What better way than to say happy birthday than with a giant pink mural?
Kicking off a year of celebration, student artist Eddie Atchison has created a colourful artistic statement for the 50th anniversary of one of Australia’s leading student representation bodies Curtin Student Guild.
“To celebrate the Guild's 50th, I really wanted to represent the love and appreciation that the students have towards the Guild,” said Eddie.
Atchison used elements such as the recurring love hearts and paper planes to evoke the creativity that the Guild inspired in its student community.
“I chose to include a lot of characters with big cheesy grins to create a mood of joy, which accompanied by the bright pink, gives anyone walking past the mural a sense of sweetness and charm.
“The pink is also extremely eye-catching and provides a talking point for students that is quite memorable.”
Atchison’s work has previously featured on the Curtin student diary and he has won commissions from musicians and fashion brands. This year he intends to further develop his style with clothes, paintings, murals and animations.
Curtin Student Guild President Finlay Nolan says that the anniversary is a great opportunity to recognise and reflect on how the success of the student body in progressing the interests of students on campus and at a State and national level.
The Guild was officially established at 6.45pm February 11, 1969, two years after WAIT opened its doors to students, with a mission to foster a sense of community among then WAIT students.
The then Education Minister Edgar Lewis introduced legislation in the Legislative Assembly providing statuatory authority for the formation of a WAIT student body. However—reflecting his party’s abhorrence to the term “union”, which had unacceptable potential political overtones—Lewis forced WAIT to adopt the name “Guild”.
Since then it’s estimated that Guild representatives have sat on 34,500 boards and committees, organised almost 300 rallies and petitions and written more than 14,500 reports.
“Curtin’s Student Guild has always been at the forefront of debates about delivering a fair higher education system that benefits all Australians,” said Ms Nolan.
“What is perhaps less known is our innovative approach to helping students. In the 1970s we campaigned to introduce student housing, we were the driving force in establishing childcare, health, and chaplaincy services at Curtin and we have always championed equal rights establishing departments to represent the interests of women, Indigenous and LGBTQIA+ students and those identifying with disabilities,” she said.