Using Public Space Hoardings to Raise Youth Voices for International Women’s Day

Campaigns & ActivationsEducation ProjectsYouth LeadershipSchool MuralWorkshops
Written By BOHIE
Completed mural featuring colourful, hand-painted typography on a public hoarding wall. Phrases contributed by women of all ages celebrate collaboration, empowerment, and solidarity in public space.

The finished artwork brought female voices of all ages into the public space with this rousing mural celebrating collaboration and support.

 

Case Study

 

Overview
Celebrating youth voice and feminist strength through collaborative public art

Client: ACT Government TCCS Grant (in partnership with YWCA Canberra)
Year: 2019
Location: Canberra Centre, ACT
Focus: Youth engagement, public mural, feminist storytelling, International Women’s Day activation

 

Bringing Youth-Led Social Impact into the Public Space

This bold public mural was created as part of Canberra’s International Women’s Day celebrations in 2019. In partnership with YWCA Canberra and supported by the ACT Government’s Street Art program, I facilitated an expressive typography workshop with four young female leaders from Lanyon High School, hosted at the Mura Lanyon Youth and Community Centre.

Working with the posed prompt “Together, we can…”, we explored how visual language can radiate meaning—turning words like “support”, “empower”, and “rock on!” into beams of expressive colour and movement. Students learned hand-drawn type, mural techniques, and the power of visual storytelling to elevate their voices.

The final mural—installed in a high-traffic public space at Garema Place, Canberra Centre—invited participants and passersby alike to contribute to the sentence. The wall soon filled with powerful phrases like “break down stereotypes”, “respect ourselves”, and “have equal opportunities”.

 
Close-up of a hand-drawn poster from the Expressive Type workshop, showing how visual style enhances the meaning of empowering words like “support” and “rock on!”

An artwork from the Expressive Type workshop I ran describing how visual communication can reach a wider audience than just the words themselves.

Young participants from Lanyon High begin painting the mural on wooden hoardings outside a closed shopfront—activating unused public space through creative collaboration.

The first step was to get the young people on the brushes, painting in the public space on hoardings boarding up an unused shopfront.

Youth workers and teachers watch mural painting in progress—then enthusiastically join in with brushes, supporting the students’ creative efforts.

Teachers and youth support workers watch on… until they can’t resist picking up a brush themselves.

 
Group of educators and facilitators from Lanyon High, ACT Government, YWCA, and Mura Lanyon Youth Centre working together on the mural in a moment of joyful collaboration.

Teachers from Lanyon High, ACT Government project facilitators, and Youth Support Workers from YWCA and Mura Lanyon Youth Centre get involved.

 

My Role

  • Designed and facilitated a workshop on expressive typography for young female-identifying students

  • Guided the collaborative development of the mural’s concept, layout, and message

  • Led onsite painting and supported stencil application with students and youth workers

  • Coordinated with sponsors and stakeholders including YWCA Canberra, TCCS, and Sancho’s Dirty Laundry

Outcomes & Impact

  • Delivered a youth-led, feminist mural in a prominent public location for International Women’s Day

  • Created a vibrant, interactive artwork that invited public participation and dialogue

  • Empowered students with new visual art skills and a platform to share their voices on gender equality

  • Celebrated intergenerational feminism through co-creation, visibility, and public storytelling

Group photo with Dhani Gilbert, Wiradjuri and Darug woman and local award-winning youth leader, standing with student artists and mural collaborators during a surprise visit.

Surprise visit and group photo with local hero Dhani Gilbert, a Wiradjuri and Darug woman, who was awarded ACT Young Citizen of the Year in 2018. She also received the ACT NAIDOC Youth of the Year and ACT NAIDOC Scholar of the Year in 2018 and was awarded 2019 Miss NAIDOC. In addition, Dhani Gilbert was a finalist in the 2019 Indigenous STEM Awards. What an inspiration!

 

What the Stakeholders Said

“We created a safe space to explore feminism, applaud the women of today, and continue to build momentum toward a future based in equality for all women and girls.” — YWCA Canberra

BOHIE

Based in Braidwood, NSW, BOHIE creates art, illustration, public space murals, and creative workshopping experiences that explore wonder and connection to each other and to the natural world.

She works alongside educational institutions, government agencies, community focus groups and stewards of the natural world to design change-making campaigns for each creative project. Bohie utilises a research-based methodology to find inspiration for her artworks, resulting in 2D images which are laden with deeper stories and symbolic meaning.

This narrative driven conceptual development injects her unique authenticity and grass-roots integrity into the public arena, which she sees as a conscious challenge to public advertising. In a time of rapid change, extreme instability and a globally recognised feeling of imminent threat, Bohie’s art provides messages of hope and empowerment for a changed future.

https://www.bohie.com.au
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