PHOTO: Andi Mether, Alan Wykes, Sooty Welsh, Wendy Lake (Gulargambone LALC), Jim & Jo O’Brien and Sam Wykes in Gular with its new locally manufactured galah sculpture on Sunday.
LAST week work began on installing sculptures and signs that will eventually mark the entries to Coonamble, Gulargambone and Quambone to welcome visitors and returning residents.
By Monday 7 February, the Quambone community was the proud owner of a striking concrete and steel sign, complete with the carved markings and symbolic sculptures of marsh birds, all designed by local artists and residents.
In Gulargambone, a new metal sculpture appeared in the park along the highway and in Coonamble, four families of emus – each one of a dad emu leading his offspring – materialised along the roadsides on the outskirts of town and outside the new Visitor Information Centre in Smith Park.
Creative Director and Arts Project Manager, Andi Mether of Zest Events International, said it had been a long and complex process involving many people in the community.
“A lot of it came from the Masterplan consultations which decided which bird related to which town, that was the base, and everyone wanted to recognise the Aboriginal heritage,” she said.
“We met with the Weilwan elders and it was agreed to include their history of carving into the ground and into trees which flows through to the signs.
“On all the landmark signs the top of the concrete is shaped the reflect the outline of the Warrumbungles,” Ms Mether said.
Weilwan elder and artist Sooty Welsh created an original pattern reflecting the local Indigenous heritage which was incorporated into each concrete plinth as they were poured and Coonamble’s emus were chosen partly because the ‘dhinawan’ (emu) is the totem of the Gamilaaray people.
In Coonamble, local artists Jamie-Lea Trindall, Sooty Welsh, and Molly Mackay created the 16 emus; in Gulargambone Ana Robson, Sam Wykes, and Alan Wykes created the galahs in collaboration with the Local Aboriginal Land Council; and in Quambone, an original concept from then-student Harriet O’Brien was adapted by a team including her parents Jim and Jo and local Weilwan elder Bertie Bartholomew.
Overall, the signs and sculptures share common elements while aiming to reflect the uniqueness of each community.
“The signs unite the shire while the birds are individual to the towns,” Ms Mether said. “There is consistency but they are set up slightly differently in each town.”
“Because Gulargambone already has their fantastic galahs we designed a metal sculpture to add to the sculptures in the town.”
Steel elements were manufactured locally by Sam Wykes and Molly Mackay, although components of Gular’s new galah were hand-made by Ana Robson and Alan Wykes and anyone who looks closely will see the relationship between the bird’s wings and local tree species.
Zest Events International and DCWC were awarded the contract in October 2020 and the consultation and design was threaded through the lockdowns, storms and floods of 2021.
Ms Mether says it has been a big project with many participants and components and is not quite over yet.
Before installation of the signage can be completed, a last minute adjustment is required to ensure the heavy concrete plinths and their weight-bearing posts are a perfect fit.
“We want to get it right,” Ms Mether said.
“Behind the signs and sculptures are the conversations, the connections, the upskilling, the knowledge sharing.”
“These aren’t temporary works, they’ll be here for years.”