For more than seven hours renowned artist Adnate sprayed the giant mural of indigenous woman Akira Kelly on the wall of cafe The Trentham Collective, with a smoke ceremony and Welcome to Country providing a spectacle earlier in the morning. 

Organiser and Trentham Collective co-owner Nathan McGuire said he felt compelled to acknowledge Trentham’s Dja Dja Wurrung heritage after moving to the town three years ago from Perth. 

“Being aboriginal myself and coming from Perth where there’s a lot happening in the Noongar community, I noticed there wasn't anything like that in Trentham and there was no conversation, so I wanted to introduce that,” Mr McGuire said.  

“There’s a big artistic community in Trentham so I felt art was the best way to communicate that.” 

In recent years Adnate, whose full name is Matt Adnate, has gained a cult following for his mural works which have appeared on buildings across the country. 

An aboriginal man himself, Adnate’s work focuses on shining a light on indigenous issues.  

Mr McGuire said as well as drawing plenty of attention from tourists, the artwork had received an overwhelmingly positive response from the local community. 

“The best gauge has been from social media, where we’ve been getting tagged in so many photos by people who are visiting from all sorts of places,” Mr McGuire said. 

Calita Murray, the mother of Akira Kelly, said the family was honoured Akira was chosen as a face representing the future of the Dja Dja Wurrung people, who can date their history in Trentham back at least 28,000 years.

Akira, player of the series in Sydney's recent inaugural under-18 Tarsha Gale Cup rugby league competition and a member of the NSW Rugby Sevens development squad, hopes to represent Australia in her sport at the Olympics.