Wednesday, 08 February 2012 04:22

Strathewen Letterboxes

Letterboxes_Strathewen_4

Look what I spied on the way to The Chook Project in Strathewen.  I just had to share them with you. These letterboxes certainly brightened up my day.  Mosaics are like that. 

After the 2009 Black Saturday Fires, a local mosaic artist, Marion Oakley, opened her house for locals to come and create a new letterbox. The Shire of Nillumbik and Regional Arts Victoria provided the funding for materials. Bunnings also assisted by donating materials. Sixty six new letterboxes were created, giving locals and the postie something to smile about.

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I'm told that locals quickly saw the new letterboxes as the perfect place to leave notes of encouragement and gestures of love for their neighbours.

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The symbolism of cracked and broken pieces of ceramic, glued together to create something of beauty, fits perfectly with the restoration of Strathewen's fire ravaged community.

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Marion's letter box (above).

Letterboxes_Strathewen

There's a positively lovely little doco on ABC Open about this project. Like The Chook Project it's a wonderful example of the community pulling together and supporting one another to rebuild their lives after the Black Saturday Fires.


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