Drug Aware Street Art Workshop
Regional Arts WA
In 2018, young emerging artist Brandon Watson volunteered for the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Heartwalk street mural event.
He worked alongside renowned street artists Brenton See and Fudge (of Fudge Works), assisting in completing their murals for the event and gaining experience in the creative process.
Six months later in his hometown of Merredin, Brandon and sister Brooke decided they wanted to get together a group of young people to paint their own Mural in the local park/skate park.
Picture by Brooke Watson.
After talking to the local Shire, police and the Avon Youth Centre they put together a plan for a three-day street art workshop which would run in the January holidays. With their plan ready, they applied to the Drug Aware YCulture Regional grant to support the costs of their project materials and artist fees. They were successful and now we get to share their story!
The team managed to deliver holiday workshops and build up a squad of 30 young people to paint the mural, which now stands tall in the Merredin Skate Park.
Picture by Brooke Watson.
“I learnt that no matter how well you plan something, things will come up and you may have to deviate from the plan. We achieved our goals in communicating a Drug Awareness message both throughout the project and through the mural. The mural now stands as a reminder to the community.”
– Brooke (24), project coordinator.
As the lead artist, Brandon guided the young people through the design and creation the mural.
By partnering with the local police the young coordinators gained an extra pair of hands for the painting of the mural as well as access to some extra insight on being #drugaware which was shared with the participants.
Picture by Brooke Watson.
Looking to run your own youth arts workshop? Drug Aware YCulture Regional is open to regional people aged 12-26 for skills development across any artform.
