Our Public Art

The Serpent is an original design inspired by rainbow serpent imagery from Aboriginal history. In Aboriginal culture it is either the rainbow serpent or the eel that created the waterways, and water creates life. In the words of the artist, the Serpent is based on a road sign. Modern signage performs a similar function to traditional Aboriginal cave paintings and rock engravings. Signs, symbols and codes communicate social and historical messages, which inform our everyday lives.

Alexandra Reserve is a unique playground. Developed in collaboration with local residents and public artist Graham Charlcroft, the design reflects the important ecology and attributes of the reserve. The sculptural play elements focus on creative play and exploration - maximising the natural elements of the park and generating a stimulating free play environment. This reserve holds particular significance for local children and their families as a place to play, gather and seek sanctuary.

This design is based on the local history of Drummoyne Oval and its connection to the Parramatta River. The scoreboard provides us with up to date references on the score and the state of play. The river is the keeper of history as it flows from its source to the sea, carrying with it stories of indigenous life and culture and early white settlement. It's the constant flow and tidal rise and fall that connect us to the landscape.

Each of the seven signal boxescompliment the natural or built features of the local area. Thao's work is highly graphic, drawing on colour schemes and composition methods that represent her cross-cultural background. Originally from Vietnam, Thao is a well regarded public artist with over 12 years experience.

Public art creates a look and feel for Drummoyne Shopping Village Centre. Refresh Drummoyne by Wendy Lewis is a poem that lyrically encapsulates local history from indigenous settlement to the present day. It acknowledges the heritage of the area and offers opportunities for taking intriguing words, quotes and verses which can be used effectively around the Centre. The poem appears in full in the Formosa Street Car Park and is widely quoted through out the centre. Design by Ivana Martinovic.

La Famiglia, the bronze sculpture gifted to the City of Canada Bay by the Basilicata Region in Italy. Designed and made by Antonio Masini, an international contemporary artist from Canada Bay's sister city San Fele in Italy. The bronze sculpture that stands seven metres high and three metres wide and comprises of three figures, a mother, a father and a small child. These figures represent the family: embracing Italian heritage; the past, the present and the future. It symbolises the strength, determination and courage of the thousands of Italians and other migrants that left their homeland and crossed the ocean to start a new life in Australia.

Public Art provides the perfect opportunity to communicate and represent cultural meanings. Public Art refers to a range of art work and art based activities that are located in the public domain. Areas of public domain include open space, public buildings, parks, playgrounds, and anywhere else where the general public has access to. On a fundamental level the value of Public Art is to be found in the level of public benefit it provides to people regardless of their individual circumstances.

I Remember was created by public artist Joanne Saad. It captured the sense of community that still characterises the Five Dock and mirrors the memories of families and their homes. The work recognising the diversity of this region and how its remarkable history is still an important part of Five Dock and the City of Canada Bay. The mural was created over a number of months and incorporates the memories of residents of the area and historically significant items.

The fishing boat sculpture is created to represent the journey of the Eolian community to Australia, and its elements are inspired by Eolian folk law and traditions. It tells one of the miracle stories of St Bartholomew, the patron saint chosen by the Eolian’s from the Isle of Lipari. The boat sculpture is symbolic of the mystery of a journey that, sooner or later, reveals its purpose. This boat is gently tilted on its side, suggesting that the landing in Australia was purposeful and that the Eolian community were destined to be here to the enrichment of the Australian culture.

The Reader (c 1967) a bronze sculpture by Bim (Vernon Arthur) Hilder was originally located in front of Five Dock Library, Great North Road, Five Dock (c1967-2004). Installed near the origional site in Five Dock 2014

The mural is to draws attention to the difficulties faced by members of the community in accessing Livvi’s play space. It features an interpretive map of the local area with key elements portrayed, including the park, historical buildings and local land marks. It is made of a number of different materials and features QR codes to video and web resources. It appeals to children adding another play elemment and connects with parents providing information and interest online.

Henry Lawson Park was the springboard of a community art project to discover and design sea creatures that might live in the bay. Art works includes carvings hidden around the tree line and in ground mosaics.

