8art projects Midland Redevelopment Authority

foreword

ARTWORKS ARE INTEGRAL TO MIDLAND’S REVITALISATION. They add character and vitality to the streetscapes and public open spaces and reinforce the town’s strong sense of place.

From the start, the Midland Redevelopment Authority set out to commission works that would engage, surprise and delight both locals and visitors.

The artists found inspiration everywhere. The artworks – from the imposing Workers’ Wall at the entrance to the former Railway Workshops to the footprints of man and emu on a path at Woodbridge Lakes and the sets of long-legged metal sculptures along Yelverton Drive – celebrate many facets of Midland’s heritage and culture.

This eclectic collection of artworks reflects the various artists’ interpretations of Midland and helps us see the place differently and appreciate it all the more.

Kieran Kinsella CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Mark Datodi. Void No I.

Photographic etched zinc plate and balsa wood construction. introduction

“Public art has the capacity to transform places, objects and memories; it can help define a sense of place, facilitate a bridge between past and future, and present vernacular culture to the wider world.”

This publication celebrates the MRA’s first eight art projects.

THE MRA MANAGES A 256-HECTARE SITE LOCATED ON THE EASTERN SIDE of the The redevelopment of metropolitan area of Perth. Included within this area are part of the Midland town centre, the this site heralds an Meat Industry Authority’s saleyards and the historic former Midland Railway Workshops. equally important The Railway Workshops were a dominant force in local and state-wide economics throughout the new era. 20th century. They were the centre of social and community life for generations of workers, and many people within Western Australia continue to hold a deep emotional attachment to them. The vision for Midland is for a sustainable regional Designed by the celebrated Western Australian engineer, C.Y.O’Connor, the colossal scale of the Workshops is counterbalanced by elegant detailing in the brickwork and carpentry. centre recognised for its Their closure in 1994 was the end of an important era. cultural diversity and

The mix of new streetscapes, public open spaces and contemporary architecture coexisting with growing opportunities remarkable heritage buildings and facilities offers artists wonderful opportunities to explore ideas in commerce, education relating to site, scale, and social identity. and the arts. The intention is to reach out to both local residents and visitors with distinctive and unique artworks that reflect on Midland’s past and future.

Maggie Baxter Art Coordinator for the Midland Redevelopment Authority Anne Neil. ‘Mixture 1 & 2’. Diptych. Marine ply clad with patinated copper. exhibition

In 2001 the MRA invited THE ARTISTS WERE SELECTED TO ENSURE A MIX OF STYLES AND MEDIA. Some chose to a group of ten established concentrate on the dramatic architectural scale and detailing, while others focused on the more human elements. The final artworks are diverse: delicate fused textiles, welded iron tools, screen-printed and emerging artists aluminium, patinated copper, canvas and text collage, drawings and oil paintings. to record their highly The exhibition opened in the historic Railway Institute building in December 2001 and remained on individual views of the show to the public until February 2002. interiors and exteriors The MRA retained at least one work from each artist for its own collection. of the Midland Railway

Workshops. ARTISTS

They were asked to Mark Datodi complete a minimum Rina Franz of two works each. Richard Gunning Adrian Jones Tony Jones Anne Neil Clare Perkins Karen Reys Hettie Spee Norachai Thavisin

Karen Reys. ‘Reflect’. Silk, cotton, steel wire, and acetate. Clare Perkins. ‘Midland Railway Workshops in Red Gold’. Oil on canvas. 8projects

Recognising the important role of public art in successful urban renewal, in 2001 the MRA began a program of commissioning artworks to be integrated into the built environment. A brass plate disc with brightly coloured epoxy paint, also designed by Lance, was placed in a central position along the ‘track’. The large circle represents one year (bonar), and the six small circles represent the six seasons recognised by Nyoongar people. Djiran April – May Mookaroo June – July Djilba August – September Kambarang October – November Birak December – January Boonaroo February – March lance chadd LANCE CHADD (TJYLLYUNGOO) IS A NYOONGAR ARTIST WHO WAS BORN IN BUNBURY, Western Australia. Self taught, he has been working as a full-time professional artist since 1980. He is represented in the Art Gallery of Western Australia and the Australian National Gallery as well as other public and private collections. Nyoongar people are the traditional owners of the land in the Midland area. The Swan Valley, just outside Midland, was a good source of food for Aborigines who hunted there for kangaroos and other marsupials, wild fowl, fish and long-necked tortoises, and gathered yams and other edible roots. By using two simple but powerful images of feet, Lance pays tribute to the strong bond of brotherhood between emus and humans. The human feet (Nyoongar djena) represent Aboriginal traditional lands (Nyoongar boodjara), and the emu feet (waitj djena) represent the cultural connections between Aboriginal people, land, animals and the environment. Forty-five imprints of each design were cast in bronze and inlaid into the pavements around the Woodbridge Lakes subdivision. The feet alternate and are spaced apart as though on a hunting or walking track.

mark grey-smith MARK GREY-SMITH IS A SCULPTOR who trained at the Chelsea School of Art in London and the Canberra School of Arts, where he was also a lecturer from 1988 – 1996. Since returning to Perth he has concentrated on being a full-time artist.

