A secondhand TV unit has been transformed into a community book library and herb garden for Whitlam in the Molonglo Valley, Australian Capital Territory. The community development event spanned multiple dates and included fun and educational workshops.
The first event, Paste Your Place, was a fun day of activation where portraits of passersby in the area were taken and added instantly onto the community mural. This placemaking exercise combined printed images, pages from books, paintings, and portraits to form a multilayered artwork of the Whitlam community. Over several months, the community kept adding to the book library until the college was complete. Once finished, the artwork was sealed with epoxy resin and UV protection to protect it from the elements.
We worked with the community at the Canberra Festival of Nature, sowing edible, pollinator-friendly plants and flowers in the book library. At the same time, kids and adults were learning to make (and drink) mocktails. Many of the ingredients used in the mocktails were grown in the community garden and available for residents to harvest for their own events. You can find the outdoor library at the Heartbeat Cafe near the Whitlam Display Village.
Kate Matthews collaborated for Paste Your Place and Zoe McMahon for Shake and Sow, the planting of the community garden.
mcgrath weber works 