All Saints recently engaged local artist Narelle Urquhart to create a visual representation of 'our place in country'.
The exquisite artwork now hangs in the McIntosh Administration Centre as a way of celebrating our Indigenous connections and recognising the country upon which All Saints is built.
Our Place in Country also fittingly graces the front cover of this issue of The Saints, the Yarning Edition.
Narelle explains that the piece is about relationships, including the ones between All Saints, the country, our Christian faith and the custodians of the land.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an aerial map of country that recognises the hinterland where the School is situated, the wetlands through to the coast including South Stradbroke and Burleigh, and over the top of it all are travelling tracks,鈥� says Narelle.
鈥淭he painting shows Jesus and represents Christ through the region, and there鈥檚 also elements of All Saints creating a legacy through students on country,鈥� says Narelle.
Narelle decided upon this direction for the piece after meeting with All Saints鈥� Indigenous affairs representative Mark Stevens.
鈥淢ark has a connection to local people and he wanted the School to show that it recognises the traditional owners of the land on which it is built,鈥� says Narelle.
For Narelle, the process of creating art goes far deeper than aesthetic pleasure.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a cultural practice, and a way of being,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t also gives me a voice in which I can be heard. By me painting things, people remember stories.