NSW Seniors Festival Live Life in Colour
Garden Village Port Macquarie will host a Live Life in Colour Event on Thursday 12 March bringing together seniors and students for a fun celebration.
Supported by a $5,000 NSW Seniors Festival Grant the event celebrates creative ageing and intergenerational connection.
Media and community partners are invited to attend for photo and interview opportunities, including a group photo at 2:15pm.
Community Engagement Manager Jo McNamara said the grant had enabled Garden Village to create a wellbeing centred inclusive community celebration.
“The funding has made it possible to bring together local musicians, award-winning artist Brad Collins, an intergenerational facilitator and students from Heritage Christian School,” she said. “It’s delightful to see residents wearing their brightest colours and enjoying the artistic activations together.”
Giant Garden Village Mural Co-Creation
Award-winning local artist Brad Collins is creating a beautiful butterfly-inspired mural in a high-traffic area between the Op Shop, GV’s Café and Men’s Shed. Designed to bring joy to seniors and visitors the mural will brighten people’s day.
Auxiliary President Cheryl Pearson said “This is an exciting project. The last mural was created in 2006. It is wonderful to bring new artistic works to the village for everyone to enjoy.”
As a registered not profit organisation Garden Village has supported and cared for the community for 45 years. The butterfly motif honours past residents while celebrating the connection residents share with nature and place.
“Arts Mid North Coast connected me with Garden Village to support their community art project. It’s exciting to work on such a meaningful initiative that connects the generations,” said Brad.
In partnership with the iconic Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail, a full-sized Hello Koala sculpture will be displayed at Garden Village for two weeks.
On the day, seniors and students will contribute to the large mural and participate in creative projects including painting miniature Hello Koalas.
Residents will enjoy live music from local band Ruby Blunt and take photos with the much-loved Hello Koala Flying Fife.
Students from Heritage Christian School will participate as part of the Village’s ongoing intergenerational partnership.
“Port City Bowling Club is proud to provide $10,000 in funding to support the eight-week Intergenerational Program at Garden Village, delivered in partnership with Heritage Christian School. This wonderful initiative aligns with our core values of creating stronger community bonds, bringing generations together to create meaningful connections and shared learning experiences.” said Acting Operations Manager Katy-Lee Waldron.
Casey Baldwin from Intergen Connect said the program highlights the value of shared experiences.
“Older people have lived rich and interesting lives and have so many stories and wisdom to share with students. We love connecting through art, activities and shared storytelling,” she said.
Brad M Collins is a multi-disciplinary artist based on Birpai land in Lake Cathie, NSW.
Brad creates a surreal world where brightly coloured, anthropomorphic characters live alongside masked figures and symbolically charged objects. This surreal landscape comes to life through oil paintings, exhibitions, illustrations, murals and merchandise. His works often fuse humour with deeper meaning, utilising these contrasting, yet surprisingly complimentary ideas to explore existential themes and internal reflection. Whether it’s gallery exhibitions, murals or merchandise, Brad’s creative world is full of vibrant energy and clever detail.
Thanks to Partners and Grant Funders
Our NSW Seniors Festival Project was made possible through the NSW Seniors Festival Grant Program 2026, supporting active, connected senior communities.
The eight week Intergenerational Program is possible thanks to generous support from Port City Bowling Club (The Hastings Regional Clubs Grants) and Australia Post Community Grants. The Seniors Festival Program is possible thanks to NSW Seniors Festival Grants.
