Mural gives nod to Roman god

"He made mechanical animals, and I wanted to have movement and emotion, so I put in loyal lions and playful dogs." Danica Thompson

Manawatu teens have created a new metal mural for their school that gives a nod to a Roman god.

The sculptural work includes designs from a number of pupils at Awatapu College, who drew ideas for the mural in response to a donation of steel to the school’s metalwork class by Palmerston North business Vulcan Steel.

Former pupil Danica Thompson was in year 13 at the college in Palmerston North last year when she drew the base design of a lion and dogs.

The final art work was unveiled at the school on Monday.

‘‘We interpreted the brief with the Roman god of the forge and metalwork, Vulcan,’’ Thompson said.

‘‘He made mechanical animals, and I wanted to have movement and emotion, so I put in loyal lions and playful dogs.

‘‘It’s always good to have a school with a lot of art and murals.’’

Year 12 pupils Drake Bennett and Gabriel Mcclutchie added an anvil and Roman helmet to the motifs.

Then the pair transferred the design to the computer and used a plasma cutter at the school to cut the design from the metal sheet.

‘‘It took five hours over a week [to set up the image], then [in the cutter] it’s quite quick,’’ Bennett said.

‘‘It shows people that there’s a lot you can do with just a sheet of metal.’’

The metal plate used is corten steel, an alloy that weathers to a rusted look without being damaged, giving the sculpture a red fiery look.

Year 13 project co-ordinator Jess Burgess-smith was pleased with the results.

‘‘This came from little rough drawings on a piece of paper.

‘‘It’s really good. There’s a bit of character to [it].’’

The new mural is about 2 metres by 3m, and has been put on to a wall next to the school’s metalwork room.