Manningham Street and Public Art
There are a number of public art works you can visit within Manningham including:
Bulleen Area
Eel
by Cameron Robins (2004)Eel was commissioned for the Bolin Bolin Cultural Landscape Precinct to help people find their way along the trail to the Bolin Bolin Billabong. The artist has made a leaping shortfinned eel that were once abundant in the Bolin Bolin Billabong. The Kulin Nation fished for and feasted on them as they gathered for their annual ceremonial meetings.
Location: Bulleen Park (northern end), Bulleen Road, Bulleen
Manna Gum by Simon Horsburgh (2004)
Made from recycled materials, Manna Gum is inspired by the local eucalypt blossoms and marks the start of the Bolin Bolin Cultural Landscape Trail. This trail passes through an area which was an important gathering place for the local Wurundjeri people due to its seasonal abundance of food. The Wurundjeri frequented the area when the billabongs were low, the eucalypts were flowering and they were able to collect nectar.
Location: Bulleen Park (next to main oval carpark), Bulleen Road, Bulleen
Bolin Directions by Meredith Plain
Location: Bolin Bolin Billabong, Bulleen Road, Bulleen. There is a car parking area off Bulleen Road, north of Veneto Club.
Helmet by Tanya Court and Cassandra Chilton (2007)
Helmet is inspired by the artist Sidney Nolan's Kelly series of paintings, created at Heide, in which we see the figure of Ned Kelly riding through the landscape. During a walking tour of 'Kelly country' Nolan realised 'that the bush and the Kelly helmet belonged together' and helmet is a wonderful interpretation of Nolan's paintings through a new medium and artistic vision.
Location: Banksia Park, intersection of Manningham Road and Bridge Street, Bulleen
Doncaster Area
Water Creature and Big Cat by Deborah Halpern (2006)
Spontaneous in form, Deborah Halpern's creatures are painted in a style that recalls visions of Gaudi, Picasso and French sculptor Niki de Sant Phalle, yet both are distinctly 'Halpernesque' in their ability to delight and surprise.
Location: MC2 (Manningham City Square) Civic Plaza, 687 Doncaster Road, Doncaster
Sidle by Bellemo and Catriona Macleod (2007)
Sidle is one of two works made by Bellemo & Cat for Manningham. The work speaks of global issues in a very local way by commenting on reinvention and reuse. The pavilion form of Sidle is made from old playground slides headed for the scrap heap. Making something new from the fabric of the old gives the shelter a readymade history.
Location: Manningham Civic Precinct, 699 Doncaster Road, Doncaster
Vincent Martino Sculpture Series by Vincent Martino (1993-1994)
Time in Autumn, 1993-94, Time in Spring, 1993-94, The Pendulum, 1994, The Clef, 1994, Acquired 1995.
Vincent Martino said of these works: 'These pieces are part of a large series of sculptures which are vertical and totemic. Time in Spring and Time in Autumn refer to subtle changes and happenings in nature by their contrast as a pair. The Clef has a musical reference and The Pendulum suggests a certain functionalism.'
Location: Manningham Civic Precinct, 699 Doncaster Road, Doncaster
I am a man like you by Anthony Pryor (1986)
Anthony (Tony) Pryor was one of Australia's most respected sculptors. The work, I am a man like you, was commissioned by the Doncaster and Templestowe branch of the Movement against Uranium Mining to commemorate the International Year of Peace in 1986. Pryor's sculptures are recognisable for their characteristic energy, line and intensity. The forms of this work are elegant yet forceful at the same time.
Location: Manningham Civic Precinct, 699 Doncaster Road, Doncaster
Immerse by Warren Langley (2008)
Created with ceramic tiles and LED lighting. The Doncaster Road pedestrian underpass is situated between Doncaster Primary School and MC2. Artist Warren Langley created the art piece on the walls and ceiling. The design features a striking montage of colour and light and creates the visual equivalent of an impressionist painting through which the pedestrian passes.
Creating the illusion of greater spaciousness within the underpass, the entire walls and ceiling of the ramps and the underpass are uniformly surfaced with a soft large, rectangular format ceramic tile, aligned vertically to enhance the sense of space. The projected "light painting" to both ceiling and walls blurs the interface between the two surfaces, again helping to alleviate the oppressive sensibility of the low ceiling.
Location: Doncaster Road Underpass, MC2, 687 Doncaster Road, Doncaster
Future Ahead by Skunk Control (2024)
Inspired by the native Xerochrysum viscosum which has many names including the Golden Everlasting, Future Ahead is designed to be the heart of the new park on Hepburn Road.
Bathing the park and its community in light, day and night. Future Ahead creates an expanding community crucible where connections and delightful discoveries abound and are an everyday occurrence.
