PUBLIC ART SYMPOSIUM

Strand Ephemera once again delivered an insightful Public Art Symposium in 2015, delving deeper into the possibilities, benefits, triumphs and challenges of public art.

Presented at the beautiful Banquet Centre on the first floor of The Brewery, this free event was held as an afternoon ‘Master Class’ as part of the Queensland Creative Industries and Economic Development Forum on Monday 3 August.

The Symposium was followed by a Networking Function hosted by Gallery Services.

About the Speakers FORM

Represented by Kate Parker (Project Manager: Public Art) and Ellie van Rhyn (Creative Consultancy)

Presenting on FORM’s Art in Place program, Kate Parker Ellie van Rhyn shared a range of case studies at the crossroads of art, community and place. FORM is a not-for-profit cultural organisation that works to build a cultural and creative ecology for Western Australia; an ecology that values artistic excellence, improves arts access for all, and encourages the development of resilient and vibrant communities. FORM’s approach is embedded in research and development, and designed to create legacy projects that showcase outcomes across a full visual arts spectrum. FORM’s projects grow from a process of co-creation, whereby they facilitate relationships between artists and communities to enable outcomes that are mutually relevant, authentic, and enduring.

115 forum delegates, artists, and members of the community attended the two events.

The Public Art Symposium featured three presentations by leading minds in public art with backgrounds in event coordination and arts administration, architecture and master planning, and creating amazing artworks for the public realm.

Feedback about the Symposium from those in attendance was overwhelmingly positive, with the audience both entertained and inspired by the possibilities of public art.

Brian Robinson is of the Maluyligal and Wuthathi tribal groups of the Torres Strait and Cape York Peninsula. Born on Waiben (Thursday Island) and now Cairns-based, Brian is known for his printmaking, installation and public sculptures in which he uses a variety of techniques to produce bold, innovative and distinctive works. Robinson’s work has contributed significantly to his home environs of Cairns through a number of major public art installations including his monumental and iconic stainless steel woven sculptures installed on the Cairns Esplanade in 2003.

Professor Jason Pomeroy - Pomeroy Studio

Prof. Jason Pomeroy is an award-winning British registered architect, masterplanner and academic at the forefront of the sustainable built environment agenda. He graduated with distinction from the Canterbury School of Architecture and Cambridge University, and is the Founding Principal of Pomeroy Studio. In addition to leading Pomeroy Studio, he is the author of two books, Skycourt and Skygarden: Greening the Urban Habitat (2014) and Idea House: Future Tropical Living Today (2011), and is a special professor at the University of Nottingham and the Universita IUAV di Venezia.