Meet the new pillars of our community
A DOME of mirrored pillars rising from the ground of Transvaal Square is the latest addition to the arts trail popping up across Geelong’s revitalised CBD.
The Grassy Knoll installation, from artists Lani Fender and Damien Elderfield, features grass-topped stainless steel pillars that the City of Greater Geelong said would be “particularly appealing for children”.
The Grassy Knoll will form one stop on what has become a cultural tour of the city centre, with an airbrush mural of Geelong-born singer and late Divinyls frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett also recently unveiled in McLarty Place as part of the Revitalising Central Geelong’s Laneways project.
A Mark Cuthbertson artwork, titled Scouts, caused a stir when it was installed on the corner of La Trobe Tce and Little Malop St in early June, with some describing the contemporary sculpture as “sinister bunnies”.
It was followed shortly after by the Curls of Fancy sculpture by artist Roman Liebach on the new Little Malop St footbridge, which was exhibited as part of the 2016 Lorne Sculpture Biennale.
Geelong council administrator chair Kathy Alexander said art was essential to the future of the city.
“The City is proud to deliver a number of new artworks to the Geelong community through the Revitalising Central Geelong projects,” Dr Alexander said.
“Art is an important conversation starter and it’s an essen- tial part of ensuring Geelong is recognised as a clever and creative city into the future.”
A recent Australia Council for the Arts survey conducted across the nation found people in regional Victoria showed slightly less love for the arts than those in Melbourne — but we still have a better attitude than our philistine cousins in Sydney.
Seventy-one per cent of regional Victorians believe the arts positively impact our ability to express ourselves, compared with 74 per cent of Melburnians and just 64 per cent of Sydneysiders. Local arts aficionados will be in for the show of a lifetime later this year, with Australia’s most prestigious portraiture prize coming to Geelong for the first time from October 27 to December 10.
The Archibald Prize 2017 touring exhibition is being held at Geelong Gallery, and Geelong is the only Victorian regional centre on the six-stop tour.
The Archibald was first awarded in 1921 and has since represented a who’s who of Australian culture.