Location: Hepburn Reserve, 9 Hepburn Road, Doncaster
Ayr St South Ground Mural by Tom Civil (2022)
This playful and bold ground artwork attempts to reflect on our connection to nature as we go about our lives in a heavily urbanised and concrete and asphalt covered world.
The artwork is also about how the places we live in were in the past, and how they could be in the future.
The 'contour lines' reference the topography of the land as a 1:1 scale map that we walk through. A compass is used as a simple practical guide in direction and navigating the city, with the sun and moons represented to show the passing of days and months. There are references to the local flowers of tea tree and eucalyptus, local ladybugs and dragonflies, and magpie feathers.
It is hoped people find unexpected games within the design too, whether jumping from flower to flower, following a dot track or exploring the compass.
Location: Parkview Reserve, 34 Ayr Street, Doncaster
Running/Walking (moving forward) by Warren Langley (2007)
Running/Walking can be viewed during the day or night. The concertina-shaped walls have been fabricated to form a series of copper and glass components. By night, the LED lighting brings the artwork to life. The human figures are representations of actual members of the community that transcend ethnicity and evoke the sense of a progressive, forward moving populace.
Location: West of Doncaster Playhouse, 675 Doncaster Road, Doncaster
Let Us Walk Together, Kol-ing-wod-ong-gnul by Wathaurong Glass (2001)
Let us walk together depicts aspects of the characteristics, history and development of the municipality.
The overall form of the panels is curved along the upper edge, which symbolises the rolling hills of the area visible to the north and east, while the staggered lower edge represents the city skyline and the municipality?s built environment.
- Panel 1 - water symbols represent the Birrarung, Mullum Mullum and Koonung Creeks
- Panel 2 - depicts windbreaks planted to protect the fruit trees
- Panels 3, 10 and 12 - tell of clearing the land, planting of crops and orchards and the early development of the suburbs
- Panel 4 - the lizard tracks symbolise animal life
- Panel 5 - rain and flooding has significantly impacted on the land and habitation
- Panel 6 - the coming together of artists at Heide
- Panel 7 - represents fire used to clear the land and the bushfires that have wreaked havoc
- Panel 8 - the body paint symbolises the dance performed at the meeting of the Kulin Nation
- Panel 9 - represents multiculturalism, unity and sense of community
- Panel 11 - the campsites or suburbs and the roads leading to and from Manningham
- Panel 13 - the x-ray image of an animal stomach represents the possum skin cloaks distinctive to First Nations people from southeast Australia
- Panel 14 - snake tracks
Cnr Doncaster Road and Council Street Signal Box by Stephanie Tang (2011)
Childhood Friends
The design is of various fairy tale characters drawn in a Japanese manga style and was inspired by the nearby primary school and the innocence and imagination that one experiences in childhood.
Location: 673 Doncaster Road (near Council Street), Doncaster
Column by Rudi Jass (2010)
Created by Melbourne artist Rudi Jass, this sculpture was funded by the Westfield Corporation as part of the redevelopment of the Doncaster Shopping Centre in 2007-08. According to the artist, the flowing and dynamic pattern of the sculpture reinterprets basic geometrical shapes (such as triangles, circles and squares) used by many cultures to explore focus, harmony and balance.
Location: Westfield Doncaster, main entry off Williamsons Road, Doncaster
Orchard Earth Totem by Peter Blizzard (2007)
Sovereign Point Apartments have their very own piece of public art. A donation by the apartment developers enabled Manningham Council to commission well known Victorian sculptor Peter Blizzard to create the work. The sculpture represents an ongoing investigation into ideas and responses to the environment and the relationship of nature to the human spirit.
Location: The Crest Apartments, 2 Sovereign Point Court, opposite Westfield Doncaster
Cnr Williamsons Road and Westfield Shoppingtown Signal Box
Flying Journey by Gabriella Sakkos, Ancilla Sakkos, Adrianna Sakkos and Damian Katsaris (2010).
A pictorial representation of the flight paths created by flying creatures in our environment including the ever present magpie, native birds, butterfly and praying mantis.
Location: Cnr Williamsons Road and Sovereign Point Court (Westfield Shoppingtown North Entrance), Doncaster
Sentinel by Inge King (2000)
Sentinel was the first of three sculptures commissioned by Council to mark the major gateways to the City. It stands approximately 13 metres high and weighs 12 tonnes. Created by internationally renowned artist and long-term resident Inge King, Sentinel was conceived as an icon of the City of Manningham and the sculpture casts a watchful eye over the area. The multicoloured crown is the focal point of the work. Its curved shapes symbolise the two creeks of the municipality, the Mullum Mullum and the Koonung. They enclose the blue oval form representing the City of Manningham.
