Bringing campus spaces to life: CDU joins Darwin Street Art Festival for first time

Charles Darwin University’s (CDU) Casuarina campus will become part of the Darwin Street Art Festival for the first time, with three artists transforming campus spaces through new public murals. 

Among them is CDU First Nations Training and Teacher Education Hub Director Larissa Pickalla, who will create her first public mural on the University’s Orange 1 building. 

The 2026 lineup marks the first time CDU has been included in the festival, expanding the popular Territory event into one of the city’s major education and community spaces.  

Ms Pickalla said the collaboration reflects CDU’s commitment to creating welcoming, visible and culturally connected spaces for students, staff and the wider community. 

“The Hub and Darwin Street Art Festival are both really about creating spaces where First Nations perspectives, experiences, and strengths are visible and valued,” she said. 

“The festival aligns strongly with those values, and there’s also something powerful about education and creativity intersecting.  

“For students, staff and the wider community, this collaboration helps make campus spaces feel alive, accessible, and connected to Darwin itself.” 

Now in its tenth year, the 2026 festival will see 23 new murals painted across Darwin painted from May 22 to June 5, bringing the total to 172 across the region. 

Ms Pickalla’s own piece is her first public mural and features an abstract collection of shapes and colours that reflect the building she is painting, Casuarina campus ‘Orange 1’. 

She said her work often starts with colour first, and in this case will focus on highlighting orange hues. 

“From there I build patterns, rhythm and shapes, letting the painting grow naturally,” Ms Pickalla said. 

“I create intuitive abstract works using pattern, repetition and colour to explore movement, connection, and personal interpretation, and I enjoy the repetitive mark-making and the movement that comes through the lines and spaces between forms.  

“I also like that people can look at the work and create their own meaning from it. The paintings are open to interpretation and different people connect to different parts, patterns and feelings within the work.” 

Local Territory artists Jason Lee and Full Cold Blood will also paint murals at CDU’s Casuarina Campus. 

CDU Deputy Vice Chancellor First Nations Leadership, Professor Ruth Wallace, welcomed the collaboration between the Hub and the Darwin Street Art Festival.  

“First Nations perspectives are central to our academic and education work at Charles Darwin University, and it's been a real joy to see these First Nations artists bring our walls to life,” Professor Wallace said.  

“Larissa’s mural is at the very front of our Casuarina Campus, meaning many of our staff, students, and visitors will be welcomed by her artwork and invited to reflect on its message.”