City of Gold Coast’s biggest urban art project

A new art project will transform some of the city’s infrastructure thanks to nine new public artworks.

The Water Walls project – Council’s biggest urban art project to date – seeks to transform existing infrastructure into something that is alluring and attractive and reflects the unique character of the City and its people.

Nine sites – a mix of water infrastructure like reservoirs and sewerage pump station buildings have had new artworks applied, with many of the sites located along GC2018 routes or adjacent to venues.

Kiel Tillman is one of the Gold Coast artists selected to adorn the infrastructure with his work. He’s built a name for himself around the Gold Coast and Brisbane working on murals and large-scale outdoor works as well as graphic design. You might have seen his ‘Welcome to the Gold Coast’ mural at Tugun Supermarket or at HOTA, Home of the Arts’ (formally The Arts Centre Gold Coast) Sign of the Times exhibition. Kiel says that public art is much more than just some paint on a wall.

Kiel Tillman. Image courtesy of artist

“Public art not only makes the place look better, it also engages the community,” he told We Are Gold Coast. “It creates discussions. It can become an iconic landmark for the community.”

Targeting graffiti hotspots as urban art renewal projects is a tactic many urban Councils are using to improve the amenity of cities and deter graffiti and vandalism.

City of Gold Coast has previously seen success from its Artbox projects which reduced vandalism by painting traffic signal boxes with bright, artistic designs. In June 2017, 20 switchboard cabinets were wrapped in laminate artwork and a large artistic mural installed at a sewerage pump station located on a major road in Surfers Paradise.

This project though, sees works completed at a much larger scale – something most of the artists engaged in the project are pretty excited about.

Sarah Beetson is one of those artists. Growing up in the north west of England and moving to the Gold Coast in 2010, she has some serious artistic runs on the board. She’s worked on campaigns for MAC Cosmetics, drawn Wonder Woman for the Smithsonian Institute and illustrated for The Wall Street Journal, The Miami Herald, The Times and The Telegraph. Sarah says working on a large-scale mural outdoors has been a wonderful new experience.

“I was so excited to have the opportunity to create something on this large scale, very much in a public place in the midst of the local community,” Sarah says.

“My illustration work is generally smaller than A2 in order to fit on a scanner and be completed within tight deadlines, so having a few weeks to create something really big was a wonderful challenge!”

And not all of the artists are as experienced as Sarah. Danni Simpson is a young talent who only discovered art a year ago.

“Since then I have quickly grown to become quite a diverse artist adapting to different canvases, requirements and fine tuning my artist style,” she says.

The space Danni was commissioned to create art for is rather large, covering two buildings close to the Commonwealth Games Hockey Stadium and backing onto a park and residential estate in Labrador.

Danni Simpson. Image courtesy of artist

“With every mural and public artwork I do I learn something new, thriving on the challenges that each one brings. Whether that’s learning a new technique, or a new medium such as aerosol,” Danni says.

While it’s clear the artists are all stoked to be working on large-scale outdoor works, they also share a love of the city’s natural assets – its plants and animals – and that admiration is boldly reflected in their work.

“The things I love most about the Gold Coast are its sun drenched colours, retro history and the way the area embraces fun and focuses on a great outdoor lifestyle, plus our fantastic proximity to nature and beautiful species of flora and fauna,” Sarah says.

“I wanted to bring these elements together focusing on local tropical birds. The really special thing about the mural is that, whilst we’ve been painting it, we are constantly surrounded by the chatter of various birds in the trees and park around us, and have even found several feathers onsite from some of the species depicted within the mural!”

Kiel Tillman. Image courtesy of artist

Artist: Frank & Mimi. Location: The Spit, Main Beach. Image courtesy of www.creativeroad.com.au. Photographer Callie Marshall

Sophia Mary Mac. Location: Brighton Pde, Southport. Image courtesy of www.creativeroad.com.au. Photographer Callie Marshall.

Kiel Tillman also went with a bird theme, including flowers in a duo-tone of dusty pinks reflecting the colours in Protea as well as Gold Coast sunsets.

“I chose the Little Pied Cormorant as the main graphic element of the piece,” he says. “This animal is a highly adaptable water bird found throughout Australia and is a common sight throughout the waterways of the Gold Coast, including of course, Hope Island.”

He explains that a torn effect breaks up the elements of plants and birds symbolising the tearing back of the City’s glossy layers to reveal the beauty of the Gold Coast’s native flora and fauna.

And Danni has adorned the Labrador site with a black cockatoo, koala, green-thighed frog, sugar glider and carpet python colourfully decorated with native botanicals like eucalyptus.

“As an artist, I wanted to create an artwork that evokes my creative flair for patterns and illustration line work. To bring beauty, joy and inspiration to the Gold Coast community with the use of native flora and fauna species,” she says.

While the project delivers on Council’s Public Art Plan and its vision for a city transformed by public art, it is also having a significant impact on careers and development opportunities for local emerging artists, which not surprisingly is a key action within the plan.

“This is a huge step in my creative career,” Danni says. “Art started for me as a therapy, I never dreamed that I could ever call myself an artist.”

“So to have opportunities like this to share what I love with my community is something quite special.”

“Not only does it challenge my creative ability but paves the way for new ideas for 2018 and years to come.”

Where to see the new public art