CLAISEBROOK PUBLIC ART TRAIL

Icons: extracted from local brochure and updated to GPOS route map -  updated 12/6/2020

Walk 2.5km <> Bike 5km loop  Best visitor page - maps, photos, logistics

1

01. Heritage Map                         I  Artist: Malcolm MacGregor

 Located on Royal Street, in the heart of East Perth, is a granite map set into the pavement. It shows the old East Perth, its streets and blocks, together with other elements that describe its rich history

2

02. Small Figurative Bronzes      I  Artist: Greg James 

A series of small lifelike bronze castings have been installed to delight and surprise as part of the pocket park in Macey Place

3

03. Theatre Seats                        I  Artist: Mark Cox 

Using recycled jarrah, two sets of curved seating provide a pleasant place for conversation or simply to read the paper.

4

04. Illa Kuri                                    I  Artist: Toogarr Morrison 

The whole area along the riverbank at Victoria Gardens has been renamed Ngango Batta’s Mooditcher, translated as ‘Sunshine’s Living Strength’ – a place of hope and friendship for Aboriginal people. The winding pathway is named Illa Kuri and describes the chain of lakes and wetlands that stretched across the landscape before the city was built.

5

05. Yoondoorup Boorna                I  Artist: Alma Toomath

A very special old river gum, removed as part of the redevelopment, was treated and returned to the site at the request of the Noongar people. Its burnt and split trunk was used as a hiding place for goods and messages by those who once camped here.

6

06. Charnock Woman Mosaic       I Artists: Jenny Dawson, Sandra Hill and Miv Egan

The East Perth foreshore was a meeting and camping place for the Noongar people.

This colourful ceramic mosaic tells theNoongar Dreaming Story of a giant evilspirit woman, known as the Charnock woman, who stole children. The story can be read on the accompanying wall plaque.

7

07. The Niche Wall Mural              I   Artist: Joanna Lefroy Capelle

A stunning 14-metre-long wall mural is an allegory for the history and development of East Perth. It interprets the evolution of East Perth from its origins in the Bibbulmun nation, to settlement with the arrival of the Europeans, its industrial and horticultural growth, a phase of dormancy, and its renewal as a place of community and harmony of the human spirit. The relief mural is located in a limestone colonnade alongside the Cove. Acrylic and natural resins were applied to carved, wet cement render to create the work. Vegetation from the area was used to form its distinctive texture.

8

08. Victoria Gardens Shelter          I  Artist: Ralph Drexel

This architectural folly refers to the graceful period architecture of Richard Roche Jewell and the popularity of the original Victoria Gardens at the end of the 19th Century, which was one of the earliest public gardens in Perth.

9

09. Trafalgar Road Culvert               I  Artist: Nola Farman and Writer: Marcelle George

As many trees as possible were retained during the redevelopment of East Perth.  This one could not be moved, its roots were so deeply entwined in the old box culvert that took the brook under Trafalgar Road. The text celebrates all those who lived in and loved East Perth during its years of neglect, sleeping out in the ‘Star Hotel’.

10

10. Channel Markers                        I  Artist: Malcolm MacGregor

A pair of seats located on either side of the Cove, use the imagery of a river channel marker. They also commemorate Solomon Cook’s water driven flourmill and the Caretaker’s Cottage at the entry to Victoria Gardens by Architect Richard Roach Jewell.

11

11. Macey Walk Sculptured Seats    I  Artist: Mark Cox

June 2020 - was 3 locations around the inlet but some removed

The industrial heritage of East Perth is an important part of local history. A series of four seats, constructed of jarrah timber recycled from the old PWD workshops, are  based on the theme of pulleys, beams and rollers.

12

12. Sea Queen and Standing Figure   I Artist: Tony Jones

The old river boat Sea Queen is permanently ‘moored’ at the jetty on the northern side of the Cove, now a place to sit and take in the view. The fishing boat was rescued and restored by sculptor Tony Jones. The memories of a life on the river are represented in Standing Figure holding a sailboat, her pivoting head always turned to the direction of the wind.

