Share stories of Old Mandurah Traffic Bridge to inspire artwork at new bridge

THE Mandurah community is invited to share stories of the Old Mandurah Traffic Bridge with artists from across WA to create a vision for the public artwork around the new Mandurah Traffic Bridge.

With construction of the new bridge nearing completion, other key activities such as the public art component are starting.

To kick-off the public art component, a cultural connection day and sundowner will be held on Friday, May 12.

City of Mandurah has engaged WA’s leading regional arts and innovation consultancy Maker + Co and public arts specialist Artsource to bring together the best creative minds to honour and celebrate the connections local people have with the bridge.

Mayor Marina Vergone said the City’s approach to the work exemplified the vision for Mandurah as a connected and forward-thinking city that honoured its past, celebrated the present and embraced its future.

“We hope to push the boundaries of public art by using new and interactive technologies that will create evolving points of interest,” she said.

“Generations of locals and visitors have memories of the old bridge and we are keen to incorporate those stories into the new bridge through public art and create opportunities to continue that tradition of storytelling and memory making.

“We are encouraging a collaborative approach to the creation of the artwork between our community and artists, innovators and tech start-ups.”

A brainstorming day, Bridging Culture, is on Friday, May 12 and will offer the chance to work with artists and other stakeholders to identify elements they would like to see the artwork represent.

Maker + Co creative director Colette McEntee said she was excited to be working on the project.

“This is a great opportunity for the community and public artists to collaborate and share Mandurah’s stories in new and interesting ways,’’ she said.

“We hope the process will empower artists to be boldly creative and visionary; these are an artist’s greatest gifts.

Ideas generation by the Bridging Culture working groups will be shared with the broader community at the end of the day and form part of the briefing process for artists responding to the City’s expression of interest to create the public artwork/s.