Galston, Glenorie and Hills Rural News
LUKE KELLY THE MURAL GURU
Originally from the UK, Luke Kelly came to Australia in 2002 and has lived in the Hawkesbury area since 2011.
As a self taught painter, Luke is inspired by Australia’s natural beauty and has an ongoing obsession with capturing our unique birds and wildlife through his art. His passion for teaching and creating public art in and around his community led to him being invited to paint a water tank mural at the tiny Macdonald Valley Public School depicting images of Rainbow Lorikeets, gum flowers and the Macdonald River. Following completion of this, he was asked to paint a series of murals at other schools including Colo Heights, Wisemans Ferry, Windsor, Maroota, Middle Dural and Annangrove, and is currently creating a design at Ebenezer.
The genesis behind each mural creation is in collaboration with Luke, the teachers, students and parents of each of the schools.
Taking inspiration from the local wildlife, native plants and surrounding landscape, each of the designs are unique and special to their location.
Some of these mural projects have been grant funded through the resilience program following the flooding events of 2021 and 2022. For these projects, Luke visited the schools with a small team of artists and painted with the students for the day to get them creating; thinking about their natural environment and area in which they live. The grants were awarded in order for the students to contribute to the creation of a piece of public artwork resulting in an opportunity to celebrate the positives about the area they live in, including reconnecting with the natural beauty and local wildlife. More mural projects planned for the future include both Dural and Arcadia Public Schools.