The Cook Shire Council’s Welcome Wall Barra Community Public Art Project, in Far North Queensland, has been a resounding success.
Around 200 community members and artists, from as far north as Coen, west to Lakeland and south to Wujal Wujal, are to thank for Barra’s painted scales.
Artists were commissioned for the design and crafting of the head, tail and fin pieces.
Over 100 people attended the official opening on August 24th. The Hon. Warren Entsch MP, Mr. David Kempton MP, Cook Shire Mayor Peter Scott, and Project Manager Waratah Nicholls, all praised the project.
Mr Entsch encouraged the community to continue creating public art for Cook Shire, saying that the Welcome Wall Barra was an amazing collaborative feature that would become a stand-alone attraction for Cooktown.
The final piece of this project is a smaller installation of 12 scales being painted by the 12 organisations that formed the original Cooktown Events Centre focus group. This separate artwork will feature alongside Barra on the Welcome Wall.
The project was made possible by the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, which gives all Australians, wherever they live, better access to opportunities to practice and experience the arts. Funding was also received from the Regional Arts Development Fund.
