Submission Cover Sheet Project EES IAC 727

Request to be heard?: yes

Full Name: Lachlan Plain Organisation: Sanctum Studio Affected property: Bulleen Art & Garden, 6 Manningham Rd West, Bulleen VIC Attachment 1: Art_Community_P Attachment 2: Attachment 3: Comments: Art, Community, Place outlines how public art on North East Link can help enhance local communities and create a dynamic experience for commuters without significant project cost. An evolving public art program would reflect local heritage and community concerns, using local artists where possible. As well as large scale sculptures visible from the road, smaller scale sculpture, community and environmental art could be enjoyed in communal areas associated with the North East Link works, such as walkways and parkland. Murals and projection art would add another dimension to the area in a cost-effective way. Art, Community, Place is intended as a public submission for consideration by the joint Inquiry and Advisory Committee (IAC) as it relates to the Environment Effects Statement (EES). We recommend that it be incorporated into the Urban Design Strategy to assist with the development of a locally focused art program for North East Link. Art, Community, Place has been prepared by Sanctum Studio under the auspices of Bulleen Art & Garden (BAAG). Both BAAG and Sanctum Studio have worked extensively with emerging and established artists, arts associations and community groups over several decades. Feedback from local arts networks has been taken into consideration in preparing this document, to ensure the full potential of the public art program is realised and enjoyed by the in-excess-of 100,000 commuters travelling on NE Link daily. For further information on BAAG and Sanctum Studio please refer to section 5 of this document, ‘Document Authors’. Art, Community, Place A vision for a dynamic public art program for

North East Link

responsive to local heritage and community

Life on Planet Daisyworld (2015) Lachlan Plain, 10 x 30m Fitzroy, Entrance Mural, Guiseppi Raineri, BAAG

“Heide Museum of Modern Art is supportive of the principles espoused in the Art, Community, Place document prepared by Sanctum Studio under the auspices of Bulleen Art & Garden. The public art on the North East Link should enhance communities and create a dynamic experience for commuters.” Tim Sligo, Executive Director, Heide Museum of Modern Art

“We fully agree and endorse Art, Community, Place, and proposal put forward that art should be inclusive in the planning of the North East Link to create an experience for local communities and the give opportunities to local artists. We commend the respect paid to environment and heritage, the analysis and the recommendations for ongoing artistic direction.” Gillian Govan, President of the The Association of Sculptors of , on behalf of the Committee

“We have been associated with Bulleen Art and Garden for over 20 years and understand and appreciate the contribution they make to the community and the local artists working in it.

“The Eastern Studio Potters and Artists would like to support ’Art, Community, Place’, proposed by Bulleen Art & Garden and Sanctum Studio. This document stresses the need for public art. The ideas in this document support notions of community projects, large scale sculpture and the like to reflect our diverse community, heritage ideals and our indigenous stake holders.

“We fully endorse this document and trust the recommendations in it will be adopted.” Robyn Carter, Treasurer, Eastern Studio Potters and Artists. Acacia Fitzroy Creche Mural, Magic Lantern Studio, Fitzroy AUS

1 Summary Art, Community, Place outlines how public art on North East Link can help enhance local communities and create a dynamic experience for commuters without significant project cost. An evolving public art program would reflect local heritage and community concerns, using local artists where possible. As well as large scale sculptures visible from the road, smaller scale sculpture, community and environmental art could be enjoyed in communal areas associated with the North East Link works, such as walkways and parkland. Murals and projection art would add another dimension to the area in a cost-effective way. Art, Community, Place is intended as a public submission for consideration by the joint Inquiry and Advisory Committee (IAC) as it relates to the Environment Effects Statement (EES). We recommend that it be incorporated into the Urban Design Strategy to assist with the development of a locally focused art program for North East Link. Art, Community, Place has been prepared by Sanctum Studio under the auspices of Bulleen Art & Garden (BAAG). Both BAAG and Sanctum Studio have worked extensively with emerging and established artists, arts associations and community groups over several decades. Feedback from local arts networks has been taken into consideration in preparing this document, to ensure the full potential of the public art program is realised and enjoyed by the in-excess-of 100,000 commuters travelling on NE Link daily. For further information on BAAG and Sanctum Studio please refer to section 5 of this document, ‘Document Authors’.

