Submission Cover Sheets
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Submission Cover Sheet North East Link 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, Melbourne 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 Victoria, 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 concrete. 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; Peninsula Link’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 Princes Freeway 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