The aim of this Mosaic Artwork was to create a space to linger.

Joel Moore, AKA Mulga the Artist, developed in collaboration with POPP Table Tennis Tables an artwork in Peg Paterson Park, Rhodes. The work includes the river running through different kinds of brightly coloured plants representing the cultural diversity of the community and a sun which represents the Aboriginal heritage of the region. The work includes some chimneys scattered throughout representing Rhodes industrial past and bicycle wheels representing the current day fun activities that peo

The wall that celebrates the culture of the original inhabitants of Rhodes – the Wangle Clan . The wall refers to the ‘mullet feast’ that occurred around Homebush Bay every 3-5 years when the mullet swarmed. Tribes from as far away as the mountains would attend. The event created an opportunity to strengthen relationships. The Mullet Net in the play space represents the Mullet nets used the ‘mullet feast’ that occurred around Homebush Bay every 3-5 years when the mullet swarmed. Tribes from a

Aqueous refelcts the Parramatta River, which snakes through Rhodes, linking the community’s past to the present. It is made of multiple, interlocking puzzle pieces, representative of individuals coming together to form a community. The puzzle pieces symbolise both people and water, acting as a metaphor for water management and the role an individual and the community play in preserving this natural resource.

Tribute to our fallen diggers from the local area. In partnership with the City of Canada Bay and Sydney Water, Olev developed an artwork installed on the infrastructure kiosk in McIlwaine Park, Rhodes, adjacent to Concord Road and the park's public toilets and picnic tables. The artwork references local soldiers and their family stories from the More Than Just A Name project, featured as part of the commemorations of the Centenary of ANZAC.

This artwork references communities that once used this site as well as the current local community; bringing together cultures from the past, present and future. In Motion, traces a desire-line in colour and LEDs throughout the site which helps to navigate around the buildings, and highlight the entrance to the Connection. The artwork guides visitors to places for respite, play and water views at key locations around the buildings, as well as activates the site during the day and night.

The site of the WWII Commonwealth Shipyard No.4, where small ships were constructed for service in WW2, is near the Rhodes end of the Kokoda Track memorial walk. The Brays Bay Reserve site acknowledges the contribution of those who built the ships and of those that served on them. The public art, in the photo above, is symbolic of a ship’s bow.

Cartwheeling Youngster, by renowned contemporary artist Caroline Rothwell. This innovative public artwork will provide a memorable and unique experience of the foreshore, adding a poetic dimension to the experience of the water’s edge. It celebrates the youth and vitality of the Rhodes community and is a metaphor for renewal, growth and potential. It is a series of six bronze sculptures based on the figure of a young child cartwheeling, displayed in a rotating format along the Rhodes foreshore.

Cumulus is about clouds and about lightness and heaviness. It is about the jostling and the idea of stuff floating overhead that is heavy yet also precarious. Green’s cloud form, in its determination to link to its environment, reinforces the opening up of the space while offering an escapist quality that he believes all art work should have. It is a simple white form but at night it is lit from within and because it is reflective it takes on light and shade.

'Wonderwalk' is a public artwork developed for the Lewis Avenue steps at Rhodes. It features imagery derived from stories relating to journey.

Five giant sandstone sacks of grain recall Allied Feeds, create an interactive edge of the planted area, and provide seating for the public. The history of the site is also acknowledged via a shelter with laser cut wheat sheaves, pre-cast concrete walls, decorated with a representation of the now demolished mill building. Allied Feeds produced pellets, mash and cubes of stock feed in a large industrial complex along the foreshore of Parramatta River.

‘Re-emergence’ has been created by artist Mark McClelland and forms part of the entry space and foyer of the new Monaco Apartments on Shoreline Drive at Rhodes. Mark used the Parramatta River and the emergence of Rhodes as a new community as a theme for the artwork. He also drew on the Grey Mangroves, which traditionally lined the River along the Rhodes Peninsula, as his inspiration. These mangroves were damaged when the area was predominantly industrial but have re-emerged as the area has been remediated.