13

13. Concrete Poem                           I Artists: Rob Finlayson and PlanE

Mardalup Park is on the site of the old Perth Gasworks. The poem here is a palindrome (you can read it forwards or backwards) about gas and is set into a concrete spiral.

14

14. Steel Magnolias                          I Artist: Jon Denaro

These sculptures are made from industrial ‘junk’ salvaged from the old Perth gasworks. They are like magnificent organic plants symbolising the park’s metamorphosis from industrial land back to nature.

15

15. Diver and Guard Dogs                I Artist: Russell Sheridan

 In the elevated residential subdivision of Belvidere, a figure stands on its hands atop a timber column. This humorous spoof on Nelson’s Column is surrounded by timber guardian dogs that are popular with children.

16

16. Smoke Stack Wind Vane             I  Artist: Stuart Green

Located on the corner of Fielder and Kensington Streets and made of aluminium swings, this wind vane swings around inside the ‘V’ class locomotive smoke stack. Sculptured as an acknowledgment of the railway and its workers who worked at the Claisebrook Depot for nearly a century. The stack is arguably the last piece of coppersmithing completed at Westrail’s Midland workshops before their closure. 

THE GREENWAY

A walk along The Greenway is a walk back in time. The gentle curves of the path, the lake and the harbour reflect the original lake and wetlands, while the works along the route tell the story.

17

17. Drinking Fountain                       I Artist: Nola Farman and Writer: Marcelle George

A simple drinking fountain marks the start of the pedestrian walkway through East Perth. Poems on the side of the fountain refer to earlier times before the city and its bitumen took over.

18

18. The Source                                 I Artists: Nola Farman with Tract (WA)

The spurting fountain creates a soothing spot to relax. It represents the nquenchable energy of the water that lies beneath the city streets.

19

19. The Weeping Wall                      I Artist: Nola Farman and Writer: Marcelle George

The curved limestone retaining wall not only ensures that a mature tree remains part of the new landscape, but also that the water artificially seeping through it reinforces the power and presence of water in this area of Perth. The text talks about the abundance of food found in the 

Claisebrook wetland and how it was cooked in the past.

20

20. The Return of the Tea Tree        I Artist: Nola Farman

The artist has tried to create a tension between our own memories of a real wetland and the artificial landscape of the Greenway. This area used to be called Tea Tree Lagoon and the artist had locally extinct paper barks grown especially for the site. The paper barks appear to be forcing their way through the paving; irregularities in the limestone channel make the water bubble and dance.

21

21. Old Fjord Tract (WA)                   I Artist: Nola Farman 

During construction, a cache of old cobblestones was unearthed. They have been re-laid in the approximate position of an old fjord across Claise Brook.

22

22. Turtle Walk                                  I Artist: Nola Farman

The turtle shapes are used as a symbol; the line a reference to the traditional path used by Noongar people on their way to the ceremonial grounds at Mount Eliza.

23

23. Sound Chamber                          I Artist: Nola Farman

The tiny sculptured pool and bronze turtle are part of a sound system inside the underpass that amplifies the natural sound of running water.

24

24. The Greenway Stream                I Artist: Nola Farman

The ability of water to sculpt the landscape and carve its own path has inspired the creative design of the ‘eroded’ water channel along the length of the Greenway. 

END OF THE GREENWAY

25

25. The Impossible Triangle             I Artists: Brian McKay and Ahmad Abas 

The 13.5m landmark artwork stands at the gateway to East Perth. The Impossible Triangle was devised by Mathematician Sir Roger Penrose in the 1950’s. There are  only two positions from which the triangle appears complete

26

26. Chinese Consulate                    I Artist: Kevin Draper

Detail of a metal screen commissioned for the new Chinese Consulate in East Perth. 

The artist used traditional configuration of bamboo from original Chinese drawings.

27

Red Surveyor - Removed     

June 2020 confirmed “does not longer exist”