Wyndham City Council: Locals confused by ‘finances’ ‘character’ billboard outside Werribee home

A billboard that “could light up the MCG” had locals in Melbourne’s west scratching their heads, before it was revealed to be part of a council-funded art project.

Residents were puzzled by a bizarre billboard that seemed to air personal grievances outside a Melbourne home before it was revealed the local council had forked out thousands on an art project.

Werribee locals, in Melbourne’s west, were left confused this week after a billboard projecting messages about someone having to prove finances and character appeared outside a residential property.

“I had to prove my character and finances to live here but I wasn’t allowed to ask about yours”, was part of the messaging blasted across the otherwise quiet street.

The billboard was actually part of a collaborative art project from Common Collective running over the weekend, partly funded by Wyndham City Council.

The Herald Sun can reveal the Wyndham Council contributed $30,000 of ratepayers money to the total project after it was approved by a Public Art Expert Advisory Panel as part of its 2022-2032 Public Art Plan.

A mysterious billboard appeared outside a residential property in Werribee with a strange message this week.

“WTF someone has lost the plot,” one local said on social media.
“This will be a tenant, who is sick of all the extremely personal questions when trying to rent, but the tenant has no right to know what sort of landlord they are getting,” one local commented on social media,” another added.

“Finances must be good if you can afford a billboard that could light up the MCG.

“This is what the council spends their money on now?”

A council spokeswoman said ‘AT HOME Wyndham’ was a three-day project which included a range of experiences, community activations, workshops, film, exhibitions, events, installations, talks, photography, performances, a house party and programming with 15 artists from Wyndham and Melbourne’s west.

“The artists individually and collectively respond to the experience of home, history, and the future of Wyndham through the theme of home,” the spokeswoman said.

“The text on the billboard was taken from a poem written by a local Wyndham-based artist who has been exploring the experience of housing insecurity in their work.”

She confirmed the project team had letter-dropped and doorknocked nearby streets and the response from neighbouring residents was overwhelmingly positive.

The installation will be on display from 10am to 9.30pm Friday, 11am-9.30pm Saturday and 11am-6.30pm Sunday.