Campbelltown Council to investigate creating ‘sculpture park’ on the banks of River Torrens
The 2020 Campbelltown Art Show has already been cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis, but a new idea could give artists a different, more natural home for their work.
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An outdoor art gallery would transform the banks of the Torrens under a local council’s plan to better support the arts.
Campbelltown Council will spend $5000 investigating the creation of the so-called “sculpture park” at the Lochiel Park green village.
With the 2020 Campbelltown Art Show cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis, the latest council meeting heard a sculpture park would be an ongoing way to help promote local artists’ work.
Mayor Jill Whittaker, who pitched the idea, said it could be a “socially acceptable” way of engaging in art without being in an enclosed space.
“Artists could have a way of displaying their work in a dedicated space at a time when libraries and galleries are closed,” Ms Whittaker said.
The proposal was welcomed by the president of the Lochiel Park-based Ripples Community Arts, Dave Parker.
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Mr Parker said such a park would help make the area a much “more vibrant” and better place to live, and that it was imperative the council was doing something to support the arts.
“My vision is a set of sculptures, an exhibition, along Linear Park,” Mr Parker said.
“The display of art … enhances the aesthetic and cultural environment making it a better place to live.”
Meanwhile, Mr Parker suggested a number of initiatives the council could take to help better promote the arts.
They included:
A FUNDING pool to support artists’ purchase of materials to construct sculptures which would then be gifted to Campbelltown, if deemed suitable;
EXPLORING the possibility of a regular show, similar to the annual Brighton Jetty Sculptures Exhibition; and
SETTING aside regular funds to buy work from the exhibition, to be installed within the district.
“Holdfast Bay does this already, it buys a piece from the Brighton exhibit every year and displays it,” Mr Parker said.
“The notion (here) is to start small, with the intention to grow it into (something) more significant.”