Students’ art celebrates NAIDOC Week in Manly

NAIDOC Week inspired artwork from students at Manly Village Public School is now on display in Manly town centre.  

The 36 pieces of art created by students from kindergarten to Year 6 have been inspired by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture with paintings featuring native wildlife, landscapes and messages of hope.

These beautiful artworks were turned into a collage and are now on display in a vacant shop window on Darley Road, Manly.

Philippa Becker, Principal at Manly Village Public School said: “Our school community has been thrilled to be able to view the beautiful artworks which now hang proudly in an empty shopfront on the corner of Darley Road and Wentworth Street.

“Across all curriculum areas and in planning for teaching and learning, our school always aims to embed Aboriginal history, traditions and contemporary Aboriginal perspectives. NAIDOC Week enables us to take a deeper dive into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture as an important part of each curriculum area.”

With COVID-19 hitting the retail industry hard, we’ve sadly seen many vacant shops throughout our villages on the Northern Beaches.

By working with the landlord, we were able to create something beautiful in the Darley Road vacant shop window which celebrated NAIDOC Week, put a spotlight on local young people and created better amenity in Manly.

We’ve been supporting local businesses wherever we can during COVID-19 with fee waivers on footpath merchandising, outdoor dining, environmental health checks and more. Find out about our business support package.

NAIDOC Week runs until Sunday 15 November and this year's theme 'Always Was, Always Will Be.' recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years.