He has exhibited throughout Australia and has been an active member of a number of significant arts organisations and committees including Praxis Inc., the very influential artist-run experimental gallery prominent in Perth during the 1970s and 1980s. As a committee member of C.A.D.E.N.C.E (formerly Art in Public Places Network ACT), he contributed to the instigation of a Percent for Art Policy by the ACT Government in 1995.

Built of bricks inscribed with the names of workers, the Workers’ Wall pays tribute to the thousands of Western Australians who wove the rich social history of the site. It is positioned at the entry to the Railway Workshops. Mark collaborated with architect Philip McAllister and landscape architect Chris Byrne from Tract (WA) Pty Ltd to ensure the artwork integrated into the built structure. Industrial remnants from the Workshops provide the basis for the form and content of the artwork, together with cut steel images of workers taken from archival photographs. The result is a work of substantial presence and expressive content that commemorates the workers and work carried out in the Workshops throughout its 90-year history.

‘I wanted to express the industry and achievements of the workers in a dynamic and positive manner’. Mark Grey-Smith, 2005. robert juniper + ron gomboc Midland Technical College and Perth Midland Technical time to painting, sculpting, and printmaking. He sculpting, and time to painting, - . Robert Juniper, June 2003 Robert Juniper, bonus’. particular, the shadows cast on the ground and on the leaf forms should be an extra My aim is to make a sculpture that is decorative and interesting to children in with a mechanical reference (Midland Workshops), without being too literal. bronze. My concept is similar, a fantasy of organic forms and little bush creatures, squirrels, rabbits and such emerging from the original matrix of clay turned into in Queen Park Gardens, East Perth, I was fascinated by the little creatures, mice, ‘When I was a child my grandmother took me to see the bronze statue of Peter Pan Technical College from 1971 – 1982. Since 1980 he has operated his own studio, College from 1971 – 1982. Since 1980 he has operated Technical foundry and gallery from a property in the Swan Valley. The gallery and surveys holds annual sculpture exhibitions as well as a program of monthly numerous exhibitions in Europe, Asia, and Australia exhibitions. As a sculptor Ron has had private commissions. He is represented in several and has completed various public and and University Alcoa Alumina Australia University, major collections including Edith Cowan In 2005 he represented Australia at a major steel sculpture in Sydney. of Technology Sculpture symposium in Beijing where one of his works is now integrated into the ‘Peace’ Park Collection. RATIMIR MARIJAN (RON) GOMBOC WAS BORN IN SLOVENIA AND CAME TO BORN IN SLOVENIA MARIJAN (RON) GOMBOC WAS RATIMIR at art THE AGE OF 13.AUSTRALIA AT studied He ROBERT JUNIPER IS RECOGNISED AS AN ARTIST OF POETIC AND SPONTANEOUS AND POETIC OF ARTIST AS AN IS RECOGNISED JUNIPER ROBERT VISION. Australian of the Western interpretations his evocative for best known Now started he landscape, art commercial studying career by his at design industrial and School of Art.Beckenham himself full he has devoted Since 1974 has had numerous solo exhibitions throughout Australia and his work is represented in all is represented and his work throughout Australia solo exhibitions has had numerous Art In 1999 the public collections. major Australian a Australia held Gallery of Western major survey work. of his Robert These on a number of major commissions. has collaborated with Ron Gomboc designed by Robertworks have all been and fabricated in the Gomboc Foundry. Forms’ is the centrepiece ‘Tree metre high copper and bronze sculpture towering five Robert’s centre of Midland named after him. of a new park in the ANDREW LESLIE NOW LIVES AND WORKS IN SYDNEY where he is a part-time lecturer at the Sydney College of the Arts. Before that he taught at the School of Visual Arts at Edith Cowan University, Perth.

He graduated with a BA (Fine Arts) from Monash University in Melbourne in 1988. In his studio work Andrew makes relief installations that create visual effects through the changing relationship of different coloured surfaces. He has exhibited in Malaysia, China and Spain as well as Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and is represented in major public collections in Australia including Artbank, Bankwest, Curtin University, the National Gallery of Australia, and The Art Gallery of Western Australia.

Andrew collaborated with landscape architects Tract (WA) Pty Ltd to design wooden bollards to protect trees along the Clayton Street verge. The result is a series of identical, painted wooden bollards that appear to change as the viewer moves past them.

‘Movement by the viewer through the space either in a vehicle or on foot produces a constantly changing relationship between the coloured surfaces of the bollards, the surrounding environment, and the viewer.

