Bunbury’s beloved dingo Marley immortalised in mural created by local artist and high school students

Bunbury’s beloved dingo Marley has been immortalised in a mural created by Bunbury Senior High School’s Year 10 students. Marley died in June last year but his memory lives on with a new mural unveiled along Marley Drive on Wednesday. It was painted by Bunbury SHS’s Year 10 visual arts specialist program students and local artist Andrew Frazer. Frazer said working with the young creatives was one of the highlights of his life. “There is a continued value when working with young people. As a young dad I am often talking to my boys about the significance of creativity and being able to give expression to the gifts that are inside of you,” he said. “So I am just giving them space and a platform to be able to push that creativity and explore that. “My hope is that they are inspired in their own practise and creative pursuit, which hopefully is the outcome of the whole process.” Frazer received a direct invitation from the school to be involved and to mentor and guide the students through the process of design, development and conceptualisation. “It has been great to be able to see how each student approaches it slightly differently and there is a strong friendship within the group,” he said. “That makes a big difference to the work they do because there is a trust amongst these students.” Frazer said he knew Marley was more than just a dingo to the community. “Connection sometimes comes in unorthodox ways and when we have a connection, there is a sense of belonging, and with that, you get a sense of contributing,” he said. “So we want to contribute to the places that we care about and places are only valuable because of the people that live there. “In this context, the people are connected to Marley in an emotional level and everyone has got their own story of Marley they want to share.” The mural project was led by Bunbury SHS teacher Andrea McDougall after a grant was given by the South West Development Commission to fund the project. “The school added in the remaining amount to be able to deliver the project,” she said. “We’ve been looking at Marley and his story and what he means to the community, and they’ve been working on their own individual designs. “Andrew took a lot of inspiration from the students’ design and come to put it all together and come up with the final design.”