As part of the 20th Anniversary of the school marae, Taraika, the Year 10 Design Technology class were given a brief to design a sculpture to compliment the Marae. Students researched local Māori history and stories surrounding Taraika and took a field trip around Wellington to see what professional sculptors do and get a feel for what would be appropriate and in keeping for such an important part of the school.
Once they had a theme, students then researched ideas to use as a starting point. The class based their concepts on these original ideas. Once they had completed their designs, they chose Lauren Ohara’s spined fish as the most suitable candidate. The sculpture took two terms to complete.
The sculpture was then taken to Perry Metal Protection. Graham Black, the site manager, had a son who had attended Wellington High and kindly offered their services free of charge. We would like to thank Perry’s for their generosity and professionalism.
The Fish “Taraika” has now been mounted on a telephone pole donated by Board of Trustees’ member Gerry Glynn.
