New public art featuring plants and wildlife typical to the Georges River area has added a splash of colour on the corner of Dora and MacMahon Streets, opposite the Council Civic Centre in Hurstville.
Georges River Council commissioned artist Mandy Schoene-Salter, a.k.a MAN.De to create the colourful artwork, which celebrates the natural world, and extends to the four car park exhaust stacks at the location.
Visitors can spot beautiful, bright Australian flowers in the artwork, including the Waratah, Banksia, Grevillia and Wattle, and local animals such as the Powerful Owl, Green and Golden Bell Frog, Little Lorikeet and the Grey Headed Flying Fox.
Georges River Council mayor, Kevin Greene said the art forms part of a broader Hurstville City revitalisation program and supports Council's Public Art Policy and Hurstville Place Strategy - Heart of the City.
"I am delighted to unveil this new artwork created by the very talented artist MAN.De as we continue to transform Hurstville into a more liveable and vibrant centre," Councillor Greene said.
"The Hurstville Place Strategy aims to deliver priority projects and key actions to make Hurstville the heart of the city, and installations like this help to develop Hurstville into a destination with a positive reputation for exciting events and activations.
"Council's Public Art Policy enables collaboration with artists to produce high-quality public art, and this is just the beginning of our plan to showcase art and culture in our city.
"I would like to express my thanks to MAN.De for her efforts brightening the streets of Hurstville and creating something that people will be able to appreciate and enjoy for years to come," Cr Greene said..
MAN.De said that she wanted the mural, with its larger than life flora and fauna, to influence and encourage community connections with nature in an urban setting.
"Today, we are more than ever disconnected to our natural world and I wanted to change that by bringing more awareness to the community," she said.
"We have this innate affiliation to nature and when we're surrounded by it, or even viewing scenes of nature, it reduces anger, fear, and stress and increases pleasant feelings.
"Through the mural, I wanted to highlight the importance of the relationship between nature and humans," MAN.De said..
The Hurstville Place Strategy aims to position Hurstville as a key strategic centre in Sydney through economic, cultural and infrastructure improvement projects, creating investment and jobs.
The council's Hurstville Place Strategy includes implementation of a series of innovative short, medium and long-term projects to enhance experiences in the Hurstville's busy food and retail precincts, and encourage visitation to the area.
An expression of interest was created by Council to seek design proposals for the mural earlier in the year.
Mandy Schoene-Salter is an interdisciplinary artist working in urban art, photography and community art.
Her work encompasses large-scale murals and paste-up as well as well as installations and smaller-scale works on found materials and canvas.
