New mural celebrates youth engagement and vibrancy of Frankston City

Published on 01 December 2021

Frankston City’s newest mural titled ‘Funky Town’ celebrates youth engagement while adding colour and vibrancy to our municipality.

Mayor Nathan Conroy joined dignitaries including the State Member for Frankston, Paul Edbrooke MP, Peninsula Health Chief Executive Felicity Topp, representatives from Responding to Alcohol and other Drugs across the Frankston Mornington Peninsula (RAD FMP), FMP Primary Care Partnership, TaskForce Community Agency and artist Sheldon Headspeath to launch the mural.

The Mayor thanked and acknowledged partners including the State Government for its funding via the Frankston Revitalisation Board, RAD-FMP – a multi sector project of Frankston Mornington Peninsula Primary Care Partnership (auspiced by Peninsula Health), which brings together services, education providers, police, researchers, State and Local Government to strengthen prevention against alcohol and other drug dependence by addressing education, employment and social inclusion among vulnerable groups.

Mayor Conroy said: “The RAD project has helped to empower and engage young people to develop new creative skills to bring something positive and productive to Frankston.

“It’s a great example of what can be achieved when we all work together as a community. It also helped build a sense of pride and connection in their local community for those involved.

“The mural is one of several activities that has been completed and I look forward to seeing the other projects. Congratulations to all involved – this is a wonderful achievement that’s added colour and vibrancy to Frankston City,” the Mayor said.

The project was coordinated by Council’s Youth Services Team with both Council and TaskForce Community Agency youth workers on hand to support the young people involved by facilitating positive social connections and bridging support to local services.

Council’s RAD Project Officer, Laura Glenn, said: “Promoting positive public perceptions of young people in the area and acknowledging young people’s positive contributions is pivotal in creating a safe, fair and supportive community for young people and the Frankston community as a whole.

“Not only has the mural project been a lift for the community, the project became a safe space to connect with and talk with young people about issues affecting their lives.

“The project created opportunities for workers to assess individual participant needs and to link participants with services to support those needs,” Ms Glenn said.

Mr Edbrooke, who chairs the Frankston Revitalisation Board, said: “This isn’t just great street art – it’s also benefited those involved and given these young people a sense of pride and ownership for their community space.

“The young people gained skills in graphic art, project planning and teamwork, and one member of the team was inspired to reengage with education and has since enrolled at Chisholm Institute,” Mr Edbrooke said.

Peninsula Health Chief Executive Felicity Topp said: “Peninsula Health is committed to improving health and social outcomes for young people in Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula.

“We know that innovative approaches, such as this mural, help the wellbeing of young people by connecting them to their local environment and their community.

“Working with our partners, we are reducing the risk of young people developing problems with alcohol and drugs, by improving access to youth services and education,” Ms Topp said.

Frankston Mornington Peninsula Primary Care Partnership Executive Officer, Rodney Mackintosh, said: “Partnerships that bring the community together to promote youth engagement have been shown to be most effective and we’re extremely delighted with the partnerships that have formed through the RAD Project.

“It’s inspiring to see such a diverse range of stakeholders working together for the greater good of the young people in Frankston and using innovative strategies to build their connections with services, education providers and local artists,” Mr Mackintosh said.

TaskForce Community Agency CEO Ray Blessing said: “When you have a whole of community response – Local and State Government, health services, businesses, Chisholm, all involved and supporting young people so they have opportunities in their local community, you can make a huge difference to how a young person perceives their future.

“TaskForce believes this wraparound support model enables better outcomes and promotes community connections for all,” Mr Blessing said.

Artist Sheldon Headspeath, who worked with young people to create the mural, said the theme was created by the group.

“In the initial discussion, the main topic was Frankston and not wanting to do the normal beach scene, so we decided as a group to put a funky cartoon twist on the design. The mushroom band members added an element to the ‘funky town’ cartoon theme.

“The mural depicts Frankston – Olivers Hill to the right, the City scape to the left and the bay through the middle. All the elements of the design aimed to suit the skill level of the participants to get the most fulfilment from their work.

“The mural depicts the ‘funky town’ with bright and bold colours that complement throughout,” Mr Headspeath said.

Mr Headspeath added: “The group were great to work with and were very happy with the results – expressing their sense of pride.”

Joel, who participated in the mural project, said: “I’ve always loved street art but as someone with no natural artistic talent, it always seemed unachievable. So being able to learn skills and produce something good was extremely rewarding.

“Working with Sheldon was awesome! He taught us the technique and guided us through the process, but also allowed us to experiment and learn through doing,” Joel said.