Our Public Art

The placement of each piece of public art throughout our city, whether it’s a memorial or a contemporary statement, has been closely discussed, evaluated and considered. Every single piece has been placed at a specific moment in time, highlighting a particular moment, event or person.

Public art is about more than just the works themselves. Each piece signifies a message that people wish to convey and expresses collective experiences at a specific point in time.

Public art is important because it’s exactly that – it’s public. It’s free. It’s open to everyone. There are over 120 pieces of public art placed throughout our city and surrounds. You can take a stroll through our collection online.

From the central Sturt Street Gardens, to pieces in Bridge Mall, the Botanic Gardens and around Lake Wendouree. We have a city-wide collection of art that we treat just like an open-air gallery, through curation, maintenance, repair and cleaning.

As our city grows, it is important that we continually grow and evolve our public art collection. With the implementation of the Creative City Strategy and our Public Art Policy we are encouraging growth in temporary and ephemeral artistic expressions, as well as growing our permanent public art pieces.

The City of Ballarat commissions new public artworks through dedicated, annual public art funding and also through partnerships with our community. If you are interested in partnering with the City of Ballarat to make public art happen, please read the information here. Opportunities for artists, curators, conservators and other professionals to work with us are available here.

current projects

Recent commissions

The Arts Incubator Mural

Chuck Mayfield, represented by Just Another Agency and supported by Cax One

The Arts Incubator mural tells a tale of strength, resilience and the blending of many people over time on Ballarat land and waterways. At its heart is the image of the wedge tailed eagle, endemic to the surrounds of the region. The counterpart, representing intelligence, is the native raven that complements the power of the eagle. These animals are important symbols to the Wadawurrung people, the traditional custodians of the land, air and waterways of Ballarat and surrounds. The artists worked closely in consultation with First Nations traditional custodians discussing the best ways to integrate the power of these images with other important landmarks for those who love and call Ballarat their home.  

The images of water are a connection to the network of local lakes, creeks and rivers while also acknowledging the nostalgia of the YMCA pool which used to sit at the site. Looking closely at the imagery captured throughout the mural, Ballarat residents will see their history and their everyday reflected – from the Arch of Victoria to Lal Lal Falls. Hidden elements towards the bottom of the mural are a rich treasure hunt for local stories, icons and locations.

This large-scale mural is part of the City of Ballarat’s public art program which invests in sensitive and appropriate temporary and permanent public art and is responsible for the creative activation of public space. The Arts Incubator Mural has been funded by the City of Ballarat and the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership.

Acclaimed street artist Chuck Mayfield, supported by local artist Cax One, worked with community members from across the city to explore the unique and sometimes complex stories of Ballarat.

Here, 2023 - jay Van Nus - TEMPORARY PUBLIC ART COMMISSION

“I have created a design that encapsulates the memories I have been fortunate to make throughout my childhood growing up Here in Ballarat and attempt to pass on that experience to the mural's passersby.

“I want to give Ballarat's youth an opportunity to interact with Ballarat's art world as I did - with wonder. I want to give long-time Ballarat citizens time to reflect - like the lands' abundant water - back on their own memories in this beautiful city fondly. I want visitors and new arrivals to see the value of this place, through my eyes. This design touches on key-memories in my upbringing - visiting the Ballarat Botanical Gardens and Lake Wendouree with my nature-obsessed family, falling in love with my fiance, spending time bird watching with my late grandpa, and following the wombat footprints down the Art Gallery's alley alongside my Abuelita as a child. The design pays homage to the Traditional owners of the land, the Waddawurrung people who welcomed me and my Noongar family into the community, my Chilean mother who bravely brought our family here, and the beautiful location, nature and art community in Ballarat.

“I have included traditional Noongar symbols for water, development (eggs), and community, and I constantly revisit both water bird symbolism to encapsulate the Ballarat environment and development, and childhood memories and upbringing.

“This mural is part of the City of Ballarat’s public art program which invests in sensitive and appropriate temporary and permanent public art and is responsible for the creative activation of public space. This has been funded by the City of Ballarat.”

Jay Van Nus, artist - Here - Art Gallery Annexe Wall

Our JEssica for Luck, 2023 - spencer harrison - TEMPORARY PUBLIC ART COMMISSION

A vibrant geometric mural has been completed on the prominent wall at Little Bridge Street and Main Road intersections, by local artist Spencer Harrison. 

Spencer Harrison is a Ballarat based, visual artist whose work distils colour, form and space into ordered abstract structures that reflect on our lived urban experience. His visual language draws on the world around us, referencing design, architecture, science and the built environment. Within his works, Harrison explores tensions between minimalism and maximalism, order and chaos, contemplating the role these forces play in the modern world. Spencer has a Masters of Contemporary Art from the Victorian College of the Arts and is a board member of Ballarat Evolve.

Spencer has spent over 100 hours over two weeks painting the 30 metres long wall. Titled Our Jessica for Luck, 2023, his mural responds to the story of the original building – Stone’s, a fashion house in the 1960s. Spencer’s palette is a nod to the colours that would have been worn in that decade and carried inside the store and the pattern was a reference to the geometric grid structure that was part of Stone’s façade. Through his selection of colours and the treatment of the surface, Spencer has created optical effects that simulate the transparency and sheen of light on fabric.  A splendid example of contemporising heritage, Spencer uses his signature treatment of design to apply a new lens to the history of that place. 

Metamorphosis, 2022 - jay rankine - GALLERY ANNEXE COMMISSION

Living in a historic regional city like Ballarat we are reminded daily of the past, we’re all surrounded by it, but we also have aspects of technology seeping through. Is our present being overlooked and lost by reflecting on the past? In Metamorphosis, the current artwork installed on the Annex Wall in Alfred Deakin Place, artist Jay Rankins attempts to create something that embraces this moment in time and takes a snapshot of our present relationship with technology. Meta being relevant to what is happening currently with the Metaverse and the use of technology in virtual reality and augmented reality. Morphosis relating to the transformation of the design from the real world into a digital one, like how society is transitioning with new technologies. This artwork transforms the wall at Alfred Deakin Place beyond the physical and add a digital component using Augmented Reality. The work becomes a sculptural piece within that digital space. The audience can use Instagram or Facebook on their device to load an interactive AR effect to make the elements in the mural animate off the wall and scatter around the historic blue stone laneway.

With a career spanning 30 years, Jay Rankine aka Merda is a self-taught visual artist who was a pioneer of Melbourne’s early graffiti scene. During the late 80’s he helped bring 3D lettering styles to the world, and in doing so helped firmly establish Australia’s graffiti reputation and influenced a generation of writers. Inspired by everyday surroundings, Merda adapts his approach by using different mediums and ways of making to create unique works that incorporate clean lines and subtle minimalist colour.

Working as a professional graphic designer and illustrator for over 2 decades, he has worked with clients including Hertz, Australia Post, Red Bull, Kraft, Vegemite, Just Jeans, Absolut Vodka and Myer. Featured in multiple international street art publications, Jay has work held in National Gallery of Australia, and has held numerous solo and group exhibitions including at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Victoria. In recent years he has completed a commission for QV Melbourne, painted at the Wonderwalls Festival in Port Adelaide and has been selected as a feature artist for Wacom’s Next Level publication and exhibition.