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GLAD GROUP’ STORY TOLD THROUGH INDIGENOUS INTERPRETATION
Glad Group recently engaged a contemporary Indigenous artist, Brooke Sutton, a Kalkadoon woman from Bundaberg. Glad Group’s Indigenous artwork represents our family culture, human values, and our journey towards reconciliation.
Our journey towards reconciliation
Glad Group is committed to an inclusive workplace that embraces and promotes diversity in all forms. We realise we can make a big impact in supporting our Indigenous Australians in the communities through which we engage. The first step is recognising that we all have a role to play in Reconciliation.
Our vision for Reconciliation is to acknowledge and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their history, culture, and contributions; bringing us together as a community where Reconciliation is taking place every day.
Since the formalisation of Glad Group’s first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in June 2019, we have worked collaboratively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within our business operations, forging partnerships with our customers, suppliers, and through our employment practices, to contribute to Reconciliation. More recently, Glad Group has entered a joint venture partnership with Glad Indigenous to deliver cleaning, security, and traffic management services across Australia. This partnership is grounded in deep respect of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and is in alignment with Glad Group’s desire to positively impact indigenous communities across Australia.
Our partnership with Indigenous artist, Brooke Sutton – Our story told through Indigenous interpretation
Recently, we engaged a contemporary Indigenous artist, Brooke Sutton, a Kalkadoon woman from Bundaberg, who over the past months has worked with us in developing a unique artwork series that reflects our company’s identity told through:
- Our family culture and core values,
- Our commitment to creating a workplace environment that embraces diversity and inclusion,
- Our vision to approach business with a focus on sustainability and Indigenous reconciliation through our actions.
Brooke beautifully captured Glad Group’s story and our journey through her own artistic expression and interpretation. Read below for her symbolic interpretation of our three-paneled artwork.
Glad Group’s journey by Brooke Sutton
“In my painting, the large pink community symbol in the centre panel represents Glad Group with the 10 U symbols on the inside of the community symbol representing Nick Iloski, Glad Group’s Executive Chairman, and his 9 siblings, showcasing the importance of family to Glad Group, which has been instilled into the company since the beginning.
The handprints on the right of the third panel represent Nick and his wife Lucy, and how they created Glad Group to provide cleaning services to customers of a commercial nature. This shows the imprint which they have made on the company and the connection which they will always share with it. The footprints represent Glad Group’s journey from 1989 when it was founded to the present day.
The five medium pink and apricot community symbols which flow throughout the three panels represent Glad Group’s five main services with all the different small community symbols and U symbols throughout the painting representing all the different communities that Glad Group’s employees come from, and how they’ve all come together to create their own communities and families amongst the company.
The mountains, river, and leaves throughout the three panels represent the beautiful landscape of Sydney which Glad Group’s main office is based, and the butterflies and dragonflies represent the diverse backgrounds of everyone who works with Glad Group. Lastly, the sun in the first panel represents Glad Group creating a brighter future for customers and employees and their vision to be Australia’s leading authority on integrated services.”
You can check out Brooke’s other magnificent paintings on her website www.brookesutton.com.au and stay tuned for an exclusive interview with Brooke!
