Behind the Vehicle – Interview with Indigenous Artist Megan Daley

With hazard season in full swing many of our emergency service vehicles are out on the road a bit more than usual, helping keep our community safe. Coming in all shapes and sizes, many of them display interesting and unique art and stickers that may make us smile as they zoom past us in the streets. But did you know there is a story behind each of these artworks?

 

In this piece we will look at the Corroboree frog artwork on one of our ACT Rural Fire Service (ACTRFS) bulk water tankers, painted by indigenous artist Megan Daley.

 

After the tanker was kindly donated to the ACTRFS from the United Arab Emirates following the devasting 2019-2020 bushfire season, Megan was contacted by the ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA) asking if she could offer up her skills to create some artwork for the new member of the fleet. It was decided each of the two donated tankers would get their own custom art, with one to have a water theme and the other to have a corroboree frog theme.

 

Megan was given the corroboree frog.

 

As soon as she received the brief Megan was straight to work.

 

Being interested in art since she was little, Megan is self-taught and initially started painting as a way to unwind after work and a busy day. Painting professionally was only something she had started to do recently, with the corroboree frog artwork being one of her first big commissions. Megan described herself as being a bit scared and excited to take on the opportunity.

 

The initial artwork created by Megan was about the size of a yoga mat and had quite the story behind it. After conversations with local rangers and members from the ESA after the 2019-2020 fire season, she remembers them discussing being worried that the corroboree frog population may be wiped out by the devastating blazes. However, when the fire season was over they learnt the population was alive, well and going strong.

 

Megan wanted to encapsulate this story in her artwork stating,

 

“So, I just thought that the survival of this endangered species during this devastating time was something that was joyous and worth some celebration. It shows that all the work that rangers such as my brother and father have put in over the years has paid off.”

 

The word corroboree is a generic indigenous word for a party or celebration and that is what Megan’s artwork represents, a celebration of the life of the corroboree frog.

 

If you get the opportunity to view the vehicle up close, Megan encourages you take a close look at the artwork. As well as a celebration, the artwork is also educational, and can teach you a lot about the corroboree frog.

 

“The circles around the edges show how many eggs the frogs usually have and the dark pools at the bottom show the environment that they usually breed in. There are of course also pictures of the frog itself, showing the distinct colours they use to warn potential predators of how poisonous their skin is.”

 

On behalf of the ESA we would like to thank Megan for her incredible artwork and for sharing her story with us on how it was created.

 

To learn more about ESA vehicles visit the ESA website: https://esa.act.gov.au/