In late 2019, Health Infrastructure, Hunter New England Local Health District and Maitland City Council established the Collected Memory Project.
The purpose of the project was to support Maitland Hospital’s transition to a new site and new building by documenting, sharing and celebrating its 175-year history through art, stories and community engagement, embedding cultural safety and storytelling in the fabric of the new building.
In 2021, Peter Poulet was commissioned to create an ambitious wall painting for the entrance foyer of the new Maitland Hospital. The artist’s canvas was a space measuring 4.2 metres high and 45 metres in length, equalling an impressive 180m2. Peter listened to and drew from community memories, drawing in real time as the stories were shared with him. He sketched, planned, painted and expanded the scale of the studies to create the largest painting in the HNELHD. ‘Story Drifts’ captures the spirit, stories and memories told by the people of Maitland.
A fantastic piece of art [that] represents the relationship people have had with the staff who’ve cared for them over the years.
