Public Art

A Colourful Hume

Our city is becoming more colourful with stunning public art across Hume City. We have commissioned local artists to create public artwork that represent Hume's culture, history, people and places. Through the mural program, we are creating a more vibrant city to bring a strong sense of community ownership, wellbeing, and safety across Hume.

Large outdoor artworks including murals offer artists various opportunities to engage with the local community – at the site itself and through design development workshops, in schools or community groups. 

Murals of Hume can be found across our community, read about each of the murals here

Crossing the Floor - Robbie Rowlands 2019

Artist Robbie Rowlands was commissioned to create a public artwork as part of the redevelopment of Town Hall Broadmeadows. Making a tapered cut of the Supper Room floor, crossing diagonally from corner to corner, the boards were delicately pulled back and reformed into a new sculptural work. 

The title Crossing the floor embraces the history of the Town Hall. Hosting ceremonies ranging from various social engagements through to political rallies, it was even utilised as the main showroom for early Ford car releases. Through this time the Hall was a critical community space. Crossing the floor reflects on the very act of two individuals or parties seeking to join each other through celebration, commemoration or unity.  This vast surface has supported this weight through this time.

The final sculptural gesture cascades down through the front void of the hall appearing dynamic and capable of movement but frozen in time. As the gesture falls with a graceful twist, both sides of the floor sections are visible allowing the raw undersurface of preserved timber to contrast the worn waxed surface.  There is a strong sense of journey here as you follow its form from end to end.

Crossing the Floor can be visited in the foyer of Town Hall Broadmeadows, 10 Dimboola Road, Broadmeadows.

ANZAC Park Plaques - Clare McCracken 2016

Artist Clare McCracken worked with members of the Hume community to develop a public artwork for the entryway to ANZAC Park in Craigieburn. This project was a collaboration with local artist Aslam Akram who mentored local emerging artist Rubaba Haider through the process. 

There was wide consultation with members of the Craigieburn community including local artists, historians, community organisations and cultural groups, as well as future park users, to ensure the design was informed by local knowledge and culture. The resulting design concept investigates themes of dance, movement and motion - subjects that resonated with local residents - from those who have migrated to the area, to those who have witnessed the development of Craigieburn over a long period of time.

The Plaques can be visited at the South entrance to ANZAC Park on Central Park Avenue Craigieburn (next to SPLASH car park). 

Tabula Rasa - Godwin Bradbeer 2014

The 64 small blackboards that comprise Tabula Rasa are a remnant of the now demolished Campmeadows Primary School, that for several decades was situated at the corner of Graham and Holberry Streets, two blocks from this current site. It is both a work of art and a collection of local archaeology. These black and grey boards were used at the school from its earliest years, especially with the junior grades, for the development of writing, arithmetic and chalk drawing.

Artist Godwin Bradbeer (an ex-pupil of Campmeadows Primary) has written, drawn or painted on a proportion of these works, but the boundary between his involvement and the remnant qualities of the found object, and whoever may have scribbled or worked on it, remains undefined. This is the preferred nature of his collaboration with five decades of schoolchildren and the erasure of both time and neglect.

There is a word for such historically layered and embedded surfaces; palimpsests, and in art there is recognized tradition of the found object as a work of art. The term tabula rasa means ‘erased tablet’ or ‘cleaned slate’. This term has been adapted into psychological and educational language to suggest that as humans we are either born with a blank mind or begin life with innate and embedded knowledge. In other words; are our minds created and formed by nature or through nurture?

 

Tabula Rasa can be visited in the foyer of the Broadmeadows Community Hub, 180-182 Widford St, Broadmeadows.

Voices - Laura Woodward & Jem Seliq Freeman 2013

Created by Laura Woodward and Jem Selig Freeman, Voices is a public artwork comprising seven tubular bells. The work was developed from stories gathered in the Craigieburn community. The words circling each bell were spoken or written by locals as they talked of living and working in Craigieburn. The sounds of the tubular bells emerged from these discussions. Motion sensors in each bell respond to viewer's movement, creating the sequences in which the bells play.

In connecting with Craigieburn through conversation, Voices embodies and speaks of place as it is experienced and enjoyed by the local community. The work draws people together through community-generated music - the music of Craigieburn.

