Public art is a major component of Orange City Council’s Future City Plan – a bold attempt to re-vitalise Orange’s Central Business District (CBD).
The public art component of Future City offers opportunities for local, regional and established Australian artists to create ambitious, high calibre public murals, installations and sculpture throughout the Orange CBD. Artists are encouraged to develop work that engages with the past, present and future of Oranges’ identity with the aim of activating public space and reinvigorated the CBD.
This 3 year project will be delivered in two stages:
Stage 1 2020/2021 – Public Murals and Installations
Stage 2 2022-2023 – Public Sculpture and Installation
The following artists will be commencing work in the second half of 2021:
Julia Davis and Lisa Jones – Sydney, NSW
Sandon O’Neill – Orange, NSW
Tully Moore – Orange, NSW
Kellie O’Dempsey – Brisbane, QLD
Catherine O’Donnell – Blue Mountains, NSW
Yanni Pounartzis – Canberra, ACTLiz Shreeve – Sydney, NSW
Floria Tosca – Sydney, NSW
WBYK – Orange, NSW
The following projects will be installed throughout May and June:
Sandon Gibbs-O’Neill – Orange, NSW
Community
Sandon Gibbs-O’Neill is a proud Nhunngabarra man who is inspired by the legacy of his Grandfather, Tex Skuthorpe, a highly respected Nhunggal man, artist, teacher and author. Sandon creates
Sandon’s mural Community is a contemporary design that draws on aspects of traditional Aboriginal art. The three rivers, painted in blue, reflect the Wiradjuri people, the ‘people of the three rivers’ the Wambool (Macquarie), Kalari (Lachlan) and Murrumbidgee. The two circular designs joined by a pathway illustrates past, present and future communities and the importance of sharing knowledge and showing respect. The background circle illustrates the land and how everything is connected. The use of dots within the circular pattern reflect community with each dot having an important role in the overall circle. Just as each person plays a vital role in our community. Community reflects a connection to the land on which we walk and it’s traditional custodians, the Wiradjuri people.
Website: https://burruguuart.com/
Instagram: @burruguu_art
Tully Moore – Orange, NSW
Beginning and The End
A Country Practice is an ongoing art project directed by Tully Moore. This iteration of Tully’s practice continues a long-standing interest and involvement in decorative arts, fine art and collaboration. The project focuses on traditional trompe l’oeil still life paintings and its historical standing in both the commercial and fine art realm.
Tully’s Future City Public Art Project is a two-part continuation of A Country Practice created in reference to his other ‘fruit and vege’ job just up the road at a produce wholesale business that services many local restaurants. The Beginning reflects a selection of cultural cuisines available in the surrounding streets in the form of painted trompe l’eoil ‘tea towels’ installed over a large wall painting that references fresh produce and its associated packaging. The final component is a complete wall and roof painting on the neighbouring public toilet, the penultimate stop on this gastronomic journey as all things much reach The End.
CHECK OUT TULLY’S PROGRESS VIDEO HERE
Website: (http://tullymoore.com.au/
Instagram: @a_country_practice and @simonfitzsimon
Catherine O’Donnell – Blue Mountains, NSW
Beyond the walls
Catherine O’Donnell’s drawings are an exploration of the architecture, culture, and history hidden within the everyday-ness of the urban/suburban environment. She is interested in the way that vernacular architecture and general streetscapes of the places we regularly inhabit become recessed into our minds like wallpaper — at once visible and invisible.
For her Future City Public Art Project Catherine will reproduce her hyperrealist black-and-white drawings of doors and windows onto aluminium film and reinsert these commonplace architectural features back into the cityscape, adding an unexpected element of delight to the ordinary routes of passers-by and elevating the everyday history of these buildings.
Website: https://www.catherineodonnell.com.au/
Instagram: @catherine_odo on Instagram
Yanni Pounartzis – Canberra, ACT
Vineyards and Geometric Shadows
Yanni Pounartzis works in a distinctive style of abstract, minimalist, hard edge painting with a focus on the investigation of perspective and colour.
Yanni is creating two works for Stage 1 of the Future City Public Art Project. Vineyards is an abstract interpretation of Orange’s many vineyards presented as a large scale mural that extends beyond the wall, over the pavement and onto the road. Geometric Shadows captures particular moments in time through the mapping of shadows in geometric colour, focusing attention on otherwise unnoticed and mundane urban structures.
Website: https://yannipounartzis.com/
Instagram:@yanni_pounartzis on Instagram
Read more about the selection process and the artists selected here.
