World Art Utopia

Helmeted Honeyeater mural by Jimmy Dvate, Dame Nellie Melba Kindergarten, Goodwood Street, Richmond, Melbourne, Australia

A tall mural on the red-brick gable end of a single-storey building shows a helmeted honeyeater in close-up: a bright yellow bird with a black mask through the eye, a yellow ear tuft and a curved grey bill, perched on a thin branch among fluffy yellow golden wattle blossom and green leaves, against a deep blue-violet background. Grey timber fences and a gate frame a narrow paved path leading up to the wall, under a blue sky.
Artwork FileMelbourne · Australia
SeenJan 2025

Helmeted Honeyeater

Jimmy Dvate · helmeted honeyeater and golden wattle mural, a gift to Dame Nellie Melba Kindergarten, finished by 20 January 2025 · 18 Goodwood Street, Richmond, Melbourne

Photo: Jimmy Dvate, from the artist’s portfolio

  • #JimmyDvate
  • #Dvate
  • #HelmetedHoneyeater
  • #GoldenWattle
  • #Richmond
  • #Melbourne
  • #Victoria
  • #BirdMural

At the back of a kindergarten in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Richmond, a helmeted honeyeater leans out of a narrow red-brick gable, perched on a sprig of golden wattle. Jimmy Dvate painted it as his first job of 2025 and gave it to his daughter’s kindergarten, Dame Nellie Melba Kindergarten on Goodwood Street. He posted the finished wall on 20 January 2025. The newest dated photo we found was taken on 26 January 2025, and a Street Art Cities user last marked the mural as seen on 17 April 2026.

5 things to know

  1. A gift, not a commissionJimmy Dvate on Instagram, 20 January 2025: “First project for the year, a gift for my daughter’s Kindergarten.” He tagged Dame Nellie Melba Kindergarten in the post. The photographer Andrew Haysom wrote on Flickr a week later: “This piece was a gift from Jimmy Dvate to a local Kindergarten”. Instagram, @jimmy_dvate · Flickr, Andrew Haysom
  2. Painted from a bird photographer’s pictureThe artist’s caption ends: “Heho based on a photo by Bob Winters”. Instagram, @jimmy_dvate · Instagram, @dvate
  3. Victoria’s bird, Australia’s flowerDvate called the bird and the wattle “Two state emblems of Victoria (also Richmond colours;)”. The Victorian Government lists the helmeted honeyeater as the state bird, but its state flower is the common heath. Golden wattle is the national floral emblem, proclaimed on 19 August 1988. vic.gov.au · PM&C
  4. On a kindergarten with a century of historyThe kindergarten’s history page says a committee formed on 23 July 1915 set it up and asked Madame Melba to be its patroness. It bought the Goodwood Street site in 1928, and Lady Somers opened the new building there in 1930. DNMK history · DNMK contact
  5. Not Dvate’s only honeyeater in RichmondStreet Art Cities also lists a different Dvate helmeted honeyeater at 206 Mary Street, Richmond, added in September 2023. That one sits on a dark wall above big graffiti lettering. The kindergarten bird is on bare red brick among wattle. Street Art Cities, Mary St · Street Art Cities, Goodwood St

Check-in guide

📍
Dame Nellie Melba Kindergarten, 18 Goodwood Street, Richmond VIC 3121 (DNMK, Street Art Cities).
👀
The mural is on an outside wall of the kindergarten. Street Art Cities says you can see it from the street over a fence, asks visitors to be considerate or ask the staff before photographing, and suggests coming outside kindergarten hours (Street Art Cities).
🧭
The Maps button uses the coordinates on the Street Art Cities listing, -37.8198955, 144.993428.
Open in MapsStreet Art Cities entry

Sightings

  1. 202520 Jan

    Artist posts the finished wall

  2. 202521 Jan

    Street Art Cities “created” date

  3. 202526 Jan

    Flickr photo

  4. 202527 Jan

    Street Art Australia post

  5. 202617 Apr

    Street Art Cities: last seen

Every stamp links to the dated source. The green stamp is Andrew Haysom’s photo of the wall, taken on 26 January 2025 according to Flickr. The amber stamps are dated posts and records: the artist’s own Instagram post of the finished mural (20 January 2025), the date Street Art Cities gives as “created” (21 January 2025), a Street Art Australia Instagram post calling it “a magnificent new wall” (27 January 2025), and the “last seen” date on the Street Art Cities listing (17 April 2026), which is when a user last marked it as seen. We found no dated photo newer than January 2025.

On the record

Jimmy Dvate, Instagram20 January 2025

First project for the year

“First project for the year, a gift for my daughter’s Kindergarten. Two state emblems of Victoria (also Richmond colours;) the Critically Endangered Helmeted Honeyeater and Golden Wattle. Heho based on a photo by Bob Winters”

The artist’s own caption, posted from @jimmy_dvate and @dvate on the same day. The longer version tags the kindergarten.

Read

Andrew Haysom, Flickr26 January 2025

Dvate Richmond 2025-01-26

“This piece was a gift from Jimmy Dvate to a local Kindergarten, it features Victoria’s two state emblems the Helmeted Honeyeater and the Golden Wattle.”

The description on a street art and bird photographer’s dated photo of the wall. He also added it to Street Art Cities.

Read

Street Art Australia, Instagram27 January 2025

A magnificent new wall

“A Helmetted Honeyeater perched on a branch of wattle – what could be more Aussie? A magnificent new wall by @dvate”

The street art account shared the mural a week after the artist’s post, tagged #richmondstreetart.

Read

The facts

Title
No formal title given by the artist. His portfolio labels the image “Helmeted Honeyeater” (jimmydvate.com); Street Art Cities calls it “Helmeted Honeyeater and Golden Wattle” (Street Art Cities) Reported
Made
January 2025, finished by 20 January, when the artist posted it as his “First project for the year” (Instagram, @jimmy_dvate, Instagram, @dvate). His portfolio file name and Street Art Cities also give 2025 (jimmydvate.com, Street Art Cities) Checked
Commissioner
None: the artist gave the mural to his daughter’s kindergarten (Instagram, @jimmy_dvate, Flickr, Andrew Haysom) Checked. In the same post he thanked @montanacans_au; the post does not say what that support was (Instagram) Unconfirmed
Subject
A helmeted honeyeater on a branch of golden wattle, based on a photo by Bob Winters (Instagram, @jimmy_dvate) Checked
Emblems
The artist and Andrew Haysom call the bird and the wattle Victoria’s two state emblems (Instagram, Flickr). The Victorian Government lists the helmeted honeyeater as the state bird and the common heath as the state flower (vic.gov.au); golden wattle is Australia’s national floral emblem (PM&C). We go with the government lists, because an official record beats a caption: the bird is a state emblem, the wattle a national one Conflicting
Place
Outside wall of Dame Nellie Melba Kindergarten, 18 Goodwood Street, Richmond, Melbourne (Street Art Cities, DNMK, Instagram) Checked
Our photo
The photo above is the artist’s own, from his portfolio; the Street Art Utopia post uses a cropped copy of the same picture. It shows the same gable, wattle and grey fences as Andrew Haysom’s dated photo (jimmydvate.com, Flickr, 26 January 2025) Checked. We do not know the date it was taken.
Status
Seen January 2025: Andrew Haysom’s photo taken 26 January 2025 (Flickr) Checked. Street Art Cities lists the mural as active and a user last marked it seen on 17 April 2026 (Street Art Cities) Reported

Related

All sources (11)

This work

Dated photos

Context

Artwork File · Last checked 12 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files