“We now need our public spaces, and public art, to respond to the huge cross-section of the community we have, particularly here in Melbourne,” she says. 

 

“Public spaces are an extension of our homes and our workplaces. They are also our refuge. We need to rise to this occasion and incorporate more art into these public spaces.”

 

The City of Melbourne has provided almost $2.5 million in funding grants to local artists during COVID-19, and committed $1.5 million to boost public art projects. 

 

Mark Neilsen says although the investment is positive, councils should consider more semi-permanent installation work to reinvigorate public spaces even faster. 

 

“The sooner we can create memorable experiences for people through art, the sooner we’ll see our public spaces come back to life,” he says. 

 

“Councils are often tied up in lengthy processes, which means it may take years for public art to be conceived, fabricated and installed. We just don’t have that time post-COVID. Semi-permanent installations could be the answer.”

 

Mark says there’s an excellent opportunity for councils in Victoria to show leadership in the public art space. 

 

“In Melbourne, we don’t have the beaches of Queensland, we don’t have Sydney Harbour. We pride ourselves on being the culture capital of Australia, so it feels like we’ve lost part of our identity during COVID-19.

 

“We need to entice people back outdoors, safely, into the public spaces they’ve come to know and love. I encourage clever artists, architects and designers to get designing for the outdoors.”