Home-Motueka District Museum

Murals

When deciding on our focus we looked carefully at the various aspects of the museum which backs onto the school. The children were particularly interested in the mural facing the school. This became our inquiry unit.

	We thought about the mural and why it was there. We came up with a variety of questions then decided on three we wanted to research as a class. Our three questions were- Who painted it? How long has it been there? Why was it put there?
We also looked around the town and discovered a variety of other murals painted on the walls.
	Mrs Dodgshun, one of our teachers, told us a local artist, Graeme Stradling, painted our mural and organised for him to visit the class. We found out he had help from his wife and children as well as other people in the community. It was painted in 1995. That was twelve years ago! The Stradlings wanted to improve the look of the Museum's back wall. Mrs Stradling had been on a class trip to the Able Tasman National Park and thought a mural similar to some of the things she saw would look good.
We found out the Stradling boys are painted sitting in a yacht in another mural which was done by a friend of theirs.
	During art time we looked at small sections of our mural and made observational drawings. Natasha and Alana did well. Can you spot the log?