Art, Community, Place P.3 2 Introduction

Freeways and tollways are liminal spaces, a means for getting from A to B. Traditionally they have been visually bland expanses of bitumen hemmed in by the grey of . When driving on roads like these you could be anywhere in the world. The only indication of your location is the words on the signs above your head.

In recent decades governments and developers across the globe have recognised the need to beautify such spaces, creating points of interest along the journey. This has led to more colour along the embankments, and elegance being engineered into structures like bridges and tunnels. There has also been more focus on large-scale works of public art visible to the road, such as: the oftentimes humorous artistic interventions along the Eastlink Freeway; ’s continuing partnership with McClelland Sculpture Park to enliven the road for holidaymakers on their way to the beach; the grand entrance to the Mullum Mullum Tunnel; or the public art along the on the way to Geelong.

But, whilst such large-scale public art can be beautiful, amusing and thought provoking, they rarely appear to ‘belong’ to the landscape…even the heavily modified landscape of the modern freeway. This sense of incongruity, of not ‘belonging’, oftentimes works in the sculpture’s favour, for instance it heightens the eeriness of Callum Morton’s Hotel and adds to the playfulness of Gregor Kregar’s giant silver gnome (Reflective Lullaby). However on the whole it compounds the sense of alienation inherent to the experience of driving along a contemporary freeway or tollway.

The vision outlined in this document is for a roadway that is fully integrated in the landscape and community that surround it, with constant visual reminders of where you are in the world.

3 Vision

We propose that, when planning new freeways and tollways, governments and developers should imple- ment dynamic, ongoing public art programs that:

• Evolve across the lifespan of the road; • Are fully integrated with the structural and natural formations of their environment; • Are reflective of local communities, histories and ecosystems.

To achieve these goals we propose that North East Link Project implements, in addition to the more traditional permanent sculptures like the ones described above, a public art program that emphasises:

• Emerging and established local artists; • Community cultural development projects that engage local community groups; • Small-scale sculptural works on overpasses, walkways and neighbouring bushland; • Artforms that are immediate, impactful and cost-effective – such as projection art and street art; • Ephemeral or evolving environmental artworks that respond to the landscape.

Art, Community, Place P.4 To realise this vision we recommend establishing:

• An ongoing curatorial position, (potentially a contractual position for a freelance curator which might be for as little as one day a week); • A dedicated peer review committee to oversee the implementation of this public art program, representing artists, curators, arts administrators and local government working on a pro-bono basis; • A vision statement committing North East Link to the implementation of this public art program.

This program would need to span two or more decades and be built into a normal freeway artwork budget. This would mean that North East Link celebrates local artists and surrounding communities on an ongoing basis, as well as creating a dynamic and evolving experience for motorists.

This program will help integrate North East Link into the consciousness of the communities through which it passes; as well as drawing global attention to North East Link as being on the cutting edge of creative and socially aware infrastructure development.

We believe that this program reflects the objectives of the EES Urban Design Strategy, encapsulated in the following passage:

“Urban design is…a process that…shapes amenity, the quality of user experience and the wellbeing of people and communities. Urban design also supports natural systems and cultural and heritage values. “

4 Recommendations

To ensure that the realisation of the vision outlined above, we recommend the inclusion of the following Environmental Performance Requirements (EPRs) in the EES:

1. Enhance the experience of commuters and locals alike by establishing an evolving program of public art that spans a duration of at least 15 years and encompasses significant sculptural works; small-scale artworks in overpasses, walkways and neighbouring bushland; artforms that are immediate, impactful and cost-effective – such as projection art and street art; and ephemeral or evolving environmental artworks that respond to the landscape.

