Cardinia Shire kids to co-create a kaleidoscope of butterflies for Rix Road Integrated Child and Fam…

School aged children are invited to join artist Nick Athanasiou on behalf of his company Skunk Control for two free art workshops on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 August at the Cardinia Cultural Centre to help design a kinetic butterfly sculpture commissioned for Cardinia Shire Council’s new Rix Road Integrated Child and Family Centre. 

The design, incorporating light and movement, features 23 different-coloured butterflies 60 centimetres across made of steel and glass, and inlaid with optical film to refract colour and paint, surrounding the landscape in light. 

The design draws inspiration from local butterfly species found in Cardinia Shire’s healthland areas including Jalmenus evagoras also known as the Imperial Hairstreak or Imperial Blue and Oreixenica correae or the Correa Brown. 

Skunk Control specialises in creating engaging works that provide opportunities for discovery and delight, drawing on technology, design and art and their backgrounds in engineering, science and education. 

“We’re inviting local children to help select the colours used in the final artwork and make their very own butterfly using the same special optical filters used by the artists,” explained Cr Brett Owen, Mayor of Cardinia Shire. 

“This is a great opportunity for children to get involved in the Rix Road project and have input into what the final sculpture will look like.” 

“We’re a growth area and we have a lot of kids in our community so it’s important we listen to them and get them involved. It will be fantastic for children to turn up to the new centre and be able to say ‘I helped make that’. It will give them a real sense of ownership and agency.” 

“This is a great opportunity for local kids to get involved, not just in an artistic sense but to also investigate the science behind colour and light.” 

“On a personal note, I can’t think of a more welcoming or cheerful way to enter a building than to see a kaleidoscope of butterflies,” said the Mayor. 

Following the workshop, the completed butterflies will be gathered by the artist and the most popular colour scheme proposed will be used for the art installation. 

These workshops will be held in line with Cardinia Shire Council’s COVIDSafe plan and numbers are strictly limited.  

For more information and to register your interest, visit https://bit.ly/childrens-art-workshop or call the Cardinia Cultural Centre team on 1300 787 624.