Gladstone Park Shopping Centre has been given a major makeover with the unveiling of a 65-metre wide mural to cover the side wall of the building.
The native-Australian inspired mural was officially unveiled at the centre in a big way, with a choir performance from Gladstone Park Primary School students, singing iconic Australian tunes such as Waltzing Matilda, with Hume mayor Naim Kurt in attendance, and the artist also on hand to celebrate the occasion.
Mayor Kurt said the mural was an important addition to the centre, to celebrate the identity of the community and make Hume residents feel proud to be part of the municipality.
“When I started on council one of the key issues community members and local businesses raised with me was about our shopping precincts,” he said.
“A lot of the feedback I received is that some of our precincts weren’t very inviting.
“One of the ways we wanted to address this was by improving our urban environments.”
Artist Christian Vines was commissioned to complete the piece after a contest was held last year.
He said he wanted to create a fun mural that would be enjoyable for shoppers and passer-bys to see.
“There’s lots of anxiety around at the moment with climate and pollution, and we are living in a digital era,” he said.
“So, it’s nice to be reminded that we can always go outside and look at the sky and the trees and bring ourselves back to a base that is satisfying to us.”
The large scale mural took Mr Vines and his team three weeks to paint, but its positive effect on the community and shopping precinct will last a lifetime.
Gerald Lynch
