Horses decorated by Swinburne Visual Merchandising students head to Eastland
In Summary
Swinburne University of Technology’s Diploma of Visual Merchandising and Visual Arts students have been hard at work painting and decorating life-sized horses, as part of an upcoming display at Eastland Shopping Centre in Melbourne’s outer east.
The horses, which are painted with bright colourful designs, will join a range of other hand-decorated animals at a display that will be installed at Eastland’s centre square craft village this Wednesday 2 April, to create an animal studio exhibition.
Visual Merchandising course co-ordinator, Justin Larsen, said that the project had involved a range of people working on the project.
“Throughout the past six weeks, we have had Swinburne students, staff and design alumni working together to collaborate with Eastland Shopping Centre, to help create an inviting craft space for children to use during the school holidays,” Mr Larsen said.
“We have done everything from designing and painting the horses, to transporting them from Wantirna to the centre.”
Swinburne was responsible for decorating two horses, as well as creating some of the background scenery for the display, giving the students a good insight into a range on visual merchandising and visual arts practices.
“Having out students work on these projects with industry partners enables us to educate them not just on the practical skills, but also on the workflow of a project to this scale.
“The students are given a broader perspective on what working in these areas involves. It is good for them to see how a project is completed from start, through to finish.”
Running until April 21, the collaborative display at Eastland has been created by a range of education providers and community groups.