THE Mundaring Christmas tree project art installation is back for a 35th consecutive year showcasing the artwork of almost 100 students in front of the shire’s administration building.

The project is an annual collaboration between the Mundaring Arts Centre (MAC), Shire of Mundaring, Mundaring Rotary and local primary schools, with student artists from Treetops, a Montessori and international baccalaureate school in Darlington.

MAC director Jennifer Haynes said this year the school children explored the Indigenous season Birak as a theme to create almost 300 colourful canvas leaves celebrating the native fauna and flora present at this time of year.

The students worked under the guidance of two of the school’s art teachers, Pooja Mathew and Peter Zylstra, as well as two artists from the MAC, Mary Ann Dawson and Alida Cappelletta.

“This tree is created by the community, so I think it’s quite a signifier that this is what our community is about, it is about the community coming together to create something beautiful,” Ms Haynes said.

“It is recycled, it is connected to nature, rather than mass produced commercial celebration of Christmas you might see in other areas.”

She said the 5m tall metal Christmas tree was originally made by Perth artist Ron Gomboc in 1988 to showcase student work and for 35 years has graced the entrance to the town.

In addition to the Christmas tree project, this month the MAC is also showcasing sixteen large-scale student-made banners throughout the shire’s town centre as part of its twenty-second annual environmental art project.

Almost 1200 students from 20 schools across the shires of Mundaring and Northam, and the cities of Swan and Stirling participated.

The theme was ‘helping hands’ with the aim of celebrating the importance of community volunteers who tirelessly contribute to the protection and care of the environment.

All artworks for the environmental art project are displayed on the Mundaring Arts Centre website as a virtual exhibition.