Sunshine Motorway mural in red tape, says artist Owen Cavanagh

A Coolum Beach artist is planning a petition to save his wave mural after plans were revealed to him of its destruction. Watch the video.

A Sunshine Coast artist is “sad as hell and angry” over a plan to tear down his mural at the Sunshine Coast Airport and stick a photo of it in the terminal.

Coolum Beach artist Owen Cavanagh first painted the wave mural on a shed wall next to the Sunshine Motorway, on airport land at Marcoola, in 2001.

The painting quickly became a well-known landmark of the Sunshine Coast but also attracted graffiti from about 2014.

All that remains of the shed is the wall with the mural and, in 2019, the artwork was graffitied and covered up.

The artist said that three years later, there was still no clear plan for him to repaint the wall and he had heard it would be torn down and a picture of it would go into the airport terminal.

Artist Owen Cavanagh repainted the mural beside the Sunshine Motorway in 2015 after vandals sprayed graffiti over it. Picture: Che Chapman

“That makes me sad as hell and angry, it’s not about my artwork, it’s about something that everyone has become a part of,” Mr Cavanagh said.

The artist of 22 years said he fielded questions from the community daily about when the mural would be fixed.

He said it was a community landmark that made people happy.

The artist said he had offered to set up a fundraiser to fix it when the graffiti occurred in 2019 but the Sunshine Coast Council declined his offer.

Mr Cavanagh was considering starting a petition calling for the mural to stay where it was and said it had become caught up in red tape between the council and the airport.

He said to avoid future vandalism, it could be raised on a platform or needed lighting around it.

A Sunshine Coast Council spokeswoman said council acknowledged the relevance of the artwork to the artist and “some members” of the community.

“As part of ongoing airport precinct planning, options for the future of the mural that are sustainable, cost effective and which appropriately reduce the incidence of damage are being explored,” she said.

“Once those options have been assessed there will be further information to share with the artist and the community.”

Sunshine Coast Airport corporate communications general manager Kylie Ezzy said the airport acknowledged the popularity of the mural.

“As part of the broader airport precinct planning being undertaken, we will be working with council to explore ways the community can enjoy this mural into the future,” she said.