City of Canada Bay foils graffiti vandals one mural at a time

City of Canada Bay Mayor Angelo Tsirekas said the colourful, marine-themed mural - painted on a wall attached to Drummoyne Swimming Centre - was glazed with a protective anti-graffiti layer to deter vandals. 

“The pool is a high profile site and unfortunately, the wall was regularly tagged, however, we have noticed that murals rarely get gratified so this is a huge win for our community,” Mayor Tsirekas said. 

“When delivered well, public art and mural projects can provide a sustainable approach to prevent graffiti, improve amenity, strengthen community pride and improve local relationships.” 

Council commissioned renowned Australian mural artist, Amok Island (represented by Sherrie Wilson Projects) to create the artwork, which features geometric elements and colours that complement the natural bay area and celebrate the biodiversity of Iron Cove Bay.

The subject of his work – Sydney’s Pygmy Pipehorse - was only discovered in 1997, when Sydney diver Akos Lumnitzer brought a specimen to the Australian Museum for identification.

For some years the tiny, well-camouflaged pipehorse was only known to live around Sydney Harbour but the species is now found along the NSW coastline as far south as Jervis Bay.

“To me this story is a reminder of how important it is to look after our natural habitat because even places as explored as Sydney Harbour can still be home to undiscovered species,” Amok said.

In another anti-graffiti measure, Spanish-born artist, Ignacio Querejeta recently created a mural on the new garage door at Harry’s Shed (Men’s Shed) in Concord, which pays homage to the Men’s Shed movement and the angling club that shares the space. 

Council commissioned the project after the shed committee requested the mural on the old door, which was never graffitied, be replaced as a preventative measure. 

“Both of these murals highlight our commitment to investing in high quality public art so it can be enjoyed by the community and also act as a deterrent to would-be graffiti vandals,” Mayor Tsirekas said. 

The City of Canada Bay is home to 65 permanent installations and hosts an average of 25 gallery exhibitions across our libraries and museum each year.