The local constabulary have successfully joined together with their local youth, Carpentaria Shire Council, and Regional Arts Development Fund, to tackle social issues through art.

The project engaged youth, police and renowned local artist Margaret Chatfield to develop a wall mural for the community mediation room.

Normanton Police Officer in Charge, Senior Sergeant Duane Amos said the mediation room had been used over the last six years to resolve community fights and de-escalate community tensions before they arose.

“The mural story wraps around the Norman River and tells the path of violence, alcohol and drugs within the community through to police engagement with mediation/family interactions, as well as eventually returning indigenous people to their homelands and country to be on their land in harmony,” Senior Sergeant Amos said.

Senior Sergeant Amos said the project was completed daily for two weeks over the closure period of the PCYC and at a time when high risk youth are most active with offences in the community.

“Two of the large exercise cells in the watchhouse that were restored and updated in this project will now withstand another 20 years of our heat up here,” he said.

“Children got to experience police cells for the right reasons and could see the previous graffiti left from family members on the walls during their incarceration.

“They have left handprints and names as a permanent imprint of their time in the watchhouse working with police.”

The artist and police also worked with children on the completion of a single canvas which will be displayed in the Normanton Rodeo display this year in June for the art competition and community project.

The youth were taught artwork, colour matching, active listening skills and walk away cool down strategies during the restoration of our two exercise yard murals.  The artwork will be displayed in the mediation room in the meantime.