AusLeisure

The recent Australian Street Art Awards - a Tourism Awards for Public Art program - have recognised 29 public art experiences as the best in the country for art-loving tourists. Arts tourists from within Australia are high value visitors – they stay almost one-and-a-half times longer and spend about one-and-a-half times more per day than domestic tourists overall, according to an Australia Council for the Arts’ Domestic Art Tourism: Connecting the Country Report.

The nightly light show created by Illuminart in Quorn’s Railway Precinct in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges, secured a Gold Award for Best Mega Mural. The free nightly spectacular features animated stories about the surrounding Flinders Ranges' history, wildlife and culture and displays every night of the year. Visitors can watch from seats, bring their own chairs, or tune in and watch from their cars.

The Gold Award winners of the 2022 Australia Street Art Awards also include a memorial to the bravery witnessed at one of Australia’s deadliest train disasters, and a country street art trail created by homegrown volunteers.

Heading the list of the winners was ‘Dyipni - Da King of Da Road’, a tractor that has been transformed into a vibrant tribute by 14 Filipino emigrants living in WA’s agricultural heartland. It was announced as the Best of the Best winner after taking out Gold in the Best Landmark Sculpture category earlier in the evening.

The Best of the Best is handed to the Gold Winner which impressed the judges the most, as determined by the highest cumulative score from all category winners.

The Australian Street Art Awards encourages Australians to explore the world-class street and public art that is accessible all year round and found in every corner of the country.

With rigorous judging by tourism and public art leaders from across Australia, plus second-tier auditing and due diligence, a win has the credence of the art tourism sector.

Awards Director Liz Rivers noted “These 29 winners contribute significantly to making Australia a more vibrant, creative and interesting country – somewhere visitors want to explore more keenly.”

“Smart communities promote their street and outdoor art as a unique landmark – an attraction that visitors can see in only one place, and that makes their destination immediately identifiable, highly attractive and a drawcard for art-loving tourists.

“Investing in outdoor art as an attraction mechanism also makes economic sense as art is typically less expensive to create than more traditional tourism attractions while the pay-off is handsome.”

The Awards presentation also included the announcement of the recipient of the second annual Outstanding Contribution to Australian Art Tourism Award. Granted to a person who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to transform one or more destinations through outdoor art, the accolade recognises the personal commitment necessary to ‘make street art happen’.

The 2022 recipient is Cindi Drennan, Founder and Artistic Director of Illuminart, a South Australian arts company that integrates community engagement within high quality projection arts, architectural projection and audio-visual storytelling experiences. Remote and regional communities across Australia have benefitted from Drennan’s business innovation over the past 16 years and her filmmaking, illustration, animation and interactive media expertise.

All 2022 Gold winners are:

Best of the Best: ‘Dyipni--Da King of Da Road’, various artists (The Horsepower Highway, WA)

Best Entrance Art: ‘The Last Lion’, Sophi Odling and Christina Huynh (Burwood Chinatown Precinct Project, Sydney NSW)

Best External Mural: 'Sanctum', Andrew Bourke and Jesse Bell (Darwin NT)

Best Landmark Sculpture: ‘Dyipni--Da King of Da Road’, 14 Filipino metal workers (The Horsepower Highway, WA)

Best Mega Mural: Quorn Silo Light Show, Illuminart (Southern Flinders Ranges SA)

Best Monument or Memorial: Southern Aurora Memorial Violet Town, Tim Bowtell, Lach Cummings and Chris Mann (Violet Town VIC)

Best Rural Art: Bute Silo Art, Scott Nagy and Krimsone (Top of the Yorke SA)

Best Sculpture Park or Trail: Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail, various (Greater Port Macquarie NSW)

Best Street Art Festival or Event: SWELL Sculpture Festival 2022, various (Gold Coast QLD)

Best Street Art Laneway: Banna Lane, various (Griffith NSW)

Best Street Art Tour: Frankston Street Art Walking Tours, various (Frankston VIC)

Best Street Art Trail: Tongala Street Art Trail, Tongala volunteer artists (Goulburn Valley VIC)

2022 Silver winners are:

Best Entrance Art: ‘Darwin Didgeridoo’, Anthony Duwan Lee (Darwin Airport NT)

Best External Mural: ‘Nonna's Table’, Claire Foxton (Griffith NSW)

Best Landmark Sculpture: ‘The Big Koala, Spirit of All Koalas’, Pauline Roods and John Belfield (Greater Port Macquarie NSW)

Best Mega Mural: Bute Silo Art, Scott Nagy and Krimsone (Top of the Yorke SA)

Best Monument or Memorial: Wandoan Soldier Settlers Precinct, various (Western Downs QLD)

Best Rural Art: ‘Digging up the Past’, The Zookeeper and DRAPL (Hughenden QLD)

Best Street Art Festival or Event: Banna Lane Festival, various (Griffith NSW)

Best Street Art Laneway: Austin Lane, various (Darwin NT)

Best Street Art Tour: Oh Hey WA NMBW Street Art Tour (Perth WA)

Best Street Art Trail: The Maryborough Mural Project, various (Fraser Coast QLD)

2022 Bronze winners are:

Best External Mural: ‘Painting Our Future’, Julian Clavijo and Camilo Delgado (Hastings VIC)

Best Landmark Sculpture: ‘Let's Get Crabby, in a Big Way’, Brendon Tohill (Capricorn Coast QLD)

Best Mega Mural: ‘Stay Grounded’, Kitt Bennett (Darwin NT)

Best Monument or Memorial: ‘Neighbour’, Jesse Belle (Katherine NT)

Best Rural Art: ‘The Golden Clydesdale’, Dylan Butler (Coobowie SA)

Best Street Art Festival or Event: No More Blank Walls Street Art Festival, Blank Walls (Osborne Park WA)

Best Street Art Laneway: Bidencopes Lane, various (Hobart TAS)

Best Street Art Trail: Little Finds, various (Kalgoorlie-Boulder WA

Related Articles

11th February 2023 - First Peoples’ interpretive garden to surround Central Goldfields Art Gallery

12th June 2022 - Fund supports New Zealand’s public arts and heritage venues

6th June 2022 - First Nations public art to be featured in new QPAC theatre

9th March 2022 - Victorian Government aims for an increase in permanent public artworks created by women artists

9th November 2021 - Sydney secures its largest public artwork by an Australian artist

30th July 2021 - Public Art design selected for Darwin’s Bicentennial Park

24th June 2021 - Global Wellness Institute spotlights public art and wellness trend

8th January 2021 - Vibrant public artworks sought for Cairns Esplanade Dining Precinct

25th August 2020 - Major public art installation unveiled in Sydney

13th February 2020 - Cairns invests over $3 million in public art

23rd December 2019 - City of Sydney and Sydney Living Museums to install new public art installation

13th September 2019 - City of Hobart supports investment in Public Art

15th February 2019 - Carriageworks and Kaldor Public Art Projects partner for major art presentation

8th December 2018 - Carriageworks announce New Public Artwork commissioned for South Eveleigh

17th February 2016 - Artists sought for new Perth museum public art project

23rd June 2015 - Albury art museum to reimagine the concept of public art

24th March 2015 - City of Hobart’s new public art project presents wildflowers, wildlife and waymarkers

27th February 2015 - Museums Australia responds to calls for a new body for public art galleries

27th November 2013 - Study reveals the impact of Public Art Museums

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.