December 2017

North Sydney St Peter’s Park Sculpture

ARTIST BRIEF

1. INTRODUCTION The commission has been initiated by North Sydney Council (NSC) as part of their vision to shape a progressive, diverse and vibrant North Sydney community. In 2015 North Sydney Council developed a Public Art Trail identifying 18 sites of cultural significance including historical landmarks and public artworks located in Kirribilli, Milsons Point, Lavender Bay and North Sydney. This commission addresses Site 6 on the Trail at 209 Blues Point Road, North Sydney. A Site Plan and “envelope” indicating the expected dimensions of the artwork are provided on page 3. To accompany the Trail a self guided digital walking tour was compiled and is available as a free App. The NORTHARTS App can be downloaded on all digital devices. NSC Public Art Trail aims to foster the creation of high quality public art in North Sydney, ensuring a commitment to excellence, innovation and diversity, enhancing and enriching the visual appearance, sense of civic identity and liveability of North Sydney and its environs. It is designed to promote, emphasise and complement the desirable aspects, intrinsically unique qualities and ambient sense of place of North Sydney's public spaces. The Trail encourages the inclusion of art and artists as a valuable and implicit part of North Sydney's civic planning, design and development processes, and those of its commercial and business sector.

2. CONTEXT & AUDIENCE

The North Sydney Local Government Area is located on the northern side of Sydney Harbour, and covers approximately 10 square kilometres. It is both urban and green in character, comprising two Central Business Districts (CBDs), smaller suburban centres, residential areas, parks and open spaces as well as harbour frontage. The North Sydney Centre, the location for the commission, is Sydney's second largest central business district, home to a diverse range of commercial activities, including service,

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property, media, telecommunications and financial organisations. The CBD currently supports an estimated 60,400 jobs (GSC 2016) and is set to grow with the approval of $2.5 billion of commercial and mixed use development in the last five years. It is also home to a rapidly expanding residential population and with the recent and upcoming delivery of both commercial development and apartments in North Sydney, this suggests the centre is moving towards more of a 24-hour economy that provides greater amenity for workers, residents and visitors through increased demand for eating, drinking and other recreation options. The Metro Rail project is set to further transform North Sydney. When operational in 2024, it will connect North Sydney to major employment centres at Barrangaroo and Norwest Business Park, providing quicker connections to the Sydney CBD, Macquarie Park and Macquarie University. The main driver of demographic change in the North Shore CBD is the increasing appeal of the area to young adults seeking inner city accommodation close to employment and entertainment, with 27% of North Sydney’s residential population aged 25-34 years. Some 62% of the area’s residents hold tertiary qualifications, providing a ready workforce for leading organisations wishing to base themselves in North Sydney.

3. ARTWORK SITE HISTORY The History of St Peter’s Park Setting St Peter’s Park was opened in 1984 on land created by the closure of Miller Street in 1982, and on land created by the closure of Miller Street in 1892, and property gifted by the Presbyterian Church. It sits, therefore, at what was the angled intersection of Miller Street and Blues Point Road. St Peter’s Park is a small tiered reserve with views directly south east to the Sydney Harbour. The green copper spire of St Francis Xavier’s Church can be easily seen just to the east of this. It creates an interesting dialogue with St Peter’s spire above the park. The prominent landscape architect Harry Howard, co-founder of the Sydney Bush School of landscape architecture and designer of Sawmiller Reserve, was invited to submit plans for the park. It is not clear how much, if at all, the existing design reflects Howard’s input. The absence of native plantings is atypical of Howard. The ashlar sandstone blocks that create the curved upper terrace are almost certainly reused from street kerbs and gutters. The history of the park is related to two important themes in North Sydney history; the construction of roads and the role of churches. Roads Blues Point Road was gazetted in 1838 as the first road in the area then called St Leonards, also gazetted in that year. Its course along the spine of a ridge suggests it followed an existing Aboriginal track. The road’s name simply reflected its harbour terminus, Blues Point. In 1871

