Brindabella Women's Group

Launch of the 2008 CAP "In Our Footprints"

As mentioned in Kym's President's Report "In Our Footprints" - our 2008 CAP Project was launched on Friday the 5th of May and handed over to ACT No Waste. This project had been a major part of our programme and occupied many weekends (as well as waking and sleeping moments towards the end) so it seems only fitting to have a more comprehensive write up to finalise it and put our baby to bed.

This was the third community arts project undertaken by the Brindabella Women's Group and by far the most ambitious. With our Artist in Residence - Tony Steel - many of us stepped beyond our comfort zone and learned to do things we never thought we could such as welding, using an angle grinder and a myriad of other sharp, noisy spark-producing tools in order to create our masterpiece. The garden is a symbol of our responsibility as parents to teach our children to care for and nurture the environment which sustains us, just as we mothers care for and nurture our children. We hope to raise the next generation of Earth's citizens to be mindful of sustainability and balance - to tread more lightly on our beautiful planet. So although the media might have been a little out of our comfort zone, the ideals behind the project have always been well within a mother's focus.

The project gave us all the opportunity to be part of developing a grand vision, then slowly, piece by piece, turning that vision into a reality. It was a lesson in resilience and persistence, as we worked outside in Canberra's chilly winters and broiling summers to design critters, build them, and then make a garden to house them in. The women of the Brindabella Women's Group are very proud of our garden and what it represents and the site has now become a "must see" stop for preschool groups who visit to look at all the wonderful creatures as part of their excursion to the nearby recycling centre