Call for artists to create welcome murals for kids

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and artist-led teams are invited to send their proposals for ‘welcome murals’ at the City of Sydney’s early learning centres.

The artworks will recognise the significance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and help promote reconciliation and inclusion.

“The welcome murals will be a visible reminder for everyone in our community that our early childhood centres are inclusive and welcoming to all children,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.

“Children at our centres will be delighted by the new artworks when they attend the centre and the artworks will help reinforce the lessons taught by our educators about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.”

The murals will be placed at the outdoor entries of four early childhood centres: Hilda Booler Kindergarten and Broughton Street Kindergarten in Glebe, Redfern Occasional Child Care Centre in Redfern, and Alexandria Child Care Centre in Alexandria.

The City is looking for contemporary artwork proposals that share and interweave stories of the past and present with the hopes and aspirations of young Aboriginal people today.

Selected artists will collaborate with the centre, its children and families, and the wider community to create an artwork that carries meaning for the local community.

Two information sessions for artists interested in taking part will take place:

Wednesday 9 October 5.30–6.30pm Pine Street Creative Centre, 1/64 Pine Street, Chippendale

Wednesday 16 October 10–11am Pine Street Creative Centre, 1/64 Pine Street, Chippendale

The City continues to recognise and celebrate the world’s oldest continuing cultures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Sydney through the Eora Journey projects.

Recent Eora Journey projects include YININMADYEMI Thou didst let fall by Tony Albert in Hyde Park, which honours Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service men and women, the landmark mural Welcome to Redfern by Reko Rennie, and Nicole Foreshew’s born in darkness before dawn, a temporary projection on the side of the Australian Museum.

The fourth project in the Eora Journey, due to be completed in 2020, is Judy Watson’s bara. The work honours the Eora clans and the skills of their women symbolised in the crescent shapes of ‘bara’ – traditional fish hooks crafted and used by Gadigal women for thousands of years.

Expressions of interest for the welcome murals are open now until midnight Wednesday 30 October 2019.

For more information or to apply visit cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/welcome-murals

For media inquiries or images, contact Angela Salt (0455 958 503) or Roxanne Macara (0438 554 640) or email [email protected]

For interviews with Lord Mayor Clover Moore, contact Julia Lenton. Phone 0410 748 039 or email [email protected]