A Mural for Middlemore

Earlier in the year, the Boys’ School was approached by the Hector Hospital Trust to paint a mural for one of the reception areas at Middlemore Hospital. The idea was stored away and, at the end of the year, selected Year 8 boys came together to work collectively on this community service project.

Because of the nature of the intended site, and the need for the area to be used by the hospital without interruption, the decision was made to prepare a set of canvases at school to ensure high quality work and to be able to actively engage the boys in the design, painting and final installation of the mural.

The theme of falling leaves was picked and six teams of boys embarked on designing their own composition within the context of the theme. The six ideas were transferred to the 600 x 1500 cm canvases and painted with a similar treatment so the final artwork would look like a set rather than a group of individual ideas.

It took over 150 ‘boy hours’ of painting to create the six canvases. Each canvas was given several different coats of paint and some textured top coats. The murals were then transported out to the hospital to be hung, but first the boys prepared the site, painting rectangles of  background colour on the wall to give the paintings a frame to sit within. The artworks were then proudly hung.

On the final day, all the boys met with the local kamatua who blessed the paintings and thanked the boys for the work they had done. The boys were proud of their work, understanding the special significance of the project they had undertaken.