Park Orchards North Ringwood ParishThe Sharks Junior Football Club has been lucky enough to work with Yorta Yorta/Wurundjeri artist Ash Firebrace to create the indigenous artwork on our new training tops.
Ash Firebrace is a Melbourne based artist whose painting journey began at the age of 10. Ash describes the Firebrace family as having a passion for art and painting that extends through the generations. Although his talent was discovered early on, Ash really found his love of art when he started further studies in Learning Pathways for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
He finds his source of creative ideas in the bush and can draw from a rich heritage and experience to create stunning and meaningful artworks.
He spends a few days a week working with a heritage and land management team, spending time in the bush. Ash’s favourite place and special space being the water creeks. He finds it a great healer for his mental health and has used the bush especially over the last 2 years.
In 2007, Ash received the Lin Onus Award at the Victorian Indigenous Art Awards for a portrait of the Wurundjeri leader and artist William Barak. Ash’s art can also be seen at the underpass that links the Main Yarra Trail from east to west on the Eastern Freeway (south) side of the Yarra River. The underpass features a painted 60-metre-long mural, celebrating the cultural heritage of the area. The mural was designed and painted in 2019 by Ash Firebrace and Tom Civil and is inspired by the story of how the Yarra River was formed (as told by respected elder Barak).
Ash kindly took on our Sharks training tops as a project.
The artwork represents how the Wurundjeri tribe use to occupy the area and would travel & camp along the Yarra River, living with and respecting the environment.
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Special thank you to our sponsors, whose generosity has allowed us to engage the artist and also keep the price affordable.