Darwin Student’s Art of Giving Back

Izzy And Her Museum Piece

We might know Isabelle Craven as our road safety awareness art competition winner, but the young artist is making a name for herself in Darwin by immersing herself in the community.

While her road safety message drives home the realities of dangerous distraction, the Palmerston College Year 12 student also had artwork displayed at the Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory.

The piece was part of the gallery and Northern Territory Department of Education’s partnership exhibition Exit Art 2021, which celebrated the talents and creativity of the next generation of artists and designers by showcasing contemporary art and design from Year 12 students.

She said the piece, named ‘To Be So Lonely’, was inspired by her identity.

“I see myself with different personalities to please different kinds of people, which always leaves me ending up feeling lonely,” she said.

Isabelle also recently won first place in the City of Palmerston skateboard design competition, winning $1000 as part of the Palmerston Youth Festival.

Izzy Won First Place In The City Of Palmerston Skateboard Design Competition

Although she’s busy with her final year of high school and is completing a school-based traineeship with the Northern Territory’s Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment, Isabelle still finds time to volunteer with two City of Palmerston community groups – Urban Jams and the Youth Media Team.

Urban Jams is a City of Palmerston initiative that celebrates all things street culture with free events for youths, and Isabelle assists with support set up and pack down of events, running of activities, promotions and selling merchandise. Isabelle is also interested in journalism and public relations and attends fortnightly Youth Media Team meetings.

As well as learning about the industry, she volunteers her skills and designs graphics and artwork for community events the group participants in, such as Harmony Day and International Women’s Day.

Isabelle’s artwork, which features children waiting for a bus to drive past a set of traffic lights, as well as the words “after exiting a bus, you should stop, look, listen and think, cross the road safely when green!”, was unveiled on the back of a Buslink NT bus in May to mark National Road Safety Week.

Taking inspiration from photography’s fish-eye lens effect, she played with perspectives and angles, giving her modern cartoon-styled illustration and a less than traditional approach that she hoped would resonate more with young people.

“I’m so excited to see my design take to the streets in my hometown, inspiring local students to put their technology away, and take care around buses and traffic,” she said.

Buslink parent company, ComfortDelGro Australia (CDC) Regional Australia Division Chief Executive. Officer Tony Hopkins said Buslink was thrilled with the response from schools and students to the competition.

“Road safety is a crucial part of our industry – it is the number one priority in our business at Buslink – and we encourage all road users to take heed of National Road Safety Week’s important messages of slow down, look for road signs, take notice of speed limits and take extra care at dawn and dusk.

“It’s also important we teach school children to be safe on and around roads and lead by example,” Mr Hopkins said.

Students With Izzy Right At Back Of Bus