Griffith TAFE English students paint colourful multiculturalism mural in celebration of Refugee Week

Over the past few weeks, migrants learning to speak English at the centre have come together to paint a mural signifying the importance of cultures coming together.

The painting is a late celebration of Refugee Week from TAFE and was designed by local artist Isis-Rae Ronan.

Mrs Ronan was initially called in to simply create the mural on her own but after some consideration she asked if she could get the students involved.

"I was actually born in a refugee camp in Thailand and I did all of my studies through TAFE, so I thought it would be really good to do a mural that the students could paint with me," she said.

The idea was accepted and up to 40 students helped Mrs Ronan come up with symbols to include in the piece, including doves, hands, flowers, rainbows and more.

"A lot of them are still learning english so we included a lot of universal symbols and bright colours which everyone, no matter where they have come from, could relate to visually," she said.

When the time came, the students picked up their paintbrushes and helped bring an explosion of colour to the corridor wall, creating a mural which will live on long after they have completed their studies.

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English for Speakers of Other Languages teacher Sue Blight said creating the mural was a great bonding exercise for the students, who have moved to Griffith from all over the world.

"They have all found it absolutely great and I think they really enjoyed painting it," Mrs Blight said.

"They've been having their photos taken in front of it and it's been great for them socially all working on it together."

Mrs Ronan said it was a special experience to share the painting with the students, some of whom were painting for the very first time.

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