Lawson Community Preschool is now home to a stunning piece of Indigenous art, which was made through the joint efforts of a First Nations Artist and the voices of the school's children.
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Jayde Field is a Gamilaraay woman living and working on Dharug Land, and runs a business called Maaya-li Designs.
She visited the school weekly over the course of Term 4 last year to help students create something that spoke to their journey through childhood.
Discussing herself and the art she created, Ms Field said "Ngay waabigu dhawun nhama cabun gunnigal", which translates to "I come from my grandmother's country before my name".
"[The art is a] representation of the many different learning places and relationships a child will encounter during younger years," she said.
"It is symbolic of community responsibilities to nurture and look after our children, it takes a village to raise them.
"It also depicts and maps the environment in which our children are growing and learning in, from their very own perspective."
In collaboration with Ms Field students identified symbols of their local environment. This included visitors to their gardens such as the yellow-tailed black cockatoo, bees, and blue tongue lizards.
Also included were wombats, to represent the school's involvement with a local wombat conservation group, along with non-animal symbols such as water, people, camp sites and a meeting place.
The project was part of the preschool's commitment to embed Indigenous Perspectives into the daily program, and students were already knowledgeable about Indigenous symbols thanks to their use within the preschool.
The painting is now proudly hanging in the preschool's indoor space for children, families and educators to refer to in play and learning.
The First Nations Artist in Residence Program was made possible through community grant funding provided by Blue Mountains City Council.
