It started here

 

Ten years ago Peace in the Trees Sculptural Walk was officially opened - in 2015 actually. It was lovely to see how the pieces have aged and are being held by the trees and foliage on the precinct walk that runs from the Riverside carpark.

The signage reminded me that this started as an Art4place community activity under the tutelage of international sculpture Craig Medson. 

The opening photos are of the stone that Craig had delivered and broke into monoliths so 12 local artists could create the pieces for Peace in the Trees.

Following are photos of each of the pieces as I saw them on 29 December 2025.

I wonder if Kim, Katie, Vivienne, Judy, Michael, James, Edith-Ann, Cathy, Emma, Carolyn, Sally, Ken have seen their works in recent times. Thanks to Art4place for the vision, Craig for the teaching and Sunshine Coast Council for maintaining this sculptural walk.

Visiting Peace in the Trees

 

The Peace in the Trees sculptural walk was launch some 9 years ago - the link takes you to Art 4 Place's blogspot and a scroll through it will give an insight into the background to this work. 

Fiona and I visited the sculptures on a recent walk. Though some get vandalised a bit from time to time it is still good to see the sculptures aging in place and fitting so well into the landscape. My sculpture  (Imagine Peace) pictured above is growing some mould and is surrounded by trees and plants just as it was designed to do.

Some more images of the sculptures follow.

It is good to see that these pieces about peace and the environment can still add to the conversation today.

Revived and revisited

Fiona and I gave The Fishers post a clean (see photos above) before the S2 students from Farr High School came to visit and hear about her exhibition Hame.

Last year we did an aluminium etching workshop with two classes (S1 & S2) at the high school; and turned their combined etched aluminium plates into a sculptural memorial post that is now called the The Fishers post. S1 class of course are now S2 and we suspected they might want to check out the post during their visit. As you can see from the photos below, with Tracy their art teacher, we were right. As soon as they got off the bus they made a bee line for the post and spent some time rejoicing in finding their art works on the post.

Following are some images of the cleaning - gently done with a stainless steel scourer, soap, water and cleaning rags. We were removing 12 months of light grey-white corrosion (see last photo) caused by the salt air.

It brought Fiona and I much joy to see the young people expressing pride in their publicly displayed art work. Over the last year some of the students had brought family members to the Annex to show them their work. The following day this year's S1s who visited Fiona's exhibition also visited the post; and some did rubbings of art done by their older siblings. 

All but completed

 

The traditional fishing boat being built by volunteers in partnership with the Strathnaver Museum is all but complete - see above. Fiona and I visited the building workshop (poly tunnel - Borgie) twelve months ago when it was in its early stages. The floor, painting and or making were in progress this morning. The volunteers are aiming to launch the boat on 28 September; and Fiona and I plan to be at the launching event.

The boat is based on the traditional shape, building techniques and structure of the boat displayed in the SNM Annex.

The boat is painted white as you can see from the photo below; but the poly tunnel cladding makes it look pale green.

The shape of the boat is gorgeous as you can see from the photos in this blog.

A few other progress-production photos follow.

This has been a truly amazing feat by the volunteers; and what a gorgeous gift to the community and the story of the local fishing industry.

Inspecting The Fishers Post - in sunshine and in rain

 

As indicated in my previous blog Fiona and I took the opportunity to install The Fishers Post on the sunny afternoon before one of the classes of students were to visit the next day.

The first part of this blog post shows various sides and details of the post in the sunshine; and the last couple of images shows the students braving the rain to inspect their handiwork.

The Fishers Post in the sunshine - above and below.

Students inspecting the post in the rain.

We understand that the post will be relocated and installed down by the Bettyhill harbour as part of a trail that remembers the fisher folk of the area. 

It was such a grand experience for Fiona and I to make this community art piece in collaboration with the Strathnaver Museum, Farr High School and the students of classes S1 and S2.