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Libby Witheford-Smith and Amelia Ware A pair of Year 12 students ave made Hobson Street brighter and celebrated QMC while they’re at it. LibbyWitheford-Smith and Amelia Ware painted the Chorus box outside QMC over the school holidays. “My dad works for Graffiti Reduction for the Porirua City Council”, Libby explains. They have previously worked with Chorus and local artists on painting Chorus boxes to reduce the likelihood of them being tagged. We have a Chorus box outside school that has been tagged a couple of times, so we wanted to put art on it.” “We had a massive brainstorming session about what we wanted to see on the box,”Amelia adds. “We thought it was a perfect opportunity to do something as it is centenary year, but we wanted something not just relevant to the centenary but for years to come.” Amelia and Libby approached Chorus to get permission and then went through an approval process with QMC and Chorus. Chorus is covering most of the paint costs. The pair had to consider the box’s audiences when planning their design. “Our Chorus box has three audiences: people who drive past infrequently, people who drive past frequently and pedestrians who walk or wait by it. We wanted it to be interesting for all three audiences,” Libby says. The pair decided to use the QMC house flowers that are on the banners in the College Hall because the school houses have such significance to members of the QMC community. “School houses are one of the things that unites Old Girls with current students,” Libby says. “The first question you tend to get asked by an Old Girl is ‘What house are you in?’ For this reason, we decided on doing the house flowers as the main artwork for the Chorus box. All of the house flowers are also either native or are relevant to New Zealand.” “We also wanted a nature theme due to the box’s location in front of the QMC fence among the hedges, so it could be part of the landscape,”Amelia adds. On the front of the box is a bouquet of the house flowers, all of equal size. On the flat side of the box, there are individual circles with three of the house flowers, and on the opposite side are the remaining two. The centenary logo also features. The top of the box has a silhouette of the school with the school ribbon. After finalising their design, the pair spent the holidays painting the Chorus box. Amelia Ware and Libby Witheford-Smith painting the Chorus box. LEARNING 27 Queen Margaret Calling :: ISSUE 63 :: May 2019