“A luxuriant garden brimming with life, growth and diversity” was the design brief presented to a group of Year 10 art students in July last year.

The brief was in response to a call for special projects marking the school’s 140th anniversary. The exotic garden scenes of artist Henri Rousseau inspired the design.

The task began with students collecting and sketching a variety of plant forms and flowers.

These were incorporated into a symbolic garden design for a mosaic mural communicating the story of the PCW community over the last 140 years.

The composition is dominated by the image of a ghost gum in the style of Albert Namatjira. This tree stands as an acknowledgement of the original inhabitants of the land our school is built on, the Wurundjuri people.

“Wurundjuri” means grub of the white gum tree and a small grub can be found in the trunk of the tree.

Around the base of the tree are seven shamrocks a reference to our Irish founding sisters who left their homeland to set up the school in 1873.

Amidst the profusion of foliage eighty-one frangipani are scattered. Each individual flower represents one of the eighty-one nuns who have devoted their lives to the education of young women and at times young boys in our school.

One colourful flower stands out from the others. This is our Sister Raymonde flower and is a tribute to the much loved and respected art teacher who inspired so many students with her love of the visual arts.

Bright red poppies stand tall, symbolic of the 15 Presentation sisters who have led and nurtured our school as PCW principals.

Our current principal Leonie Keaney is represented as an orange poppy to acknowledge her role as the first non-religious principal of the school.

Nestled on a branch overlooking the scene is a small Irish blue jay – a reference to Nano Nagle, the Irish founder of the Presentation sisters. Another bird, a white dove, illuminates the side panel. This is the traditional Christian symbol of the Holy Spirit and references the Catholic nature and heritage of PCW Melbourne.

Our garden captures the life and energy of our school community. The plants and flowers are diverse just like us. And over us all a dawn sky glows communicating the start of a new day, the future.

This project began as a small idea and ended as a testament to the big things that can be achieved when a group of people work together.

The girls performed beyond expectation on this laborious task and in the process were rewarded with a unique opportunity to create an artwork of lasting beauty and meaning for us all to enjoy.

Jill Allen, Year 10 Art teacher