$4M ART PLAN GIVES FRESH HEART TO GREEN SQUARE

Stunning new public artworks will help shape the personality and character of Sydney’s fastest growing new community, Green Square.

Backed by $4 million in funding, the City has prepared a public art plan to guide permanent and temporary works for the precinct by experienced and emerging artists, as well as members of the community.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said art had an important role to play in shaping communities and developing lively and engaging new public spaces in Green Square.

“Over the next 20 years, Green Square is set to become one of Sydney’s most exciting new precincts, giving us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create unique artworks for its parks, squares and public spaces.

“This new plan will help us attract fabulous artists from our city and further afield, and I look forward to seeing their ideas take shape, guided by input from local residents and workers.”

Public art projects planned for Green Square include:

The Drying Green – a permanent public artwork will be commissioned in this new 6,500-square-metre park. The City is currently seeking expressions of interest from artists to work with landscape architects to create an artwork that integrates with the park’s features, including the play structures, seating, lighting, shade canopy, plants and paths;

Connecting projects – artists will be engaged to develop a major permanent project that both physically and conceptually connects the Green Square Town Centre and its key public spaces to the broader precinct;

Former Royal South Sydney Hospital Site – a creative hub will be developed on this site, with artists engaged to develop a new permanent artwork that links to the community garden, green building or artist studio;

Temporary projects – a series of temporary public artworks will be developed throughout the Green Square Town Centre during the construction period. These projects will seek to engage closely with the local community and highlight the artistic opportunities created by the area’s transformation.

The Green Square urban development area – the biggest in Australia – includes the suburbs of Alexandria, Beaconsfield, Rosebery, Waterloo and Zetland, and is set to deliver 20,000 new homes, 40,000 new residents and 22,000 new jobs by 2030.

The City has set aside more than $500 million to ensure the precinct is developed as a world leader in sustainability and design excellence.

To achieve this, the City is delivering several major infrastructure and public domain projects in and around the Green Square Town Centre – including a spectacular new library and plaza, an aquatic centre complex, a number of major new parks, and a new creative hub at the former South Sydney Hospital site.

Amanda Sharrad was appointed as the City’s curatorial advisor for Green Square in May and has spent the past three months working with City Design staff to develop the implementation plan.

Ms Sharrad has more than 15 years’ experience developing artworks in some of Sydney’s most iconic public spaces. She has most recently worked as co-curator of several projects in the City of Sydney’s Laneway Art Program in 2011, and was also involved in the creation of the Sydney Sculpture Walk in 2000.

She joins a group of distinguished curators appointed to guide the City’s major public art programs, which includes Barbara Flynn (City Centre), Aaron Seeto (Chinatown) and Hetti Perkins (Eora Journey).

Expressions of interest for the Drying Green public art commission close on 2 October 2013.

For more information, visit: cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/cityart