2. Establish a committee of stake holders - including local artists, art workers and community groups - to oversee this program.

3. Establish a part-time curatorial position to ensure the effective delivery of this program.

Art, Community, Place P.5 5 Local Heritage

‘The Birrarung is a river of mist and shadows – the river and its environs are a living, breathing entity that follows Wurundjeri songlines and forms a central part of the Dreaming of the Wurundjeri.’ -- Yarra Strategic Plan (Ancient Spirit and Lore of the Yarra)

The North East Link public art program should reflect the rich cultural heritage of the Yarra Valley, or the ‘Valley of the Arts’, which dates back to the modernist painters of Heide, the and the cultural expressions of the Kulin Nation, as seen in the drawings of William Barak, as well as current day local arts.

5.1 Wurundjeri

Prior to European settlement the Bolin Bolin billabongs, located on the Yarra between present-day Heidelberg and Bulleen, provided the Wurundjerri with an abundance of eels and were one of their most significant meeting sites, where marriages and trade alliances were forged.

The Wurundjeri - or ‘witchetty grub people’ – have inhabited the Yarra Valley for twenty to forty thousand years. They have lived on the banks of the Birrurung (or ) since it flowed across the land-bridge with Tasmania, joining the Tamar and spilling into the Southern Ocean.

The Wurundjeri are a tribe of the Kulin nation. They speak the Woiworung language and, prior to European settlement, lived predominantly as hunters, aquaculturists and swidden agriculturists (growing grasslands by fire-stick farming to create fenceless herbivore grazing, garden-farming murnong yam roots and various tuber lilies).

5.2 Impressionists to Modernists

The Heidelberg School, active in the Yarra Valley region in the late Nineteenth Century, is one of the most significant movements in history. It included painters such as Arthur Streeton, Walter Withers, Tom Roberts, Charles Conder and Frederick McCubbin. They worked in ‘artist camps’, painting plein air landscapes and outdoor scenes of daily life. They pioneered an impressionistic style that, for the first time in the short history of European Australian art, captured the colours of the bush and the quality of the antipodean sunlight.

Then, in the first half of the Twentieth Century, the Yarra Valley was home to The – a loose grouping of Australian artists who lived and worked at ‘Heide’, a former dairy farm on the Yarra River floodplain at Bulleen Heide was purchased in 1934 by John and , passionate supporters and collectors of Australian art and culture. A number of renowned modernist artists came to Heide to live and work at various times through the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s. These artists included Albert Tucker, , and Joy Hester.

Art, Community, Place P.6 5.3 Bolin Bolin Cultural Landscape Precinct

The Bolin Bolin Precinct is a significant visitor precinct focussed on the natural environment, contemporary arts and the existing cultural heritage of the area. The Bolin Cultural Landscape Trail weaves its way through the bushland beside a series of Billabongs along the Yarra River. It connects Heide, BAAG, the Veneto Club and the Heidelberg School Artists Trail:

• Heide Museum of Modern Art is located at the site of the old dairy where John and Sunday Reed hosted the painters of the Heide Circle. Since 1980 it has been run by the Victorian Government as a public art museum and park. The museum has since expanded its collection through many individual gifts, and in keeping with the Reeds’ original aim, continues to support young and emerging artists. • Bulleen Art and Garden (BAAG) is a colourful destination focussing on sustainability and the arts. It showcases local artists in several dedicated arts spaces, and has murals and sculptural features throughout the centre. • Heidelberg School Artists Trail extends for 40 kms, featuring 57 explanatory signs with reproductions and descriptions of some of the most famous paintings by important artists such as Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts.

