Artist Sarah Rowan, Lord Mayor Tania Brown and councillor Jess Whittaker at one of the newly painted tanks on Rex Jackson Oval. Photo: Zoe Cartwright.
First, Helensburgh, then all of Wollongong.
Lord Mayor Tania Brown has unveiled a new art installation for the sports-loving suburb.
The colourful project spans eight concrete water tanks at Rex Jackson Oval and celebrates local teams of all codes.
The artwork was commissioned by Wollongong City Council, and the Lord Mayor said she hoped it was just the first of many more public installations.
“I have an evil plan that we should paint all of Wollongong with things like this,” she said.
“We’d heard from the community for some time that the tanks were an eyesore.
“How wonderful to bring it such colour, and hopefully people respect the artwork as it should be.
“We absolutely love Sarah’s work; she’s done a brilliant job.”
The community campaigned for the mural and it was funded through the Wollongong City Council public art program.
Part of the brief was to ensure the work reflected Helensburgh and its grassroots sporting clubs.
Some of the nods are more obvious, such as a couple of rugby players, while others are a little more subtle.
The artist, Sarah Rowan, who completed another mural featuring Helensburgh-raised Olympic gold medallist Saya Sakakibara earlier this year, said the tanks were a challenge.
Bringing 350 sqm of “bumpy, thirsty concrete” to life was just the start of it.
“Within five minutes of starting I thought, ‘What have I gotten myself into,'” she said.
“The wind made it so I couldn’t spray a base coat on; I had to roll it on.
“It is leaking from the inside so I would press my body against the tank to get it to dry off with my clothes and then paint it really quickly and tell it to dry before it leaked again.
“The woman playing tennis was painted with a projector at night.
“I’m really appreciative of this community which is the closest thing to a home I have ever felt in my whole life.”
Rex Jackson Oval is home to the Helensburgh Tigers men’s and women’s rugby league teams, the Helensburgh Thistles Soccer Club, and the Helensburgh cricket side.
Sarah said what kept her going was the enthusiastic response to her emerging work from passersby.
Helensburgh’s warm welcome for the work was clear at its unveiling – young and old braved the wind, rain and chill to be there in person.
