COUNCILLOR Jacqui Rudge hopes Bathurst Regional Council can bring heritage and art together in the central business district.
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Council will be meeting with a consultant later this month to work on a public art policy for Bathurst.
When this meeting happens, Cr Rudge hopes to discuss an idea she has come up with, which is to add artwork to alleyways in the CBD.
As some alleys have been named after historical people of significance to Bathurst, Cr Rudge thinks it would be nice to engage local artists to create murals that reflect those and other elements of the city’s history.
“It is just an idea I would like to see to help with the walking tours we have,” she said.
However, she said the idea would require community consultation, support from other councillors and investigation into the feasibility first before it could go ahead.
“There would be certain areas where we wouldn’t be able to do it because of the bricks and heritage of the buildings,” Cr Rudge said.
There are other parts of the Central West that have already engaged street artists.
Cr Rudge noted a project occurring at Portland’s old cement works, now known as The Foundations.
Brisbane street artist Guido van Helten has been engaged to create a mural on the cement silos, which will pay tribute to the history of the site and the town’s future.
Work on the mural commenced last month and drew interest from visitors, who were able to go to the site for a gold coin donation throughout April.
Cr Rudge said she’s not sure how other councillors would feel about having street art, but her idea has some support from local art groups, and she thinks the public would like to see art relating to Bathurst’s heritage.
“Look how much people took to the [illuminations] with the lights and various pictures on our buildings in 2015 and the years since. They loved it,” she said.
Whether or not her idea goes ahead, Cr Rudge said she was happy to see council developing a public art policy for Bathurst.
The policy and guidelines of the public art policy would:
a. inform the commissioning of public art for Bathurst’s public realm;
b. provide a framework for the future integration of artworks in Council infrastructure;
c. identify opportunities and strategies for temporary and ephemeral artwork;
d. propose strategies to encourage the private sector to support the commissioning of public art;
e. provide a structure for the ongoing maintenance and management of a public art collection.