 

Voices can be visited at Craigieburn Central  Shopping  Centre, in the mall that intersects Windrock Ave, Craigieburn. Voices was commissioned by Lend Lease for Hume City Council.

Testaflora - Big Fish Workshop 2010

Big Fish Workshop was commissioned by Hume City Council to create this public artwork as part of the redevelopment of Olsen Place Shopping Centre.

Seeds represent new beginnings, settling on new soil and growth. This artwork reflects the diversity, history and changes of the communities around Olsen Place.  The sculptures include eucalyptus pods (from Australia), brachychiton pods (from Australia and the Pacific) and acacia pods (found around the world).  The name TestaFlora is Latin, meaning ‘hard seed-case flower.”

Testaflora can be visited at Olson Place, Broadmeadows.

Hume Triptych - Mia Schoen 2007

Local artist Mia Schoen was commissioned to make this work for the opening of the Hume City Council Municipal Office.

These three oil paintings are of diverse parts of Hume. On the left is Craigieburn with the distant City of Melbourne on the horizon.  Broadmeadows is in the centre with the Hume City Council office on the horizon. The painting on the right is Sunbury, looking north and outwards. Each of the paintings could stand alone, however the horizon line links the three images.

These paintings show Hume as a place where people have come to establish homes and raise families, where people work, and business is thriving; and where some land – at present – is untouched and open.

 

Hume Tritych can be visited in the foyer at the Hume City Council Municipal Offices, 1079 Pascoe Vale Rd, Broadmeadows.

Breeze - Aslam Akram 2006

This public artwork was installed as part of the Dallas Shopping Centre upgrade, developed in conjunction with RMIT Art in Public Space and Community Jobs Program. The aim of the redevelopment was to improve the look and feel of the Shopping Centre, improve the viability of local businesses and celebrate the cultural diversity of the local community.

Breeze was created by local Afghan artist Aslam Akram:

“These designs suggest the movement of wind and water. My appreciation of a breeze is of peace, comfort and tranquillity. The same feelings are created by the gentle flow of water. The production of the panels is based on metalwork practices that for thousands of years have been used to produce valuable and precious objects, jewellery, ornaments and the coins in our pockets. Marketplaces around the world, including the shopping centre in Dallas, are based on the exchange of these goods. “

 

Breeze can be visited at the entrance to Dallas Shopping Centre, Dargie Court, Dallas. This project was Funded by VicHealth and State Government.

Rise - Anderson Hunt 2006

Artist Anderson Hunt, of Down Street Studios, was commissioned to create Rise in celebration of Hume City Council’s involvement in the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Rise represents two hands rising between the creeks and the volcanic hills around Craigieburn. A silhouette of the Queen’s Baton—which travelled across the world with the Queen’s message for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games—is formed by the arms. The gum leaf branch refers to the local remnant red gum forests. The bronze globe represents Craigieburn’s culturally diverse community and the international significance of the Commonwealth Games. The surface of the sculpture suggests the surrounding volcanic landscape as well as the growing urban streetscape.

 

Rise can be visited at DS Aitken Reserve, Craigieburn Rd West, Craigieburn.

The Galgi-ngarrak Yirranboi Tree - Wendy Golden 2003

The Galgi-ngarrak Yirranboi Tree sculpture was named by local Gunung-William-Balluck Elder Norm Hunter, who has since joined the Spirits of his ancestors.

The name means 'Backbone of Tomorrow'. The tree represents growth in the rapidly developing Hume community, as well as the establishing of new roots by the many migrants and refugees who live in the region.

Under the guidance of sculptor and Artistic Director Wendy Golden, a number of skilled basketmakers worked with the local Hume community to produce this amazing artwork. Basketmakers involved in the project came from Indigenous, Australian, Hmong, Samoan, Maori, Cook Islander, Turkish, Vietnamese, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Kurdish and Filipino backgrounds. The bark on the trunk and branches of the tree were made by skilled basket makers from within these traditions, while the leaves were created by local residents and visitors to Hume City. Most of the plant material used in the work is indigenous to Broadmeadows.

 

The Galgi-ngarrak Yirranboi Tree can be visited in the foyer at the Hume Global Learning Centre - Broadmeadows, 1093 Pascoe Vale Road, Broadmeadows. This project was funded by VicHealth and Arts Victoria.