Glass Jar Australia’s Shooting Stars program will today launch an artwork re-brand, featuring artwork developed by Aboriginal artist, Louise Ockerby.
The Shooting Stars brand review was developed in conjunction with leading brand agency Marketforce, with a view to empower regional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls on their educational and employment journeys. This sentiment is reflective of Ms Ockerby’s artwork.
Ms Ockerby is a proud descendant of the Bardi (West Kimberley) and Nyoongar (South West) people of Western Australia. She was raised in Broome, surrounded by communities of the Dampier Peninsula.
Her painting, “Leadership Journey”, represents the eight Shooting Stars sites across Western Australia and the leadership journey of the girls within and beyond the Shooting Stars program.
Ms. Ockerby has worked closely with youth from different backgrounds for the last six years and is passionate in supporting the educational pursuits of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
“I’m a strong believer that education is key to success,” said Ms Ockerby.
“Shooting Stars has been able to achieve that through things like netball. We know that education is one of our gaps with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, so with Shooting Stars using the incentive of netball and other engagement tools to encourage education, I think it’s a brilliant idea.”
Ms Ockerby said the opportunity to develop the artwork came about through her sister, Helen, who is the Regional Manager for Shooting Stars’ Kimberley community.
“My mum is quite creative, my family and I have always done dot paintings and had arts and craft around us,” said Ms Ockerby.
“In the last year or so, I’ve taken a more serious approach (towards art) and done some paintings. It was (created in) a 5-6 hour sitting. It was a small piece, but it’s dots on top of dots, so it was around getting that (all the elements) right.
“I like working with earthy colours. In this piece, we sort of tweaked it to try and match the Shooting Stars’ program colours.”
Ms Ockerby said she has been overwhelmed with the feedback.
“It’s been awesome seeing some of the photos on social media, seeing the girls’ smiling, it just makes me feel so proud that they love it as well,” she said.
Shooting Stars is an educational program that uses netball and other vehicles to drive its primary vision of increasing school attendance rates for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) girls living in remote communities and regional towns to 80-90%.
The new artwork will feature across website, social media branding, program signage and collateral.
