Public Art

"Water Dance" This installation is next to the Forrest Highway near Mandurah, Western Australia.. The sculpture is titled 'The Water Dance' by artist Anne Neil and consists of 8 cone shapes some 5.5m high and 4.5m in diameter. There are also 16 poles. The poles and cones are placed at a variety of angles to represent the movement of rain hitting the earth. The cones represent cupped hands reaching up to catch the rain drops. The poles represent the water depth markers found in rivers. The cones are painted blue on the inside. At night they light up, changing colour from blue to green. (The above information is paraphrased from www.public-art-directory.com .) It isn't possible to get to the sculpture easily. There is a parking lay-by adjacent, but the sculpture is surrounded by a moat and a fence. The fence would be easy to negotiate, the moat less so. We have driven past this many times as it lies right next to the southbound lanes of the highway, but this was the first time we'd ever stopped to look closely. It was worth the wait. Best seen big. Please press Z.

Merredin, WA Part of the WA Silo Trail. Good when seen large. Please press Z.

Decorated grain silos in Albany, WA. The creature is a sea dragon. Part of the WA Silo Trail.

Magpie Flight Path. Entry sign to the town of Borden in Western Australia, a small town of about 160 people in the Great Southern region.. The birds are representations of Australian Magpies, probably the best and sweetest singers in Australia.

Pingrup, WA Part of the WA Silo Trail.

Esperance, WA.

Esperance, Western Australia. The birds are representations of malleefowl, which inhabit the southern parts of Western Australia. In reality they are chicken-sized, ground-dwelling birds which are both secretive and endangered.

Newdegate, WA Part of the WA Silo Trail. These are storage bins for the collection of grain from the surrounding farms which is then transported by train.

Centre of a roundabout, Dolphin Quay, Mandurah, WA. Mandurah - or Mandjoogoordap, to give the place its Noongar name - is a city on the Indian Ocean. It was once a fishing village and holiday destination; now it is a populous city, though primarily a dormitory for working in Perth, Fremantle and FIFO. The sculpture represents both the old and the new, as it is located just outside a large marina which is used by recreational fishing boats which go out to the ocean or inland to the Peel Inlet, a body of shallow water some 130 sq km (50 sq miles) in area. It is my home and the closest I'll ever get to paradise.