UCOL Manawatū is celebrating a successful Workhub project with local charity Butterfly Compassion Community, after student artists James McDonald and Tanesha Tayler painted beautiful murals in their new headquarters.
Leanne Miller, UCOL’s Industry Facilitator/Lecturer, says it was a pleasure working with Butterfly Compassion Community.
“This is a wonderful group of people doing a fantastic thing for our community. It was a pleasure to play a role in bringing the spirit and vision of the Butterfly Compassion Community to life through creative works, generated by our Bachelor of Creative Media ākonga.”
“James and Tanesha were the perfect students to execute the brief of making their new headquarters a light, bright, and vibrant space that could also lift the spirits of the people who work there and those who walk through their doors.”
“Butterfly Compassion Community had reached out to us in the first instance, after a previous Trustee, Suzie McIntyre, heard about a graduate’s experience with Workhub through people she knew, so it was a delightful first partnership project.”
“There’s a lot of scoping work that goes into projects like murals to ensure the end result is exactly what both our artists and the organisations are expecting. We couldn’t be prouder of how these two have turned out.”
Lara Sheridan, Operations Manager at Butterfly Compassion Community, says James and Tanesha have more than delivered on expectations.
“Both Tanesha and James have absolutely smashed the vision and in doing so over many long hours produced two separate and amazing creative pieces. Every volunteer we have has been inspired by their work ethic, amazing abilities, and seeing our workplace as a part of the community in its full entirety.”
“The process of working with UCOL’s Workhub was great, the students were really approachable and flexible around what worked for us, which was so helpful, not to mention their talent!”
Tanesha Tayler, a third-year Bachelor of Creative Media ākonga, says it was a fantastic opportunity to create a full wall mural, let alone for a charity whose values aligned with hers.
“Creating this mural has been an incredible journey filled with learning, creativity, and connection. It’s been a privilege not only to bring a visual story to life but also to meet such inspiring people and witness the important work that happens every day at Butterfly Compassion Community.
“I’m so grateful for the support and enthusiasm throughout the process, and I hope the mural continues to brighten the space and bring a sense of joy and pride to everyone who visits.”
Butterfly Compassion Community has been operating since 2021, but only moved into their first proper headquarters on Waldegrave Street just before Christmas, 2024. Many hours have been put in since then to bring the building up to scratch and making it feeling inviting.
“Peace, joy, aroha and compassion are what we stand for at Butterfly Compassion Community. Through our community, we have been able to support over 43 service organisations, and repurposed and boxed up for individuals over 60,000 items since January this year,” says Sheridan.
This is the third Workhub project James McDonald, also a third-year Bachelor of Creative Media ākonga, has been involved in during his time at UCOL.
"Reading the Butterfly Compassion Community's brief to decorate their space, I immediately had an idea of a project I could do for them. Using the charity's image of the blue butterfly as the direction for the piece, I painted a united array of them flying across the Manawatū landscape. I used perspective lines and the whole rainbow of acrylics to achieve this vibrant and dynamic composition.
“It’s been a nice change of scenery to have a project off the screen, I only hope that it will make as nice scenery for the volunteers at the Butterfly Compassion Community,” says McDonald.
“The murals these two talented students have done have been admired by the many businesses that have chosen to come and view our work, support, donate, unpack, and box up to assist our volunteer team,” says Sheridan.
“Like UCOL, we support learning of any age, any ability, any gender, and our youth are important as are our babies, adults, and the elderly, who we support on a daily basis.”
Invigorated with inspiration from these new murals, the Butterfly Compassion Community team are now exploring a wearable arts initiative, with a focus on sustainability, aimed at local secondary and tertiary students.