Lynch’s Bridge Mosaic Mural 1992

Summary

Location: Epsom Rd underpass, Newmarket The mural depicts the stockmen with their horses and dogs, driving sheep and cattle to market as they did for many years. In 1992, Elizabeth MacKinnon was commissioned to create a public artwork for the old Newmarket saleyards, transformed into a residential neighbourhood as part of the state government Lynch’s Bridge Project. Commissioned at a key juncture in the site’s life, the mosaic recollects the saleyards’ past and acknowledges its future through its two pictorially distinct parts. The mosaic mural was gifted to the City of Melbourne by the Victorian state government. Before its official unveiling at Epsom Road underpass in 1998, it toured to towns in country Victoria and was displayed at Footscray’s Living Museum of the West. The Epsom Road underpass was known as ‘the back gate’ during the saleyards’ 126-year history. The back gate was where all livestock passed following its auction, each beast counted so a fee could be levied for the City Council. It is here that the mural is sited. During MacKinnon’s research for the part known as ‘In Memory of the Newmarket Saleyards’ she consulted with former stockmen and older community members to pay homage to the saleyards and to those whose working lives were structured by it. MacKinnon worked closely with members of the new Lynch’s Bridge community to devise the 12 panels comprising ‘To the Future’. This section of the mural expresses a sense of place for residents, ranging over their cultural and migratory heritage and referencing the history of the area’s natural environment.