Art bridging the gap across generations

During 2025, a fabulous initiative took place at Sacred Heart Community bringing residents and students from St Columba’s Primary School together. The Intergenerational Connections project, generously funded by the City of Port Phillip Council, saw residents and students collaborate on various art installations.

The project was a huge success with the Lifestyle team noticing residents experiencing an emotional uplift in anticipation of the visits and during their time with the students. Tammy from the Lifestyle team said it was wonderful to watch the students increasing in confidence and becoming more relaxed in the space together with our residents, and seeing the reciprocal friendships grow.

Over a number of workshops, the residents and students would all sit down together, working on their projects, bouncing ideas off each other but most importantly chatting away. The group explored their creativity in lots of different art mediums. They painted wooden and clay houses, decorated individual wooden fence pickets with different scenes from around St Kilda and designed mosaics to be made up by an artist.

The artworks are now proudly on display. You’ll find some outside Community as you enter from Grey Street and near the back entrance. The others have been installed in St Columba’s garden in areas close to main street and entry. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for them next time you walk past!

The $4750 Social Partnerships Grant from the City of Port Phillip allowed space for residents and students to partake in mutual learning, a genuine joy in sharing stories and creative skills, with incredible outcomes for both.