala, and Kangaroos. Cultural elements such as totems, navigation by stars, personal symbols linked to our school community and seasonal movements. The artworks are themed around land, family, spirit, and connection using symbols, colours, and meaningful textures. Tinika explained how each brush stroke was deliberate, with natural elements and traditional techniques woven into every piece.

Our students learned about the significance of totems, animal tracks, and Dreamtime stories that carry messages of respect, care, and guidance. Tinika’s personal totem is the Yellowtail – a tribute to her cultural identity and family history and shared a beautiful representation of that with us as well as her family’s totem of the possum.

Our students spent time discussing the meaning of each piece and asking Tinika questions to learn about the art, flora, fauna and how each piece was inspired. Inspiration for each piece also came from conversations with students, their cultural questions, and the school location and environment. Tanika's children, family, and ancestors are central to her inspiration, reflecting a strong connection to kin and culture.

The artworks will be shared with the whole school during an assembly and proudly displayed around the school sparking discussions about local flora, fauna, and Aboriginal perspectives. A special thank you to Tanika for her time, passion, and generosity in sharing her stories and talents with us. We are delighted to have been able to participate in a collaboration project our students can be proud of and can share with future generations of students at MSC.