Artwork’s splash of diversity

A mural celebrating community diversity and the health of local rivers has been unveiled at the Nelson Intermediate School pool.

Victory Community Centre facilities manager Gareth Cashin, along with Mel McColgan and councillor Mel Courtney, unveiled the seven-panel mural celebrating the water-cycle ‘‘from the source to the sea’’ on Saturday.

The project was lead by artist Vicki Smith, ecologist Mel McColgan and a volunteer from the Victory Community Centre, Karolina Gorton.

The mural received some funding from the Creative Communities Scheme via the Arts Council Nelson, and was completed with the support of the Nelson City Council, Te Wairepo Project, and volunteers.

Each panel represents a step on the journey from the source of the Wairepo/York stream to the sea. The murals were painted in two six-hour sessions by 40 members of the Victory community.

Mel McColgan, who is heavily involved in Te Wairepo Project, said the mural was partly celebrating the Wairepo stream, which has been the focus of the project’s community clean-up work.

‘‘The mural is an opportunity to link [York Stream] to the community,’’ she said.

‘‘It helps support the mahi (work) we have been doing on the stream.’’

Though the theme of the mural is about the journey of water, an emphasis was put on the multiculturalism of the Victory community.

Councillor Mel Courtney said Victory Community Centre ‘‘get it’’.

‘‘They know that community is everything, that if you have a strong community you have strong individuals,’’ he said.

Cashin said the mural was part of a larger effort to encourage people in the community to use the pool, and to celebrate the different cultures in the community.

‘‘It’s a linking of the environment, culture, and water,’’ he said.