MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Australia’s leading sculpture park and gallery, McClelland Sculpture Park+Gallery, in conjunction with Major Road Projects Victoria and the Netflow consortium, invites proposals for the Western Roads Upgrade public art commission.
Contemporary Australian artists – particularly those with a strong connection to the western suburbs through their work, life experience or background – are invited to develop an iconic and career-defining public artwork.
The piece will be located at a landscaped precinct at the new Duncans Road / Princes Freeway interchange currently under construction in Werribee as part of the Western Roads Upgrade public-private partnership project.
The $1.8 billion Western Roads Upgrade is the State of Victoria’s largest single investment in arterial roads to date, comprising high-priority road upgrades with a comprehensive 20-year maintenance program covering more than 260 kilometres of road across Melbourne’s west.
McClelland Sculpture Park+Gallery Director Lisa Byrne said the commission provides artists with the opportunity to develop a major public work for Melbourne’s west.
“We see this commission as something that will both inform and enliven the experience of the road users to, from and throughout the growing communities of Melbourne’s west,” Ms Byrne said.
“The successful commission will embody high aesthetic aspiration and constitute a significant artistic statement for Melbourne’s west, and Australian sculpture more broadly.
“We want artists to show it’s possible for contemporary art to actively engage the community.”
Style and materials are open, with a consideration for the permanent outdoor nature of the work.
Imagination is encouraged within a practical context.
The value of the Western Roads Upgrade Commission is A$425,000. This amount includes fabrication of the work, transportation to the site, installation and the artist’s fee.
The selection process is being held in two stages.
An open first stage calls for high-level design proposals, of which up to five will be chosen to proceed to a paid second stage.
A selection advisory panel led by McClelland Sculpture Park+Gallery Director Lisa Byrne, representatives from Victoria University’s School of Arts and Wyndham City Council, and a local Indigenous curator/artist will then form a shortlist.
Shortlisted submissions will be further developed and refined before a final choice is made.
The advisory panel will recommend its preferred design to Netflow and MRPV, before final engineering and safety checks are confirmed, and then the successful artist commissioned.
To apply download the application form from www.mcclellandgallery.com
Image: An artist’s impression of the location of the public art commission at Duncans Road interchange in Werribee.
