Have a public art idea for Ballarat?
Each year the City of Ballarat receives many enquiries about creating new public art commissions within the city. Council commits an annual budget for new public art commissions to grow its collection. In addition, community proposals for partnerships, gifts, donations and contributions are sometimes leveraged to acquire works into the collection. New public artworks to enter the City’s collection are mostly proposed on Council owned or managed sites. If you are interested in proposing an artwork on private property, including property owned by a business or community entity, we can assist with advice (refer to the Street Art Fact Sheet below or contact us) and you will also need to access advice via Council’s Planning webpage.
What are we looking for? The City of Ballarat public art collection has an ongoing commitment to being responsive, diverse, informed, accessible and well-sited. Future additions to the collection will meet these requirements and add to the significance of the overall collection by offering new stories that have relevance and meaning for the Ballarat community. Read our policy here.
To make the partnership process clearer for our community, we have put together a guide to explain the ways that we partner to deliver new public artworks for Council’s Public Art Collection. To propose a temporary or permanent public artwork located on Council owned or managed property you will begin by writing a letter to Council addressing the points on page 2 of this guide. The information provided will be used by Council Officers to determine either a recommendation to Council Executive Management (temporary artworks) or a recommendation to Council (permanent artworks). Please be aware that timelines for the realisation of public art projects vary from 12 months for temporary artworks to 3-5 years for permanent works from the time of acceptance by Council.
DOWNLOAD THE PUBLIC ART PARTNERSHIPS GUIDE ▸
example recent partnership projects:
community contribution: the george treloar memorial by lis johnson
The City of Ballarat partnered with the Merimna Pontion Kyrion of Oceania, the Central Pontian Association of Melbourne and Victoria Pontiaki Estia to commission a new memorial in Sturt Street Gardens in 2019.
This was the first new major artwork installed in the gardens in a decade and the first artwork created by a female artist. Treloar is a Ballarat-born humanitarian who became renowned for his work during the 1920s to resettle Greek refugees from Asia Minor following a significant humanitarian effort, and his contribution to helping improve the lives of people in the Greek community of Australia and abroad. Treloar is the son of the owners of the first pharmacy in Ballarat, with his family name still recognised at the site of the original Bridge Mall building.
The community organisations donated a significant portion of the costs of commissioning the artwork and worked with the City of Ballarat on an extensive tender process to appoint artist Lis Johnson to create the 1.5 life-size public artwork. Council officers managed the creation of this artwork and it is part of the City of Ballarat’s Public Art Collection.
community partnership: ballarat evolve temporary artworks
The City of Ballarat partnered with local social enterprise Ballarat Evolve to unveil six creative installations across the CBD showcasing local artists in unused shop windows. These installations were made possible due to the Victorian Government COVIDSafe Outdoor Activation Fund 2021, where in the City of Ballarat received $30,000 for the project.
Ballarat Evolve negotiated with business owners, selected existing artists designs and installed the artworks in March 2022, supporting the local creative industries. The installations were located throughout central Ballarat utilising empty window space.
Marce King at 131 Sturt Street.
Antayjo Art at 10 Bridge Mall.
Arthur Creative at 26 Bridge Mall.
Spencer Harrison at 324 Sturt Street.
Jenna Oldaker at Norwich Plaza, Bridge Mall (pictured)
developer project: slow order by robbie rowlands, railway precinct, ballarat
Slow Order by Robbie Rowlands was commissioned by Pellicano, the developer of the Goods Shed at the Ballarat Railway Precinct.
Pellicano and heritage architects Lovell Chen approached the City of Ballarat in 2019 regarding the possibility of commissioning a new public artwork using railway sleepers that removed from the precinct for the development.
The artwork commission is on private property and will be maintained and managed by the developer on an ongoing basis, this work is not part of Council’s Public Art Collection. The City of Ballarat partnered with Pellicano and Lovell Chen to assist with brief development, budgeting, artists contracting and selection panel members for the commission. The artwork was completed in 2022.
“The title ‘Slow Order’ is a railway term traditionally used as a requirement to lower the set speed limit of a section of rail due to maintenance. The work considers the significance the rail track held through its time in service and will stand as a signifier to the many industries and the community it has supported.” - Robbie Rowlands
donation: the boat by ratartat, learmonth
'The Boat’ by Ratartat was commissioned in 2011 by The Friends of Learmonth with funding provided through the Federal Government’s Regional Arts Fund (administered by Regional Arts Victoria). For over a decade The Boat was managed and maintained by the Friends of Learmonth community committee. In October 2021 the Friends Of Learmonth Committee approached the City of Ballarat to donate ‘The Boat’ to it’s collection.
The proposed donation was considered by Council in November 2021. Council noted that the artwork is currently in good condition, is materially stable and durable and meets the significance requirements of Council’s Public Art Policy. As the work is located on a Council managed site is was accepted into the City of Ballarat Public Art Collection.
Keen to make street art in Ballarat?
Street art is the production of artistic concepts created in appropriate public spaces with required permissions. The City of Ballarat supports street art, and we recognise that it takes many forms. We want to make sure that businesses, artists and community groups know and understand the process for developing a street art work, so we’ve developed a step-by-step guide to scoping, getting permissions, producing and completing a work. If you would like to commission an outdoor mural or street artwork and after reading the guide you need assistance please get in touch.
download the street art fact sheet▸
Business partnership: Main Road Mural by travis Price, main road, ballarat
In 2018 the City of Ballarat Commissioned Travis Price to create a work that showed the history of Ballarat’s oldest streets - Main Road. Ballarat artist Travis Price is known internationally for his graphic design work with many bands, record labels, street wear and brands. Described as once being an overcrowded jumble of muddy streets loosely arranged around mining camps...and “loud, muddy, colourful and sometimes illicit”, Travis wanted the Artworks’ composition to consist of overlapping images and text to reflect this sense of hustle and bustle.
For this project the City of Ballarat partnered with a local business and property owner to deliver the mural on their property as part of the Main Road revitalisation project. Partnerships for new works in Council’s collection on private property are rare and require the development of a memorandum of understanding with the property owner. The project has an agreed lifespan of 10 years.
“Considering that at one point in time there would have been at least 6+ hotels in this very short section of street….there’s no doubt Main Rd was an epicentre of communication and festivities for the Goldfields of Ballarat. No matter what luck he had, every miner needed supplies, food and something to entertain him when he was not searching for gold.” - Travis Price