What do you get when you put an artist, a historian, an Aboriginal Elder and some high school students together?

You get a beautiful mosaic which tells the story of Ginninderra Creek, a natural waterway on the boundary of the Ginninderry project which holds important memories for the local people, the rural families who farmed both sides of the creek and the Ngunnawal people.

Combining the skills of Belconnen Community Services Bungee Youth Resilience Program, Belconnen High School, artist Tony Steele, Ngunnawal Elder Wally Bell and the Ginninderry Local History Study, the Ginninderra Creek Mosaic project is an initiative of CREATE, the Arts and Culture Program of Ginninderry.

Bungee is an inclusive resilience building program that promotes emotional wellbeing through the arts. The program supports young people (aged 5-18) to participate in activities designed to build resilience, enhance well-being and social and emotional health.

Offering a suite of art based programs in schools and community settings the program employs professional artists and support workers who develop a series of workshops that are tailored to the individual skill level, need and interest of the participants.

Ginninderry approached the Bungee team about creating an artwork from one of the horizontal concrete plinths at the Link building. The Ginninderry Local History Study team provided input to the project by detailing the many stories of Ginninderra Creek that they were unearthing during the history study.

Ngunnawal Elder Wally Bell was then engaged to take both groups and the students for a walk along Ginninderry Creek to tell the stories about the Ngunnawal people’s experiences of the creek.

Ginninderra Creek mosaic was unveiled on 15 December 2017 as part of the first residents Christmas event at The Link. Speakers at the unveiling  including Dira Horne, CEO of Belconnen Community Services and Wally Bell, Ngunnawal Elder both expressed appreciation for the support that Ginninderry provides to the arts, Aboriginal and community services sectors with these projects.

The result is a beautiful mosaic in the grounds of the Link Community Facility at Strathnairn that will tell the Ginninderra Creek story for many years to come.