Work is under way on the latest of Orange City Council’s FutureCity Public Art projects. Sydney-based artist Liz Shreeve is creating a mural on the wall of the Woolworths supermarket building in Anson Street.
Titled Interrupted Spectrum, the mural gives passing shoppers the impression the wall is changing its colour as they walk by.
MURAL: Orange Mayor Jason Hamling takes his first look at the CBD’s latest mural with artist Liz Shreeve.
It’s the second mural to be added in Anson Street following the work by Sydney-based artist Floria Tosca on the wall of 213 Anson Street, near the Uniting Church park.
The three-year FutureCity Public Art project aims to develop a diverse collection of murals and art installations on buildings in the inner city, designed to encourage foot traffic in the city centre as part of Councils’ FutureCity plan to revitalise the CBD. This public art project is funded by the NSW Government Infrastructure Grants Program and by Orange City Council under the Future City initiative.
Orange Mayor Jason Hamling has welcomed the latest mural.
“There was a real buzz of reaction when the first of the murals appeared,” Cr Jason Hamling said. “It’s great that the CBD upgrade can be about so much more than better roads and footpaths in the centre of Orange, as important as that is.”
“If we really want to revitalise the CBD and make it more pedestrian-friendly we’ve got to make it look attractive. We need places that catch your eye and make you want to walk down a street you may never been before. That’s what public art can do.”
Orange Regional Gallery director Bradley Hammond said the new mural will be another key element of the Public Art project.
“The FutureCity Public Art project invites people to become more aware of the civic spaces around us and see them in a fresh and engaging way,” Mr Hammond said. “Liz Shreeve’s work uses the existing geometries of the well-known Woolworths building, which were previously painted grey, and brings them to life with an array of vivid colours that move along the colour spectrum as we walk or drive by.”
“One aspect I’m looking forward to seeing is how Liz will also use reflected colour in a subtle and interesting way, although viewers will have to come along and see it to experience this visual effect for themselves as it changes in the shifting light. “Liz has designed this work specifically in response to the site and we’re fortunate to have an artist of this calibre creating a unique artwork for Orange.
Artist Liz Shreeve expects the new mural will be completed early this week.
COLOURS: Forty-nine different colours can now be found on a high profile wall in Anson Street
“I’m hoping that Interrupted Spectrum will be a celebration of colour and light, the wonderful clear light of a clean country sky. “The work is interactive; the colours will change with changes in the time of day or weather, or with the movement of the viewer,” Ms Shreeve said.
“The top, bottom and sides of each column are being painted in a series of colours that ripple as people pass and reflect colour onto the eaves or the pavement. Walk south along Anson Street and you’ll see the colours strongly. Walk towards the north and the discerning eye will see many more subtle colours being reflected onto the white screen of the columns.”
