Demolition derby is traditionally known to be loud, but a group of student artists have done their bit to make it colourful as well.
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Two of the cars that competed at the recent Wallamba District Show demolition derby were recipients of a special paint job courtesy of students from the Mid North Coast Community College.
The paintwork was the result of the Art for Demolition workshops conducted at the college's community space facility inTaree on March 6 and 7.
Workshops involved a group of 15 students aged from 13 to 16 years old drawn from the college's Youth Pathways program in Taree, along with those from Yulinbul campus.
The initiative was part of the ReCommunity Project; an undertaking funded by the NSW state government that seeks to restore a sense of community togetherness and individual wellbeing through creative activities and community events.
According to ReCommunity project coordinator, Jodie Wilson, the Art for Demolition workshops saw a high level of engagement from students who immersed themselves in the work.
"When the opportunity came along for us to 'graffiti up' a couple of demolition derby cars we thought, 'wellstreet art is a valid form of art', and we had a street artist who was available and willing to offer up his time to facilitate the workshop, so we thought, 'let's go for it'," Jodie said.
"Then to their extreme delight, the cars that they were involved with had podium finishes, it doesn't get much better than that."
Before they were done, the students went through several redesigns, about four resprays, and 62 cans of paint.
Discussion continues as to whether the extra layers of paint strengthened the cars enough for them both to secure podium finishes.
It's an art form where you can express yourself when you don't know how to express it in other forms.
- Street artist and 'Art for Demolition' instructor, Byron Christensen
Overseeing the workshops was artist, Byron Christensen, who said he was amazed at the level of enthusiasm show by the students.
"The amount of engagement that I got out of the kids was unbelievable - you couldn't really get them to put the (spray) can down, they were all over it from the get-go," Byron said.
For more information on available courses contact Mid North Coast Community College through their website:mnccc.edu.au/contact