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the whole of the peninsula was gazetted as the Borough of Victoria, a breakaway from the Borough of St Leonards which had been created in 1867. At various times Blues Point Road has been called St Leonards Road and, somewhat misleadingly, Lane Cove Road because of its ultimate connection to that major northern thoroughfare, now the Pacific Highway. Blues Point itself takes its name from Billy Blue, whose 1817 land grant extended up to Lavender Street. For many years Blues Point Road was the area’s main thoroughfare delivering people to and from the passenger and horse ferry wharf. Henry Lawson knew it well in the first decade of the 20th century when he lived in William Street, the junction of which with Blues Point Road perfectly mirrors that of Blues Point Road and Miller Street. Lawson thought the steepness of the road from Blues Point particularly cruel for the horses pulling their loads up from the ferry. Lawson’s poem ‘Black Bonnet’, which makes reference to an elderly parishioner heading up the hill to St Peter’s Church, was probably written while he was living in William Street. A seat was placed at the corner of William and Blues Point Road in honour of Lawson in the late 1960s. Miller Street is named after William Miller, the Assistant Commissary-General of Government Provisions. Miller owned land to the west, adjacent to Blue’s property. As a straight north-south thoroughfare, Miller Street is part of the central grid network of streets laid out for St Leonards between Port Jackson and Middle Harbour by the 1860s. Blues Point Road, by contrast, takes a more organic course along the ridge. The angle of intersection, and location of St Peter’s Park, is a result of these two contrasting layouts and topographic consideration. In the 1970s North Sydney Council started to close roads in an effort to negate the impact of growing traffic flows in local streets. The road closures were controversial and resulted in one contested case being heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The Court found in favour of Council’s right to close local roads and the policy was pursued by Mayors Carole Baker and Ted Mack through the 1970s and 1980s, despite opposition from other councillors. The closure of Miller Street in 1982 is an example of this traffic strategy. In many instances pocket parks were created at the point of closure. Not all were dedicated as park space. St Peter’s Park, however, was dedicated as a formal park after an initial trial period in 1984. Churches The park was so-named because of its proximity to St Peters Church and the gifting of land at the junction of Blues Point Road and Miller by the Presbyterian church for the purpose of creating the park in 1984. The Presbyterian Church had been granted two blocks of land in St Leonards in 1844 and 1849 respectively. The first piece was the triangular shaped land between Blues Point Road and Miller Street. The second the triangular shaped block on the other side of Blues Point Road bounded by William Street. The church first built a school on the southern end of the 1844 block, and a church on the higher block. Then the population of the entire lower north shore was perhaps 500 people. The first phase of St Peter’s Church was completed overlooking the junction of Blues Point Road and Miller Street in 1866. The architect is not known but the builders were local stonemasons William and Andrew Eaton. The building was enlarged several times in 1870, the 1880s and 1905-1906. St Peters was followed by the Anglican Christ Church in 1872 and the Catholic St Francis Xavier Church in 1881. The completion of three churches in close succession and proximity reflected

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the growth in the local population, further anticipated growth and the concentration of the people near the harbour. Christ Church was never completed with its intended spire but St Francis Xavier spired Church, designed by William Wardell the architect of St Mary’s Cathedral, is a clear response to the earlier Presbyterian building. These three major denominations, along with the Congregationalist and Methodist Churches, vied for the souls of the rapidly growing north shore population. By 1901 North Sydney’s 22,000 residents were served by at least 10 churches. In the 1880s the Presbyterian Church built two sets of terraces along Blues Point Road as a means of ensuring future income. These survive today to the south of the Park. They are a restrained late Georgian design rather than the more flamboyant Italianate Filligree style that came to dominate Sydney’s terrace buildings. The buildings originally had awnings and some may have been commercial premises on the ground floor. St Peter’s Presbyterian Church survives today as the oldest church in North Sydney. Please see appendix for historical images.

4. ARTWORK OBJECTIVES

The intention is to commission an eye catching sculptural work of scale and height which acts as a landmark at St Peter’s Park.

The artwork concept should aim to make the invisible, visible, bringing to life the stories and narratives of the site/area in a way that expresses its unique history.

The artwork will be a significant addition to the existing collection of public artworks in North Sydney and be included within the North Sydney Public Art Trail, which aims to become a key cultural tourism project for NSC.

The artwork should:

Provide a visual focal point for motorists and pedestrians

Visually communicate and honour the significant history of the site

Provide a unique sense of place distinct to North Sydney's CBD Naturally, the artwork is to be designed specifically for its context and addressing the scale, context and design language of the area. The artwork is to be a contemporary in nature, innovative and create a unique aesthetic signature to the surrounding area. The long term success of the artwork rests on its ability to creatively interpret the identity of its place and people and the integration of the artwork within its site.

5. SITE PLAN & IMAGES [Extracted from the North Sydney Public Art Trail Masterplan 2017]

6. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS The following design considerations and constraints are important in developing the artwork concept:

Complement the visual language of the surrounding area

Consider public safety, risk and the public’s use of and access to the public space

Consider low maintenance and high durability requirements

7. PROJECT BUDGET A budget of $100,000 +GST is being offered to the artist for supply of the artwork. The artist will be responsible for covering all costs in relation to producing their finished artwork. This includes but is not limited to costs such as insurance, materials, lighting, fabrication, engineering, specialist contractors, transport, installation, risk and traffic management plans. A budget breakdown will be requested from shortlisted artists as part of the Stage 2 tender submission materials.