5.4 Banyule and Manningham

Banyule and Manningham are home to many thriving arts organisations and individual artists. Some have decades long practice histories and strong reputations, others are newly emerging. They include every visual and performing arts discipline and range in size and focus from na- tional organisations through local community arts cooperatives to independent artists. Some examples include:

• Council run galleries such as Hatch Contemporary Art Space in Heidelberg and Manningham Art Gallery in Doncaster; • Banyule’s bi-annual program of ephemeral artworks in public spaces; • Local community events such as the Banyule Kids Arty Farty Fest and parade; • Public art sculptures in the Bolin Bolin Precinct and throughout Manninhgham, such as: • Sentinal (2000) by Inge King, • Sidle (2007) and River Peel (2000) by Michael Bellemo and Catriona Macleod, • Manna Gum (2004) by Simon Horsburgh, • Eel (2004) by Cameron Robins, • The Queen of the Shire in Warrandyte North, and other sculptures by sculptor, Deborah Halpern, (creator of Angel in Birrurung Marr, deborahhalpern.com),

• Ivanhoe and Heide Makers Markets, • Stonehouse Gallery in Warrandyte; • Sanctum Studio, a dynamic arts space in the Banyule Area creating giant puppets, street art and public art (sanctumstudio.com.au).

Art, Community, Place P.7 Eel (2004), Cameron Robins, Bolin Bolin Billabong

6 Areas of Focus

To be reflective of the character of the surrounding communities, we believe that a NE Link public art program should focus on the following areas, (in addition to the more traditional, permanent, large-scale sculptures by nationally renowned artists):

6.1 Local Artists

We believe that in selecting tenders for public art work, the NE Link Technical Advisory Committee should give precedence to a certain proportion of local artists. This would help embed the roadway into the consciousness of the local community.

6.3 Community Engagement

The NE Link journey should tell the story of the land through which it passes. To these ends we propose that NE Link commission artists and community development workers to engage community groups and schools to generate ideas and designs for artworks along the freeway. Community engagement might include working with:

• Local residents • Recent migrants and ethnic groups, • Indigenous groups, • Schools and universities,

Art, Community, Place P.8 • Early learning facilities, • Aged care facilities, • Groups for people with physical and intellectual disabilities, • Groups for people suffering issues of mental illness and social isolation.

Artists and community development workers will work with these communities to help tell their stories, and the stories of their suburbs, in an unexpected and memorable way.

6.4 Street Art

Melbourne has gained international acclaim for its diverse range of street art and associated subcultures. There is no reason that this cacophony of colour could not spill out from the inner city, down the city’s North Eastern artery.

Murals are a cheap and impactful way to transform the visual experience of driving on a freeway. They introduce colour and wonder to the journey, opening windows onto illusory worlds beyond the day-to- day commute. We propose that the embankments and sound barriers along the NE Link become an evolving gallery reflecting Melbourne’s rich street art culture.

A street art program along the NE Link would help draw Melbourne’s cultural tourists from the city centre to experience the unique artistic heritage of the North Eastern suburbs – including attractions such as Heide, Montsalvat and TarraWarra.

6.5 Projection Art

Events like White Night and Gertrude Street Projection Festival have introduced a mainstream Melbourne audience to the potential of projection art. Projection art, like street art, can transform large tracts of vertical space into something magical. But, unlike street art, projection art is in a constant state of flux – the mages are moving, morphing, becoming something else. And with the precision of modern mapping applications, projection art can be truly responsive to the contours of the site.

6.6 Environmental and Land Art

The modern motorway is rolled out over complex living ecosystems. An environmental or land art program would draw attention to the organisms remaining on the verge of the road, as well as in the parklands and backyards surrounding the motorway. It would also emphasise the affect of elements such as wind and rain.

Artists responding to this brief would be asked to collaborate with NE Link’s landscape architects to embed their work into the design of the vegetation on verges of the motorway. These works would potentially incorporate the vegetation itself into the artwork. They would be designed to be time-based, evolving through the seasons and over the years, as trees or shrubs matured or sculptural surfaces weathered.

