This week a school holiday art activity and barbecue were held to encourage tamariki, rangatahi and whānau to provide “much-needed artwork” at the Ōpōtiki Skatepark.

The activity was run by Ōpōtiki Rangatahi Pā, which empowers youngsters to weave their own paths, rooted in the strength of their community and the wisdom of their ancestors. The aim was to beautify the skatepark by painting attractive designs, spokesperson Ms Alex Le Long said.

“We also needed to ensure the park has a safe surface for skateboard and scooter wheels. The paint needs to have grit in it, a suitable abrasive material. Paint the council used previously over graffiti is unsafe as it becomes slippery when wet,” she said.

“We’ve been looking at this for about a year now trying to figure out the best solution. I canvassed skateboarders and scooter riders to get their views. It was they who drew our attention to the potential hazard (from slippery paint).

"It's definitely a work in progress and collaboration with our community is absolutely key. This week we had our artists draft their designs using coloured chalks. There are some very cool designs and mahi toi  – it’s awesome what they’ve come up with so far.

“Next week we will be sourcing suitable paint and beautifying what we can.

“The kids have been inspired by the area itself, for example by our Tarawa Creek running right behind the skatepark and our pūrakau, tīpuna and hītori.”

As with all projects tackled by Ōpōtiki Rangatahi Pā the project had been a collaborative effort tapping into gifts and talents of all concerned to move toward a shared goal.

Ms Le Long, who is the curriculum leader of English at Ōpōtiki College, said the day was part of activities run by Te Ariroa Evolutions Charitable Trust, which last year established a micro-publishing venture called Ōpōtiki Horizons Press.

This had the aim of "building literacy in the community and providing space and time to encourage our rangatahi to own their own stories, share the world from their own lens and ensure that they have control over how their stories are shared.

"We run open-mic poetry nights and are collating stories and poems from across our Kāhui Ako that will be combined in a 100-page publication."

The Ōpōtiki Horizons Press was pioneered by a group of Ōpōtiki College Year 10 English students last year but the concept has since grown. "We are about to do a documentary and a podcast as well to deepen the connection to ourselves, our stories, our tīpuna."

The Ōpōtiki Horizons Press projects were made possible with the support of the Creative Communities Scheme and through Te Rau Ora - Rangatahi-Led Innovation Fund.

“The ŌRP Community Barbeque was supported by local Ōpōtiki Bluelight and Constable Kim Welsh. With funding support from inspiring stories, we'll soon see more artwork beautifying our local Whitikau Skatepark here in Ōpōtiki.”

For more information about upcoming events over the holidays see www.teariroa.co.nz and on the Facebook group - Ōpōtiki Rangatahi Pā - Pā Harakeke.

NINE-YEAR-OLD Violet Gole’s design was inspired by near injuries reported by skaters due to slippery paint. On Tuesday Violet drafted the piece in chalk and will paint it next week.