EMERGING from the deep at Bolton Point, the 'Lake Ness Monster' is the brain child of local school kids designed to inject some colour into the skate park.
The mural is part of a collaboration with Year 6 students from Fennell Bay Public School and creative community engagement providers Up&Up, Lake Macquarie City Council community partnerships manager Andrew Bryant said.
"We wanted to brighten skate parks throughout Lake Mac, but we also wanted to engage local kids and foster a sense of ownership that has shown time and again to be hugely beneficial in the long term." Mr Bryant said.
The skate park at the Pasterfield Sports Complex at Cameron Park is the next to be transformed on Thursday after students spent a day last week putting the finishing touches on the Bolton Point mural and another recently at Bonnells Bay.
Students came up with the design ideas, went to spray paint workshops and helped bring their artistic creations to life, Mr Bryant said.
"It's a much more involved process than simply picking up a spray can and painting between the lines," he said.
"It gets young people involved and makes them feel like a valued member of a team."
Up&Up director Faith Curtis said there are a range of benefits that come from hands-on projects, from building self-confidence to showing youth their opinions matter.
"It's really important to allow young people to understand that they have a voice in their community," she said.
"You see their self-confidence grow throughout the program, where they feel they can actually achieve something collectively that's not just for them - it's for the wider community."
The project is funded under the state government's Graffiti Management Program.