8. PROJECT TIMEFRAME The following timeframe is proposed:

Stage/Description Completion

Artist EOI Submissions Due 25 January 2018

Artists Shortlisted 9 February 2018

Design Development 30 March 2018

Final Artist Selection 6 April 2018

Council Approval tbc

Artist Contracted 27 April 2018

Public Exhibition of concept 11 May 2018

Completion of Artwork fabrication an and PCA approval

August 2018

Artwork Installation September 2018

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9. SELECTION PROCESS Selection for this project is a three stage process as follows: 1. Expression of Interest This Expression of Interest represents the first stage of the selection process. To register your interest please refer to the submission proposal materials outlined in item 10. Please note a concept proposal is not required at this stage and no fees will be paid to artists for submitting an expression of interest. 2. Shortlisted Artists All shortlisted artists will be required to submit a formal tender submission, including artwork concepts, detailed budget, methodology, timelines, materials, dimensions, installation procedures and maintenance guidelines. All short-listed artists will be required to present their concept in person to the selection panel. Selection of the successful artwork concept will be based on the following criteria:

Artistic vision, quality and originality

Impact of the concept and its ability to capture the audience

Suitability to context and response to the site A concept proposal fee of $2000 + GST will be paid to unsuccessful shortlisted artists. NSC reserves the right to accept or reject any submission. No correspondence will be entered into regarding an unsuccessful submission. 3. Artist Commission The commission will be awarded to one artist/artist team. An artwork commissioning agreement will be provided by NSC to the artist for the design, fabrication and installation of the artwork.

10. INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN THE ARTIST PROPOSAL To submit an expression of interest for this commission, artists are requested to provide the following information and materials in hard copy and digital format:

1. Artist contact details including address, email and phone/moblie 2. Written response to the brief (max 500 words) 3. Current CV detailing public art commissions, awards, exhibitions (max 3 A4 pages) 4. Up to 10 high resolution digital images of previous/relevant public artworks

A limited number of artists (maximum of 5) will be shortlisted and invited to tender for the commission. Artists will be shortlisted based on the following criteria:

Demonstrated understanding of the project and the desired outcomes

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Experience in the design, construction and installation of high quality public artworks

Innovation and originality shown in the artist’s previous artworks

Demonstrated capacity to work within the project timelines and budget

The selection panel's decision is final and no communications will be entered into regarding an unsuccessful EOI submission. Unsuccessful artists will be advised by email. Please note expression of interest materials will not be returned, please do not submit original documents.

Artist's Expression of Interest submissions should be delivered by 4pm Thursday 25 January to: BY POST: North Sydney St Peter’s Park Sculpture EOI PO BOX 12 North Sydney NSW 2059 DX10587 IN PERSON: 200 Miller Street North Sydney NSW 2060

11. COPYRIGHT AND OWNERSHIP The Artist retains all copyright in relation to their artwork proposal and their proposal may not be reproduced by any party without the Artist’s written permission. The artist will be acknowledged in any public display or promotional material that refers to their artwork.

12. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS The artist shall not make or authorize a public statement relating to their proposal or the project or any other matter related to the project without prior written approval.

13. FURTHER INFORMATION The artist may direct questions with respect to this brief to: Alison Clark Team Leader Arts and Culture North Sydney Council Phone: (02) 9936 8100 Email: alison.clark@northsydney.nsw.gov.au

14. RELEVANT LINKS www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/publicart www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/Council_Meetings/Policies_Plans www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/heritagedatabases www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/communityprofiles

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APPENDIX Historical images

This 1890s block plan map shows approximately the area of Miller Street and the adjoining church property that became St Peter’s Park.

The site of the present day St Peter’s Park can be seen in this 1875 photograph as open land in front of St Peter’s Church. Blues Point Road is just visible. Lower Miller Street is not evident. Much of the forest has been cleared, leaving only low shrub and heath. The sandstone for all the stone buildings in the photograph was probably quarried locally.

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This 1876 photograph shows the long steep Blues Point Road from near St Peter’s Church.

This 1895 photograph shows the spatial relationship of the church spires circled in yellow. St Peter’s is on the left, St Francis Xavier’s can be seen on the right. Its spire was never completed. The two sets of terraces built by the Presbyterian Church can be seen circled to the right. They survive, adjoining the Park.