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Artists worked directly with local residents to create this site-specific public artwork.
Artist: Youth and Family Connect
“The Woolloomooloo community view the mural as an acknowledgement of local history as well as a project they have been deeply involved in.”
– Rosano Snooze
Artwork description
Woolloomooloo is home to a broad variety of residents. An established Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, high income professionals and public housing tenants all call the suburb home.
Youth and Family Connect held a series of community consultation sessions where the community participated in the initial ideas and design process. Participants from 7 to 75 years of age engaged in the process, reflecting the unique and diverse demographic of this tight knit community.
The foreground characters in the mural represent the multicultural community and locally supported NRL teams, the Rabbitohs and the Roosters. Starting with Aboriginal people, the images reveal a loose lineal representation of the waves of immigrants who have settled in the area.
The background elements feature St Mary’s Cathedral and the Art Gallery of NSW, the southern and northern most points of Woolloomooloo. These icons of Sydney’s sandstone foundation are supported by images important to the local community. These include a 1950s Italian fishing boat, a Sydney Harbour mullet, the city skyline, a fruit bat, Woolloomooloo Bay, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House and a representation of the Aboriginal flag.
Artists
Youth and Family Connect is a not-for-profit registered charity operating in Woolloomooloo. The group organises community cultural arts and sporting events, and provides food to those in need. Connecting kids, youth and families with other community service providers, the group is committed to alleviating poverty.
The team included Rosano Snooze, Mikey Freedom and Matthew Mistery. All team members have a long history in street art stretching back to the mid 1980s.
Snooze is the founder of Woolloomoolivin’, a yearly festival of urban arts and culture.
