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Panel beating as outlet for youth self-expression

By Wellington Shire Council - 1st February 2005 - Back to News

Starting Saturday 12 February Wellington Shire Council¡¯s Gippsland Art Gallery ¡ñ Sale will be displaying a unique exhibition of car panels ¨C repaired, refinished, sprayed and decorated by disadvantaged youths as part of a life-changing skills training initiative.

Panelworks is the story of how youths in Geelong and Dandenong have spun around their lives through the ¡®Hand Brake Turn¡¯ project. Initiated in both communities in 2000 this is a ten-week training course in motor skills targeted at disadvantaged young people aged between 15 and 19 years who are looking for work in the motor industry. Many who participate are either young offenders, or are within the care and protective system. Others are homeless, early school leavers or long term unemployed who face enormous difficulties getting the necessary skills to secure a job.

The exhibition draws a parallel between the panels and the lives of the young people who turn them into art works. Each of the panels also starts off with their value hidden and their potential undiscovered.

¡®Hand Brake Turn¡¯ offers Certificate 1 Automotive training and due to supportive business partnerships more than 80% of graduates have gone onto full employment or further training. At the beginning of the panel beating component of the course each participant has a damaged panel to repair and spray paint in a design of their choice.

As a result of its success in Geelong and Dandenong the initiative has been adopted by the Parramatta community and developed in close consultation with the NSW Police, Australian Youth Foundation, NRMA, AAMI Insurance, Parramatta Council and the Chamber of Commerce.

Said Wellington¡¯s Mayor Peter Gault: ¡°As a Shire we are pleased to be able to exhibit this very different form of art. In Wellington we have many diverse communities and this is reflected in the diverse and alternative forms of art they explore and appreciate. This exhibition of car panels covers area of art never before seen at the gallery and highlights the tremendous value of art, whatever form it takes, in providing an outlet for self-expression.¡±

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com