MANDURAH artist Emma Blyth took her inspiration from summer and the Internet for her new mural on the city’s foreshore.
Located between Cicerello’s and the Mandurah Visitor Centre, she said the seemingly strange mix of muses in the work was a celebration of Mandurah as one of the most connected cities in the world in the most ideal of locations.
“I wanted a splash of summer and colour in the work, but also what the city and the foreshore means to me,” she said.
“I wanted fun, lively images, but on the outside of the mural are all the cities we’re connected to.”
Ms Blyth said she hoped the mural, a joint project between the City of Mandurah and Telstra, would liven up the area where many people access free wifi.
Local resident Lisa Coombes said she used the free wifi hotspots throughout the city to stay connected for her son with special needs.
“I always have to check emails and keep in contact with his therapists and there’s so much information that you can only get on the internet,” she said.
“Having access to free wifi data helps with the financial burden, especially when you have a special needs kid.
“It also helps with keeping you in touch with the community because it can be very isolating.”
New figures released by Telstra revealed Mandurah residents will churn through nearly 2.5 million gigabytes of data over the summer months, from December to the end of February.
This equates to 41 million photos, 640,000 Facebook posts, 173,000 tweets and 17,000 hours of video.
Ms Blyth said her work would next be on public display at the Mandurah Crab Fest 2016 before an exhibition planned for later in the year in Broome.
For more work by Emma Blyth go to emmablyth.com.au