Art, Community, Place P.9 7 Document Authors

Art, Community, Place has been prepared by Sanctum Studio (sanctumstudio.com.au) under the auspices of Bulleen Art & Garden (baag.com.au): 7.1 Sanctum Studio

Sanctum Studio is a dynamic arts space in the North Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, creating public art, street art and giant puppets for government, commercial and private clients. Sanctum Studio also facilitates collaborative arts projects alongside community groups and schools. We work with children, youth, families, ethnic groups, ESL classes, and people experiencing disability or mental health issues.

It is home to Sanctum Theatre (sanctumtheatre. org), a visual performance company presenting live art in everyday spaces. Sanctum Theatre’s current productions include two collaborations with Magic Lantern Studio, The Man Who Cannot Sleep (themanwhocannotsleep.com) and Life is a Carousel (winner 2017 Green Room Award for Puppetry).

7.2 Bulleen Art & Garden

Bulleen Art & Garden is a garden centre that promotes local artists and creativity in the garden. It is a complementary experience for the many people with an interest in the arts who travel to the area to visit Heide MOMA. It focusses on local contemporary artists and introduces art to an audience who may not normally visit an art gallery. It does this through The Bolin Bolin Gallery, The Sculpture Garden and Garden Gallery; hands-on art workshops; and artworks built into the structural fabric of BAAG.

BAAG also specialises in food plants, indigenous, native and low water use plants and encourages sustainable gardening. BAAG is proud to be a part of a vibrant and diverse community.

Art, Community, Place P.10 8. Links: International, National & Local Examples

Blog Post: Article: Article: Street Art Portraits in Sao Paolo Dan Fontes paints murals on city The Freemont Troll buildings, warehouses and under Publication: fubiz.net highways Publication: Wikepedia ‘Brazilian photographer Raquel Brust made a series of black and Publication: SFGATE white portraits that she posted on ‘The Fremont Troll (also known the streets of Sao Paulo, under a as The Troll, or the Troll Under bridge.’ Published: 6 June 2011 the Bridge) is a public sculpture in the Fremont neighborhood of http://www.fubiz. Seattle, Washington in the United https://blog.sfgate.com/ States.’ net/2014/03/10/street-art- inoakland/2011/06/06/dan- portraits-in-sao-paulo/ fontes-paints-murals-on-city- buildings-warehouses-and- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ under-highways/ Fremont_Troll

Article: Webpage: Article:

‘Illuminating Downtown’ Craiglinn Underpass | Cumber- brian kane digitally restores nature brightens San Jose once more nauld Scotland | Bigg Design in place of interstate advertising

Publication: Silicon Valley Publication: World Landscape Business Journal Artist Publication: designboom

Published: 10 Dec 2015 ‘North Lanarkshire Council ‘throughout the hours of the day, commissioned Bigg Design and a dynamic sequence of visuals Zero-Waste Design to deliver sourced from the encompassing Artwork: Halos (2012) interactive area are displayed on screen, projection art, Don Corson, San an exciting project that saw the regeneration of an underpass creating a dimensional window Jose US Artwork: Halos (2012) that uncovers treetops, forest interactive projection art, Don in Cumbernauld with stunning lighting and mural designs.’ floors and starry skies hidden Corson, San Jose US by the banner. by night, high- resolution images of the moon https://www.bizjournals.com/ https://worldlandscapearchitect. are synced to the daily phase, sanjose/slideshow/2015/12/10/ com/cumbernauld-bigg-design/ so people can view the moon illuminating-downtown- despite the effects of urban light brightens-san-jose-once-more. pollution.’ html https://www.designboom.com/ Webpage: art/brian-kane-healing-tool- billboard-nature-07-23-2015/ F.I.S.H

Publication: Donald Lipski’s folio site

These fish, replicas of the native long-eared sunfish, are lit from within at night, with about 1000 l.e.d. lights in each fish. F.I.S.H. has become an instant landmark. Crowds gather every evening to watch the “lighting of the fish”. http://www.donaldlipski.net/fish/

Art, Community, Place P.11