Harewood School, Te Kura o Tāwera — 150 Year Jubilee Sculpture

The unveiling of the 150 Year Jubilee Sculpture, Harewood School, Te Kura o Tāwera, 2013.

In 2013 I was invited by the organising committee of Harewood School to help create a sculpture marking their 150th jubilee. The brief was simple: every student at the school had to be part of making it.

The finished sculpture installed in the school garden.

The design brings together several strands of the school's identity. The elm tree — the school logo — sits within a pathway of learning. Three pierced holes represent the past, the present, and the future, with one incorporating a koru as a mark of the school's commitment to biculturalism. At the crown, a paua-inlaid star representing Tāwera — the morning star — which gives the school its Māori name, Te Kura o Tāwera.

Design concept drawings — side and front elevations. The morning star (Tāwera) sits at the crown, the elm tree within the pathway of learning below.

To involve every student, I divided the work into four groups. The first tackled the heavy removal work — sawing and chiselling out the bulk of the stone. The second and largest group worked on bringing the design out through chiselling and filing. A smaller third group took on the detailed work around the school logo, which needed a steady hand. And the youngest students finished off with filing and sanding.

Transferring the design onto the stone block using a grid.

Roughing out the main form — the koru shape beginning to emerge.

Carving the koru side profile.

Working through the finer detail — guiding a student's chisel on the tighter curves.

Carving the elm tree into the front face of the sculpture.

The sculpture near completion — paua shell star inlay at the crown.

Once the sculpture was completed and installed, the school arranged a special ceremony to unveil and bless it. It stands in the school garden today.

The unveiling and blessing ceremony, 2013.