Sculpture Garden

Our very special sculptures at Leura Public school

Leura Public School backs onto the Blue Mountains National Park and has a beautiful hanging swamp in the gully below the school. Students have an extrodinary area where they can study their local environment and feel a part of it.

Mrs Nicola Martignago has created 3 sculptures to reflect the local habitat, all varying in size and materials. The aim of these sculptures is not only to educate children about their local environment, but to stimulate and inspire children through colour and texture.

With the help of LP school students and Michael Hansen, Mrs Martignago selected 3 animals that are native to the local Swamp:

1. The Giant Burrowing Frog
2. The Giant Dragonfly
3. The Blue Mountains Water Skink.

As they are naturally very small and hard to find around the swamp itself, she enlarged them to allow children to study, learn and respect the 3 diverse animals.

Water Skink

This sculpture is both interactive and functional. It acts as a bench for children to sit on. Classes study the sculpture and discuss its materials, taking rubbings and feeling the difference in textures.

It creates a tranquil environment where classes can sit and study their local environment and habitat.

Giant Dragonfly

In this case, Mrs Martignago exaggerated the size of the dragonfly, and created an amazingly large dragonfly! It is made from welded steel and recycled objects.

The Burrowing Frog

This sculpture is approximately double life size. Mrs Martignago chose a bronze finish due to the textured nature of this sculpture, with a highly polished and textured finish. The surface is polished, blackened and the a patina effect was applied (tiffany green). It was cast with mild steel rods and then cast solid, anchored to a plinth.