Backyard Blitz for KEEP House
28 September 2016
World renowned artist Julian Clavijo has brought a taste of the Kimberley to the backyard of Wunan’s Kimberley Education Excellence Program (KEEP) boy’s house in Melbourne.
The mural is a beautiful composition of Kimberley sky, landscape and sunset and was done as part of a bigger ‘Backyard Blitz’ conducted by a range of businesses in Melbourne, including Energy Australia and Yarra Valley Water.
The process began when Energy Australia, which is generously covering the energy costs for both KEEP houses in Melbourne, initiated an energy audit on the houses and invited Yarra Valley Water along to do a water audit.
At a follow-up brunch, KEEP House Parent Rowena Alexander shared a story about how the sports-mad Kimberley boys were so desperate for a basketball ring at the house that they’d made one themselves.
“They used bits and bobs that they found around the house and in the shed to make a backboard and ring – the ring itself was made out of reticulation hose!” Rowena says.
An idea to revamp the backyard, so the kids would have somewhere to play sport and sit and relax together, was born.
Within a couple of weeks – on the quiet during school holidays – around a dozen local businesses and contractors came together and blitzed the backyard.
When the boys returned from two weeks back home in the Kimberley, they were stunned to see a whole new backyard specially made for them.
And it’s no surprise that their shiny new basketball ring has seen many a slam dunk since.