Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the artwork will connect the Green Square community to the area’s industrial and commercial history. “This new public artwork will have an ever changing, important role linking the district to its varied past, as well as celebrating the creative life of Sydney,” the Lord Mayor said. “Given the social history in this site, this is a unique opportunity for an artist to reflect the area’s past which began as an important swampland for the Aboriginal people.”
The Green Square development area incorporates the suburbs of Alexandria, Beaconsfield, Rosebery, Waterloo and Zetland. The City of Sydney plans to make it a sustainable village that will cater to an estimated 40,000 new residents by 2030.
Key to this development is Council’s plan to integrate public art projects within Green Square.
The South Sydney Hospital artwork will be one of a number of new public art projects commissioned under the Council’s $4 million Green Square Public Art Strategy, which aims to turn the area into a major arts hub. The Green Square Public Art Strategy will involve the installation of permanent and temporary public art projects that link the main public domain areas in the precinct, including the former Royal South Sydney Hospital, the library and plaza, Drying Green Park, the Aquatic Centre and Gunyama Park, with planned new developments.
Last year, City of Sydney appointed Amanda Sharrad as the curatorial advisor for public art at Green Square to oversee the implementation of projects in the area. Since then, Ms Sharrad and the City’s design staff have begun developing plans for the delivery of “integrated, high quality public art projects” across Green Square.
“I envisage art that connects the new development with the local community, ecology and histories of the area to create a legacy for the next generation and a blueprint for future development,” Ms Sharrad said. “There will be iconic commissions and innovative temporary projects. Physically and conceptually, art will help to unify the public domain of the Green Square Town Centre and celebrate its intrinsic worth.”
Plans are currently underway for further permanent artworks for Green Square, including an artwork by Kerrie Poliness for the Drying Green Park. Until then, temporary public artworks will be displayed while construction is ongoing.
