Project: Student explores newfound passion through work placements

The roads and streets of Palmerston North are becoming an artist’s playground. Having the freedom to work with industry by creating art around the city with the Council’s support is an illustrator’s dream. Opportunities like this come along quite often in our area for our artists nowadays – this enables the public and industries to see art as a viable means of beautifying their surroundings and promoting their businesses.

Chalk art is becoming popular as a temporary medium for fun and promotion, and UCOL has been able to engage with our communities by using this type of art. Creating these artworks is not as easy as we may think - it requires lots of specialist high-pigmented chalk, an understanding of how chalk and paint interact with various environments and conditions, and working out the costs and supplies. This is all part of the Workhub learning for their future as an illustrator.

This all started four years ago when UCOL was asked if they would consider creating some of the first road graphics for the city. The UCOL Creative Industries Facilitator was approached to see if we would be interested in creating a graphic design for the road in three weeks, which is ready for the road team. This was a trial by fire for the student, Jason. The planning and design had to be completed fast, accurately and professionally.  Jason completed an excellent task, and the road looked awesome!

Public interaction is another area students need to navigate as students Dearna and Laura learned when creating their artwork. Being friendly and getting on with the job is sometimes a challenging mix. Students really enjoyed this mix of chatting and creating - just like on a job site.