The colours chosen are those that are traditionally used as danger/warning markers in areas such as rail yards and other industrial sites. These colours are appropriate to the function of the bollards which act as both visual alerts and protection for the associated trees…the black and yellow face is a simple abstraction of a railway line.’ Andrew Leslie, 2002. andrew leslie anne neil She graduated She Korea, Germanyand , ‘Nesting: backyards and Anne Neil, July 2003. Subiaco Redevelopment , . Main Roads Western Australia and other public and private Main Roads Western , place home has been my starting point’. activities carried out by both men and women in making a new the men take up residence in the shed and garden…[The] ’Traditionally the women would make the house their home and new horizons’ Authority from the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin (now Technology of Institute Australian the Western from the Australian 1985, and in (Distinction) a BA Design with University) of Arts,University Institute National a Post Graduate Canberra with in Sculpture in 1992. Diploma Malaysia exhibited in Switzerland, She has ANNE NEIL IS A SCULPTOR AND JEWELLER. AND SCULPTOR A IS NEIL ANNE Malaysia, and Hong Kong. clients within Australia, differentAnne made three artworks site-specific for the Woodbridge together by the theme Lakes precinct, drawn Hawaii as well as throughout Australia. She has been awarded Australia. She well as throughout Hawaii as Australian State numerous public art the Western commissions through Government Percent for Art Scheme The doorwayhouse and the garden, and also is the threshold to the patternlinks the two. The see-through, lace-like in laser cut steel casts up like a lanternshadows on the ground by day and lights at night. It is intended to be a very piece, with its origins in rich feminine embroidery design and pattern-making. Drive, seven cast Lakes from Yelverton At the entrance to Woodbridge bronze shovels sit in an ornamental vegetable patch. The shovel icon of digging and planting was chosen because the positive action implies nurturingfuture growth. and Small fittings and joining fixtures from toy trains have been enlarged, cast in bronze, and transformed into ‘animals’ to be climbed, sat on and ridden. This playful artwork is reminiscent of the uninhibited imagination of childhood, where abstract shapes metamorphose into what the child wants to see and believe.

steve tepper STEVE TEPPER IS A SCULPTOR, FURNITURE AND LIGHTING DESIGNER who has been awarded numerous public art commissions since he graduated from Curtin University of Technology in 1992 with a BA in Jewellery and 3D Design.

Through Asia Link and ArtsWA he has been the recipient of artist residencies in Korea and in Switzerland. He is represented in major collections in Korea, Switzerland, USA and Australia.

Echoing the intriguing shapes prevalent in the rich variety of local plants, ‘Trickle, flow and fall’ is a group of whimsical, brightly painted cast aluminium and bronze water sculptures at the entrance to the Australian Opera Studio in Great Eastern Highway, Midland.

‘In the wild and in cultivation, plants have an innate desire to survive. They…suggest power, vigour and energy, but above all they exude sheer pleasure in their many strange forms.’ Steve Tepper, 2003. The hard metal is cleverly balanced with small, whimsical decoration and human poses and expressions.

The sculptures are so personable and popular with the public that after the initial installation, the MRA commissioned another three works placed in different parts of the Midland town centre. kath wheatley KATH WHEATLEY IS A SCULPTOR AND COMMUNITY ARTS PRACTITIONER. She graduated from the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University) with a BA Fine Arts (Sculpture) in 1980 and then returned to complete her Post Graduate Diploma in Art and Design in 1989. As well as regularly exhibiting in group and solo shows, she has been involved in a wide range of community-based projects as an artist in residence and artist facilitator. She has taught art in schools and technical colleges since 1976.

The seven groups of figures placed along the verges of Yelverton Drive, linking the Amherst Road roundabout to the Lloyd Street intersection, portray workers and families for whom the Midland Railway Workshops was the heart of community and social life as well as a place of work. As part of the commission Kath was invited to select materials from the Workshops. In her original concept drawings the figures had box-like bodies, so finding similarly shaped brass foundry boxes with lugs and handles was perfect.

‘My response to the brief…..was immediately to think of road signs and how in the past I had thought some looked like figures from a distance….I thought this could be a way to construct some figures representing the workers and their families…..I wanted them to look part of the industrial furniture….It was a way of making them look tough and have character.’ Kath Wheatley, 2003.

The MRA encourages a collaborative, interactive approach to all its projects. Special thanks and acknowledgement are extended to Heritage and Conservation Professionals, Tract (WA) Pty Ltd and the City of Swan Midland Library for their enthusiasm and support. The success of these projects is in no small way due to acknowledgements their contribution.

Photographers: Roel Loopers, Adrian Lambert, Anne Neil. Photograph of Lance Chadd reproduced courtesy The West Australian.

For further information please contact the Midland Redevelopment Authority:

Telephone 9374 5500 Facsimile 9250 2437 Email: [email protected] Website: www.mra.wa.gov.au

Midland Redevelopment Authority