art4place: Public art

Showing posts with label Public art. Show all posts

Thursday, July 23, 2015

The Peace in the Trees Sculptural Walk journey

The Peace in the Trees Sculptural Walk on the the Riverside Centre (town centre) end of the Maleny Trail (officially opened on 22 July) started its journey in 2012 as part of Art4place's Creative Spaces 2012. Craig Medson began the journey by securing and breaking Helidon sandstone (see above) in the shed at Maleny Retreat (thanks Maria and Wendy); and gently and expertly guiding 12 local artists in the creating of peace and environmental stone sculptures (check out the link and see photos below).

Earlier this year (2015) Art4place were granted funds by the Sunshine Coast Council to hire Wayne Markwort to again work with the local artists to fines the works so that the could become part of the SCC's public art collection; and be installed on the Maleny Trail on the Maleny Precinct. The artists were pleased that another experienced local stone sculptor was able to assist them to add to their works two years on.

Over a 12 month period Art4place has worked with Cllr Jenny McKay and Council art staff Ant McKenna and Julie Hauritz to transfer ownership of the sculptures to the SCC; and install them on the Maleny Trail walk.

There have been many many steps in the installation process. A big thank you to the installation team - mainly Rhyce Skodnik and Edith-Ann doing 'the heavy lifting' etc.

Selecting the location for each piece.

Soil testing and drawing engineered footings.

Transporting the works from Maleny Retreat to the precinct.

Digging footing holes and surrounding them with security barriers.

Pouring the punch pads - foundations with reinforced steel.

Drilling the pieces and inserting reinforcing steel; craning the pieces into place; levelling them; and securing them.

Pouring the concrete footings and trowelling it smooth.

Covering the concrete footings with crushed sandstone.

And adding the signs to the individual pieces and the main story boards

The installation is complete. The next blog will feature all the pieces in place. And the journey will be complete when the Peace in the Trees Sculptural Walk is officially opened on 2 September 2015.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Reflections on placemaking art and public art in Canberra

My most recent trip to Canberra this week gave me time to reflect on the difference between placemaking public art and public art. This came to me when Fiona and I were standing at one of the entry points to Reconciliation Place - a place dedicated to reconciliation between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

Barry Smith © Detail - Entry bower Reconciliation Place

Barry Smith © Entry bower Reconciliation Place - Fire and Water - Judy Watson

Barry Smith © Entry to Reconciliation Place- entry to National Library - both hold the stories

Close by was another place dedicated to science and discovery ( Questacon). All the sculptural works we were looking at were in one of our favourite mediums - rusted steel.

Barry Smith © A place for science and maths sculpture

Barry Smith © Mobius - twisted loop (artist not referenced)

Barry Smith © Szilassi Polyherdron - maths creates beauty (artist not referenced)

Though the reconciliation and science art works were of the same medium (rusted steel) as Pear, Angel of the North and Virginia 1970 that are sited in various vantage points around the National Gallery, I think there is a significant difference.

Reconciliation Place is in the Parliamentary triangle, the heart of our democracy and foundation as a nation where many of our most important buildings are found. The sculptural artworks here told the story of Indigenous people of the local area; why there was a need for reconciliation; and recognised the actions that had been taken towards reconciliation.

The science related sculptures referenced Questacon and let you know this is a place of science and discovery.

Whereas the art works around the National Gallery recognised certain artists and important pieces of sculptural art. Whilst they are beautiful and interesting in their own right they do not tell a story of the place or people in the locations they are located.

The reconciliation and science art is placemaking art - it tells the story of the people and place where it is. The National Gallery sculptural works are public art - they entertain and inspire but don't tell a story about the people or place in which they are displayed.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Winton a hive of placemaking-public art

Recently Fiona and I were fortunate enough to do a road trip to Mackay and Longreach for art purposes. On the way to Longreach we passed through Winton and were impressed with a number of placemaking art pieces including: the Waltzing Matilda story; the Musical fence; and Arno's Wall.

In this post I will share a few photos of the Waltzing Matilda display and will do separate posts on the Musical Fence and Arno's crazy wall.

The Waltzing Matilda place is on a median strip in the main street. The Waltzing Matilda poem originated in Winton so it is really part of that place; and the public art is therefore connected to the community - it creates a sense pof place. The 'art piece' consists of a series of sandstone blocks - about 900mm high and 600mm square. Each block has a verse of Waltzing Matilda and out of the block is some bronze piece that represents the core element of the verse. The photos show the overall place and a few of the blocks. The other thing that amazed us was that this was created with public funds.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Granite and earth - creating a place to pause and wonder

Located just behind the carpark next to the Maleny library is an installation titled ‘Coracle’, - two granite forms set into ripples of turf. They were commissioned by the Caloundra City Council and created by Peachester artists Hew Chee Fong and his partner L.M.Noonan in the year 2000.

“‘Coracle’ is simultaneously an installation and an earth sculpture. There is a deliberate collusion with its proposed surrounding landscape design. It will provoke or suggest in the mind of the viewer a vignette of a journey. A large, granite boulder is carved to the point that suggests rather than literally stating, that it is a boat. As with any object in water, there is a simulated resistance or wake effect carved into the surrounding grassed area. A question is posed, has this craft come ashore here or is it still plying its way? Another large boulder sits in splendid and compelling isolation. The top of this monolith is polished to provoke a sense of the passage of time and the ceaseless smoothing action of water. The earth surrounding it sculpted to imply yet another reaction caused by an object in water. This is in the form of rings, such as those produced when something such as a stone is dropped into a still or unmoving liquid body.

The installation invites physical interaction, the viewer wants to touch and sit upon the sculptures. The work also invites intellectual interaction. The metaphoric references to the journey are powerful. It could be a simple narrative, it could be concerning the journey each of us is making and it could be an appropriate reference to the journey we make when we begin our quest for knowledge.

The work is designed to both evolve out of its surroundings and devolve or merge back into them. It is not designed to be a memorial or function as an object based sculpture.”

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Cows creating place in Maleny

Over the next little while ArtSite will feature existing placemaking-community art in the SSC Hinterland. We will do this as artists and other community members draw our attention to existing art; and hopefully provide us with a photo or two of the art.

Recently an installation of cows designed and developed by Janna Pameijer was officially opened. The installation is sited on the north eastern side of the bridge as one enters Maleny from Landsborough.

Photos courtesy of Gemma Black.

This installation was 3-4 years in the making from concept to opening. It demonstrates that placemaking art can take time; and requires a lot of patience and persistence. But in the end the long journey has been worth it – the artistic and statement aspects of the piece are top class. Like all placemaking art the installation is much more than beautifully designed and executed metal sculpture of cows –it is also about community, about people who are the backbone of the dairy industry; it is about Maleny as a producer of quality dairy products; it is about the history of the cattle sale yards on the bank of the Obi Obi etc.

Congratulations to Janna and her supporters for achieving such a great outcome; and creating another community piece of public art and talking point.

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