Youth Gives: Street Art at Swinburne's Croydon Campus
Graffiti is a widespread problem across many areas of Melbourne, but students at Swinburne’s Croydon campus have taken this negative form of youth expression and created a positive piece of street art.
Painted in vivid colours on a lime green background, the large graffiti-style mural, featuring the words ‘Youth Gives’ is located near the campus’s student café in the office of newly-appointed youth worker Anthony Gartner.
It is the first project overseen by Anthony. He said the street art was commissioned to make the area more youth-friendly.
“We asked a group of students to think about the kind of words they might like to see on the wall that would be respectful, inviting and friendly – words that didn’t scare adults, but were also youth-friendly.
“One boy quipped ‘youth gives’ and then left. When we explored this idea, another boy said ‘I like it. I want adults to know that young people don’t just take, but we give too.’ And so the idea of the Youth Gives graffiti was born.”
Five teenaged boys have been involved with the project that has promoted planning, communication, design and team work. It is part of their Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) personal development studies.
“Some of our students don’t thrive in a secondary school environment and fare much better at TAFE where the principles of adult learning guide teaching,” said Anthony. “Hands-on projects, building on their interests and passions provide better motivation.”
He said the ‘youth gives' theme had become central to the work he is doing on campus. “We are looking at creating projects that inform our understanding of what it is that youth give, and what things stand in their way of being able to contribute to our society.”
