Public art

Council is responsible for ensuring artworks in public spaces are of the highest quality, structurally and aesthetically.

Council’s duty of care is to ensure artworks pose no risk to public safety and have reasonable ongoing management and maintenance costs. It is also Council’s role to plan for the development of public art and determine appropriate sites for this development.

Council will oversee and manage the process for decommissioning public artworks.

If the site you have chosen is on private land, you do not need to submit your project to Council for assessment. However, depending on the nature of the artwork you may need to submit a development application to Council.

Find out if your project needs a development application by contacting Council’s Development Help Desk:

• T: 4474 1231
• E: Development Help Desk

Sites on Council owned or managed land require Council assessment. To find out if Council owns or manages the site, phone us on 4474 1000.

You can submit your proposal by completing the public art submission form. Your submission will be forwarded to Council’s Creative Arts Services, who will contact you to discuss your proposal and support you in progressing it.

For help or information in making your submission, contact Creative Arts Services on:

• T: 4474 1061
• E: Indira Carmichael

Art is subjective.

Gathering community feedback during the submission process is an important part of developing a successful project and can play a key role in achieving a positive outcome for your submission.

You can reach out to site stakeholders using tools like public noticeboards, surveys, or direct emails to community groups. A stakeholder is any individual, group, or organisation that has an interest in—or may be affected by—the public artwork and its location.

Typical stakeholders may include:

• local residents or nearby businesses
• Indigenous community representatives and Traditional Custodians
• Council staff (e.g. planning, engineering, parks or arts teams)
• artists and arts organisations
• community groups or schools that use the site
• heritage or environmental organisations
• sponsors or funding bodies.

Engaging with stakeholders helps ensure your proposal is contextually appropriate, supported by the community and has a better chance of being successfully delivered and maintained.

In addition to completing the public art submission form, you should also gather any supporting material that strengthens your proposal. This may include photographs, examples of similar works, relevant data or ideas for how the site could be developed in connection with your proposal.

Council’s Creative Arts Services are happy to help with any aspect of your submission. Contact us on:

• T: 4474 1061
• E: Indira Carmichael

For smaller projects – under $50,000 - Council’s Creative Arts Services will assess the submission and make appropriate enquiries within Council departments to troubleshoot any site issues such anticipated work or upgrades, underground assets or Native Title.

All public artwork submissions will be assessed using the following criteria:

• Excellence – does the artwork display quality of design, execution, articulation of concept and innovation?
• Originality – are the ideas within the artwork unique or does the artist bring a fresh approach to established themes?
• Inclusiveness – is the artwork inclusive and represent the diversity of community members?
• Appeal – does the artwork respect our Shire’s cultural and social sensibilities?
• Provenance – Is the artwork an important piece by an artist of prominence?
• Value – is the artwork affordable and does it represent value for investment?

For significant public artwork submissions, the artwork will need to be endorsed by the General Manager.

• Public liability insurance (up to $20 million) is required for installations on public land. You will need a certificate of currency to begin the project.
• Insurance may also be required after installation for the life of the artwork.
• The Coordinator Creative Arts Development can advise you on post-installation requirements.
• Artwork submissions for Council-managed land may be affected by a Native Title claim. In this instance a Native Title assessment must be undertaken. A Native Title assessment takes 28 days from the date of request and may affect the processing time of your submission.
• Public art projects often have hidden costs and it is important you consider these in your budget. Hidden costs may include installation materials and equipment, traffic or pedestrian management during install, engineer reports and ongoing maintenance.

Other things to consider

• Who will own the artwork once it is completed?
• Have you considered what will happen in the event of vandalism, weather damage or other deterioration?
• Council has the right to relocate or decommission public artworks under certain circumstances such as risk to public safety, excessive maintenance or future development of the site.
• Longevity – what are the display or maintenance requirements?
• Safety – does the artwork fall within the accepted Council safety standard?
• Location – Will the artwork be appropriately located?
• Condition – Is the artwork display ready or will it require a level of management or restoration?