Public art and memorials

The city’s permanent outdoor collection is very public – out in the elements, on the streets, in the parks, day and night. From ‘River God Fountain’ (1863) to ‘Vault’ (1980) and ‘Standing by Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner’ (2016), the city’s 180-odd pieces of public art have become part of its cultural DNA.

Granite, steel, bronze, marble, concrete, fibreglass, wood: these materials of permanence and semi-permanence have been moulded, hewn, welded and fabricated to create memorials, monuments, installations, statues, fountains and memorials that engage the senses and defy time. But don’t ever forget that no matter how long the artwork has been part of the cityscape, someone – an artist, a designer, an artisan – sometime created what is now a city ornament.