Location: Doncaster Road exit, Eastern Freeway, Doncaster
EllipseCircleView by Natasha Johns-Messenger (2023)
Inspired by the panoramic vista of Ruffey Lake Park, EllipseCircleView embodies simple geometric forms to encourage contemplation of the immediate surrounds.
Drawing from elements of conceptual sculpture, landscape painting, and anamorphic projection, this contemporary artwork comprises two polished stainless steel forms: a circular structure and an ellipse.
These intertwining circular forms act as dynamic framing devices of the ever-changing views both up close and from a distance. Of particular interest, the ellipse is proportioned to appear circular at certain points as you circumnavigate the sculpture.
Location: Boulevarde Hill, Ruffey Lake Park, 72 The Boulevarde, Doncaster
Cnr High Street and Paul Street Signal Boxes by Lyndon Summers (2011)
Old Doncaster Tram and Tower
Front - In 1889 the first electric tram in Australia (in fact the southern hemisphere) ran between Doncaster Hill and Box Hill along what is now Tram Road. The artwork depicts the tram, the surrounding hills with their orchards, and the young Melbourne in the background.
Back - The Doncaster tram used to be promoted as part of a day trip from Melbourne City. Get the train to Box Hill, get the Tram to Doncaster, and while your there visit the amazing 285 ft tall Doncaster Tower which was built by a local publican to try attract tourists and hopefully land buyers and settlers to the area.
An Apple a Day...To From The Freeway by Lyndon Summers (2011)
Orchards are an important part of Doncaster's history. One side depicts an farmer in his orchard and the other side, a more recent pictorial view of a daily occurrence as a Happy Man exits the freeway to Doncaster at 5.20pm. Both sides of the box are adorned with stacks of apple crates.
Location: Cnr High Street and Paul Street, Doncaster
Templestowe Area
River Peel by Michael Bellemo and Catriona Macleod (2000)
River Peel draws on the local heritage and surrounding landscape, imitating the Yarra River as it bends and turns through the area. The sculpture also represents the peel of an apple to relate to the history of orcharding in the areas of Doncaster and Templestowe.
Location: 205 Fitzsimons Lane, Templestowe
Triptych by Nik Papas (2000)
Triptych, constructed from painted reinforced concrete, takes the shape of a game or wooden toy or puzzle with pieces that look two dimensional and are brightly coloured. The work is a nostalgic reminder of how toys and games have changed over the last century.
Location: Cnr Anderson Street and Foote Street, Templestowe
Parker Street Park Ceramic
Location: Park next to Templestowe RSL, 156 Parker Street, Templestowe
Templestowe Presbyterian Church Ceramic
Location: Templestowe Presbyterian Church, Cnr Anderson Street and Parker Street, Templestowe
Mural of Daughter by Julian Clavijo
The mural features Alexandra, the daughter of Templestowe Village's Alexandra The Great owner, Milton Tsanatelis, surrounded by birds. The artist says that children represent humanity and an age of innocence with the ability to dream big, whereas birds represent the freedom to dream without limits.
Location: 27 Anderson Street, Templestowe
Elevation by Anthony Russo and Mark Weichard (1998)
Location: Cnr Anderson Street and James Street, Templestowe
Together We Rise by Robert Young (2022)
This piece represents joy, life, culture and connection to country and community. It is a new story being told in this space, one of rejuvenation and new life. These totems are the new protectors of this space, the spiritual protectors of gathering and community. Through this tough time, our spirit is still strong, and our community is there.
The art aims to bring life and colour to the street and features three local Manningham animals - the black swan, platypus and wombat. The artist says the idea is that "the activation of creativity and art in this space helps to bring the community together".
Location: Bendigo Bank, Templestowe Village, 128 James Street, Templestowe, Templestowe
Warrandyte Area
Boulder by Inge King (1967)
Internationally renowned artist Inge King is famous for her abstract work and for using nature as her inspiration. Boulder belongs to a series of twelve sculptures created between 1966 and 1972 that reflect the artist's time spent in Albany, Western Australia, representing large granite boulders that sit along the Albany coast.
"My fascination was with the precarious balance of large forms perched on top of small ones, emphasising movement at the same time. The rough welding is intentional; the small pieces are incorporated to enliven the smooth surface of the simple shapes. I see these works as part of the landscape, the black colour contrasting with the grey green of the surrounding foliage. The represent a move away from earlier figuration.? - Inge King
Location: Warrandyte Community Centre, 168 Yarra Street, Warrandyte
Warrandyte Community Centre Mural by Angharad Neal-Williams (2023)
Common themes for the mural include the river, the natural environment and the experience of walking along and looking across the river to the other side. The design captures these themes whilst incorporating bright colours that will sit within, and complement the surrounding environment.
Location: Warrandyte Community Centre, 168 Yarra Street, Warrandyte
Map of Street Art Locations:
Web Links
→ Public Art In Manningham
