Students' mural brightens Waipa | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

A bleak, cold concrete wall no longer looms in the forest, thanks to the creative talents of the Waiariki Institute of Technology art department.

Tutor Debbi Thyne and her second-year art students have created a modern mural for the institute's Forestry School at Waipa, near Rotorua.

Ms Thyne said the Forestry School allowed her to come up with an idea for a mural on her own terms that would be appropriate for the location.

"The Forestry School wanted to cheer up the glum concrete surface at its Waipa forestry campus, so I wanted them to be light saturated with subtle colours to brighten up the dark, gothic pine forest surrounding the site," she said.

The vibrant work is painted on six panels 1800cm wide and 1200cm high. It is a mix of three different designs, which represent the less visible foliage, birds and indigenous trees of the forest, as well as a design showing mountainbiking within the forest.

Ms Thyne said: "Indigenous birds evoke guardianship and restoration of the natural forests that are their habitat and cyclists signify the sustainable recreation of mountainbiking within the forest."

Painting the mural is part of the second-year art students' course module.

Student Miria Kalman said it was cool that they got to do something that would be seen by the community. She said working as a group brought the class closer together.

Fellow student Claire Chilvers said the mural represented the multi-use the forest industry brought to Rotorua, as all the different aspects worked together.

Ms Thyne said painting the mural was a nice way to build some professional practice into the course, while also tying into specific learning outcomes.

"Painting site-specific murals is valuable for students because they must consider the way the art responds to an environment. Designs should communicate positively to those who inhabit the site for both commercial and recreational purposes," she said.