Make Your Mark

Wongan Hills, Western Australia

This mural is on the wall of an old Youth Club which has been neglected for a long time. The building sits in the middle of the town sporting area, next to the Football Oval. The core of the mural depicts a football player rising high above his opponent to ‘make a mark’.

For USA & Europe, this is the highlight of the game; catching the ball cleanly from another players kick. However, the mural is more than a bow to winning at sport; it aims to encourage anyone to ‘make their mark’ in life, in whatever way they choose.

I made my mark on the mural with a painting on old pressed tin sheets, and fixed it to the mural with the ‘make your mark’ phrase on it.

The face on the painted tin is of a lady I photographed in Senegal, but it could be anyone. It is hoped that more people around town will look to add their art into the culture of Wongan Hills, which currently is limited to murals of tractors, and tractors, and tractors. I hope the mural is added to over time, and hopefully a dull neglected building will get a new lease of life.

The mural had the approval of the Shire Councilors and the Wongan Hills Progress Association.

However, there were negative voices from the ‘you can’t do that’ department, which hides somewhere deep in the Shire offices. The negative attitudes are often the most vocal, and to the person who came down from that group and tried to stop my progress on the mural (though they wouldn’t say why) I would like to say thank you, because nothing inspired me more to do the very best job I could, as a way to say “Up Yours”

#makeyourmark