This artwork created especially for Nambour Community Centre depicts ‘Namba’ the town and the Red Flowering Melaleuca tree seen as a highlight of the artwork. This is a significant tree and is not only a source of food for animals and birds but was used traditionally for teas and medicines.
In the centre of flowers is a meeting/gathering place depicted also with the artists signature Shell Midden mark making. This is to represent the community centre as a place of gathering, a yarning circle, a healing place, eating place, a place of safety, learning, guidance and support. The other smaller dots circles represent the people who come to the Community Centre all coming from their own journeys, near and far and from different backgrounds but all seeking that community and unity. We see some more Shell Midden Motif in the top corners to convey that message also.
We look down and see the creek water flowing through the middle. Growing up in Nambour I loved the creeks and felt like everywhere my siblings and cousins would walk we always were near the creek and would always see turtles and the beautiful platypus in the creek swimming around. Water represents that life force and cleansing.
Below the water we see the kangaroo symbol, significant to my family as one of our Totems. We see more Shell Midden and community symbols to further convey the meaning of unity, gathering and support that the Community Centre represents. The Shell Middens also tie the story to Sea Country and all the people that come from other areas, other seas even, and come to Nambour to the Community Centre for services.
Shell Middens are ancient deposits of shells left by our ancestors along coastal areas after gatherings and abundant feasts of sea food and shellfish. Middens even contained bones and were piled some up to six meters high and to me they represent Caring for Country and one another, teamwork, unity, growth, respect and stewardship and to me painting the middens keeps these stories alive and serves as a reminder to instil these qualities in our lives and organisations.
Lastly we see the Ancestor symbols down the bottom but certainly above and watching over all of us that live, work and play on Kabi Kabi Country. The dots on the background show the vibrations of the land, the rich history and now in the present as we all work together and strive for unity in community.