Awards:
Community Event of the Year 2023 (Charles Sturt Council)
South Australia’s Community Event of the Year 2023

The My Tree Project (MTP) is a 2023-24 continuation of the inaugural 2021-22 project. Project sponsors for this round are Charles Sturt Council, Rail Care SA and the Australian Association for Environmental Education. WACRA is the administering body. The project aims to empower children to play an active role in dealing with the challenges of climate change, adding to tree canopy in the western suburbs and creating a cooler and healthier environment into the future.

This time, the MTP team has invited Hendon Primary School, Pennington Primary School, Woodville High School and Seaton High School to participate. As previously, participating students propagate seeds, thinned and transplanted the seedlings, and as a final outcome plant a tree/understory at their school or home. They also create an artwork about what a tree means to them. This time artworks include stobie pole art which will be visible in the community. During the project stages, students gain a greater understanding of biodiversity, indigenous plants and sustainability, and learn how to connect with nature and be waterwise.

Artwork

Early to mid-2024, students create the artworks (paintings, stobie poles, sculptures, writing) using a range of media that includes natural fibres.paint. Selected artworks are exhibited at Hindmarsh Library (Port Road) during the South Australian Living Artists (SALA) festival in August 2024. SALA exhibition invite (PDF)

Scroll down to view a slideshow of student works.

The team

Julie Whitehead: project coordinator
Andrea Rankin: promotional materials, admin
Lara Lamnek, Marg Easson: artists running workshops
Steve Fuller, Deidre Knight: plant selection and planting workshops

Thank yous

Charles Sturt Council staff; Rail Care SA; the Australian Association for Environmental Education; the Lamnek family; Lisa Savchuk (artist); participating artists and volunteers; principals, deputy principals and staff of the schools involved; Croydon Officeworks; Bunnings; World’s Best Graffiti Removers.

Contact

Julie Whitehead (project coordinator): 0433 289 716

Resources

Resources (videos, educational materials, promotional materials) from the current iteration 2023-24 will be available at the end of the project. For 2021-22 resources: go to My Tree Project: multimedia resources