Junee High School and its feeder primary schools – Junee Public School, Ilabo Public School, Eurongilly Public School and Junee North Public School tackled the wool industry for the 2013 Archibull Prize
The 4 primary schools were involved in the painting of the mini Archie “Micron” who is very unique. Never before have we had a little calf that has been such a team effort! Each school was assigned one quarter of Micron and could decorate her in any way they chose.
Each story is remarkably different, with a different stylistic approach and emphasis, though all are firmly embedded in the wool industry.
Junee North Public School created a vibrant woollen patchwork effect, to take us visually ‘from the catwalks to backyards’, and looks at the multitude of products created from wool. A patch of actual knitted wool, complete with knitting needles, finishes the picture.
Ilabo Public School highlighted the importance and significance of the environment to the wool industry. They also identified some of the features that are critical to sheep and to wool production, including feed and water.
Eurongilly Public School showed us a timeline of wool production – from wool on a sheep, to wool in packs leaving the farm. They feature actual samples of wool and of a wool pack.
Junee Public School created a visual narrative of the wool consumer. Shown through black and white imagery, the consumer is literally surrounded by everything that has been considered when creating and buying a woollen product.
Great collaborative effort to all four schools!
School Twenty Eight: Junee High School
“Meria” gives the phrase ‘riding on the sheep’s back’ new meaning!
The name “Meria” represents all Merino sheep (and other sheep too!), with an ‘A’ for Australia at the end. She tells us all about the wool industry in Australia.
She starts on the farm (as you would expect!) and gives us a pictorial timeline from sheep on the farm, to the shearing shed and its operation (which you can open and peer into), and then to the transportation of wool away from the farm.
She then continues the story on her other side, with the processing, the export of wool to the world and the final products. A spinning wheel spins a thread around these stories linking them together.
Riding on her back, under the shade of the tree (that becomes her tail) are a pen (made from shearing combs) of woolly sheep waiting to be shorn. On the knitted patchwork of paddocks underneath, stands the shorn sheep (including the lone black sheep of the family!).
Her face tells us many of the colloquial sayings which revolve around the wool industry, such as ‘clipped by the shears’ or ‘pulling the wool over my eyes’.
This cow definitely knows how ‘to spin a yarn!’