Mice-olation

By Kathryn, Harold and Bridget

‘Mice-olation’ was created in 2020 during Melbourne's prolonged COVID lockdown, as part of the 2020 Rossmoyne St Scarecrow Season. It depicts one Mouse Family's experiences, including working from home and home based schooling; exercising; mask making; crafting and supporting each other.  There are references to some of the current movements such as the "Black Lives Matter" protests, teddy bears and rainbows in the windows, "Spoonville" and, of course, Scarecrows.

Almost everything is upcycled, repurposed or handmade from normally discarded materials collected throughout lockdown, including the boxes themselves which are converted from a chest of drawers sourced from a local on-line freecycle network.  It is mounted on two ironing boards salvaged from hard garbage. We hope people enjoy identifying all the materials and social references.

Mice-olation is full of puns! We loved working on it together as a family, and everyone’s contributions played to their strengths.  It gave us a real focus and joy, and we are delighted that other people have also enjoyed it so much on their COVID safe walks and on the Rossmoyne Street Facebook page.

Over the 12 months since the last Scarecrow season we have re-decorated it for a Mouse Christmas, and Easter. People tell us they make it a regular stop on their walks, while others are still excited to be discovering it for the first time. Initially we had anticipated that we would replace it with a different Scarecrow in 2021. We never imagined then that the Lockdown references would still be just as relevant, so we will be doing some renovation work and updating it for 2021, reflecting our little mice family’s progress, as they continue to survive and thrive!

To follow the Mice-olation journey, follow: https://www.facebook.com/mice-olation