Maryborough Home to Some of Australia’s Best Street Art Drawcards
2021-02-11
Maryborough Home to Some of Australia’s Best Street Art Drawcards A Maryborough World War I tribute and a mural-laden art trail have both been recognised as some of the best public art experiences in the nation.
The Gallipoli to Armistice Memorial in Queens Park and the Maryborough Mural Trail have been named as finalists in the 2020 Australian Street Art Awards. The Gallipoli to Armistice Memorial has been shortlisted for the Best Monument or Memorial, while the Maryborough Mural Trail is a Best Street Art Trail contender.
The winners in all eight Australian Street Art Awards categories will be announced on Tuesday 2 March on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
Awards Director, Liz Rivers, said “The Awards showcase destinations like Maryborough that are using outdoor art to transform their street scapes, while educating Australians about the magnificent array of publicly-accessible art that can be found in every corner of the country.
“Securing a finalist berth in the prestigious Awards further cements the Fraser Coast region’s reputation as bucket list destination for tourists who love to seek out art experiences,” Ms Rivers said.
Judging focussed on the way the art has been used to attract visitors and bring the local community together safely under the challenging COVID-19 conditions. “With COVID restrictions on indoor numbers in most states and territories, street and public art is a free gift to every traveller,” Ms Rivers said.
Maryborough born and bred Duncan Chapman was the first allied soldier to set foot ashore at Gallipoli, and the judges loved that the courageous role he played in history was the inspiration for what evolved into the impressive Gallipoli to Armistice Memorial. A bronze statue of Chapman is surrounded by towering weathered steel representations of the Gallipoli landscape and complemented by many other sculptures, plantings and audio immersions that bring World War I into sharp focus.
Only metres from the memorial visitors will find evidence of the Maryborough Mural Project’s hard work. The rich natural setting and history of Maryborough, once one of Australia’s largest ports, has been brought back to life through the bright swirls and strokes of 39 pieces that make up the two-kilometre Trail.
The judges said, “We love that research has been conducted for each mural on a case-by case basis, resulting in a high quality and highly enjoyable art trail that appears as if it will continue to grow into the future”.
Arts tourists from within Australia are high value visitors – they stay 42.8% longer and spend 55.9% more when travelling than domestic tourists overall, according to the Australia Council for the Arts’ Domestic Art Tourism: Connecting the Country 2020 Report.
“Australia has a long history of creating sculptures, monuments and other street art that is captivating to visitors. However, until two years ago there was no way of rewarding towns and precincts that created these art-related experiences for visitors. The Australian Street Art Awards has remedied that shortcoming,” Ms Rivers said.
Media contact: Liz Rivers [email protected] / 1300 88 22 59 / 0409 071 816.
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