Participants of the Muswellbrook Art Hunt will be challenged to respond to a series of questions that will in-turn reveal information about each site, before continuing on the Hunt!
On completion of the Hunt, participants young and young-at-heart can collect a Muswellbrook Art Detective badge from the Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre during opening hours – part of the gallery’s Discovering Art programs.
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Positioned at the Southern gateway to the Muswellbrook town centre and cultural precinct, the Muswellbrook Railway Underpass installation incorporates into its design natural features of significance to the local area including river systems – Hunter River and Muscle Creek; mountain ranges – Barrington Tops and Wollemi National Park; along with the silhouettes of fauna commonly found in the Muswellbrook Shire.
The Town Hall Mural once covered the entry to the Muswellbrook Town Hall. The mural was based on an original concept drawing by Newcastle artist David Scott and incorporated photographs taken across the Shire ahead of the project, images supplied by residents, along with newspaper archives. Under the direction of Newcastle mural artist Birgitte Hansen-Chawner, over 70 local volunteers were involved in painting the mural.
Redevelopment of the Town Hall site to make way for the current design of the Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre took place in 1999-2000 and saw the removal of the majority of the Town Hall Mural. On a pillar of the gallery, the face of an unnamed Miner, an image drawn from the archives of local newspaper the Muswellbrook Chronicle, stands as a remnant of the original Town Hall Mural.
On October 31, 1917, a daring surprise attack by the 4th and 12th Australian Light Horse Regiments on the strategically significant town of Beersheba is remembered as Australia’s first great World War I victory and history’s last great cavalry charge. Commencing at dusk, the riders, armed with bayonets, stormed through the Turkish defences seizing the town.
Many of the horses involved in the battle were bred in the Upper Hunter Region, the area having a long and rich heritage for breeding horses. Over the Top commemorates a centenary of the Battle of Beersheba, capturing the adrenaline of the rider, whilst also evoking a sense of empathy for the horses.
The original monument of ‘Bluey’ or ‘Hunter’, as he was affectionately known, was erected in 2001. A more permanent iteration of the larger-than-life Australian Cattle Dog was commissioned and installed in 2016. Big Blue is a two-metre high, half metric tonne bronze statue by sculptor Brett Garling, in recognition of the cattle dog’s contribution to Australian rural life and the development of the ‘Blue Heeler’ in the Upper Hunter Region.
The tower of Campbell’s Corner features a stained-glass panel on each of its four sides, the centrepiece of which is the Diuris tricolor, commonly known as the Pine Donkey Orchid, a species of orchid endemic to New South Wales.
The orchid has up to three grass-like leaves and up to six yellow to orange coloured flowers, speckled with red to purple and white markings. Muswellbrook Shire Council’s corporate symbol was inspired by the ‘Muswellbrook Orchid’, with the Muswellbrook population of Diuris tricolor having particularly large flowers relative to other populations of the species, capturing the vibrant diversity of the Shire.
The Australian Cattle Dog, also known as the Blue Heeler, was initially bred by Thomas Hall at Dartbrook, 12 kilometres north of Muswellbrook. Hall saw the need for a breed of dog to assist in the management of cattle on his expansive pastoral holdings throughout the Upper Hunter Region. Cattle roamed free on large unfenced stations, being mustered only once or twice a year.
In the 1840’s Thomas Hall established the line of ‘Heelers’ by crossing native dingo with the Northumberland Blue Merle Drover’s dog. The aim was to produce an ideal dog able to withstand heat, take long treks, work quietly and be effective in the round-up of wild bush cattle.
The Australian Cattle Dog is now a registered breed, known and loved world-wide, not only as a hard and intelligent worker, but also as a loyal and gentle mate.
To commemorate the ANZAC Centenary 2014-2018, 2015 Artist in Residence, international sculptor Ben Dearnley, sculptured a 1.2 tonne block of local sandstone in the grove outside the Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre.
Ben invited the people of Muswellbrook to participate in the public art project, guiding participants to make their mark in the main body of the stone. Marks made by participants include the initials of family members who served, along with ANZAC inspired symbols – a poppy, a service medal, a letter home to a mother, to mention just a few.
Above these marks Ben carved a replica of a ‘Brodie’ steel helmet worn by servicemen of the Australian Imperial Forces from the First World War. This iconic shape is placed in the stone as if left there by a passing soldier. The work brings together the present community and stands as a powerful reminder of the ANZAC forces’ commitment to our country over the past century.
Muswellbrook Mosaic was the product of a youth project initiated by Upper Hunter Community Services. Children were invited to draw illustrations of the local area that were then interpreted by Muswellbrook artist Leanne Ward who developed the final design and completed the mural with the assistance of the children and their caregivers. The design comprises animals, industry and streetscape familiar to the Muswellbrook area.
One such place included in the design is the Muswellbrook Uniting Church in Bridge Street, home of the Red Door Community Kitchen, a community partnership across multiple organisations and businesses that offers a warm meal and a chat to all who enter through the distinctive red door.
The Dropped Ice-cream is an interactive public artwork and innovative playground design, intended to encourage imaginative, active play and evoke the carefree image and mood of children playing on a warm day where the fun becomes more important than the ice-cream!
To create a unique but inclusive artwork, local Aboriginal artist George Anderson spent many hours with Elders from the Upper Hunter, gathering stories and feelings about the local history of Aboriginal and European contact in the valley. George’s final design combines story telling with symbols drawn from Aboriginal iconography.
In 2001, the Muswellbrook Shire Council Document for Reconciliation was signed by representatives of the local Aboriginal community and the Council. As part of the signing ceremony community members, Elders, and dignitaries laid their painted hands upon sections of the mural as a symbol of their support for the reconciliation process. Reconciliation is shown in the mural to be an ongoing process which has just begun, a signpost to a future in which black and white are as one, sharing Australia and its unique heritage.
Participants young and young-at-heart can collect a Muswellbrook Art Detective badge from the Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre during opening hours.
To be eligible to be awarded a Muswellbrook Art Detective badge, submit your Hunt by entering your details below or alternatively opt out.
Don’t forget to share your Hunt snapshots using the hashtag #muswellbrookarthunt
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