“An Artistic Development”
Uninews, March 2002, p17. (journal)

A group of postgraduate Fine Art students has been helping to design features of a unique Lake Macquarie property development, Pambulong Forest.

The six artists, who work in a range of different media, have been consulting with developers on the creation of public and community art features to enhance the environment of Pambulong Forest.

More than 2500 homes may be established on the 110-hectare site, which is set in bushland between West Wallsend and Edgeworth. The art project arose from a conference late 2000 between Pambulong representatives and Head of the School of Fine Art Professor Anne Graham.

Master of Fine Art student and project coordinator Caroline Hale said the group had produced a portfolio of designs for use at Pambulong that could be used for fencing, street lamps, signage, playground and park features.

“It was a bit confusing looking at the undeveloped site and trying to design for an urban setting, but the process was really good and the developers were most amenable to our suggestions,” she said. “Some of the designs were fabulous and a few of them are going ahead.”

Caroline has designed sculptures that can be used as dividers and fencing material.

Pambulong Forest project officer Roy Haggis says the design of the new suburb has evolved from a best practice study that examined a number of prize-winning schemes throughout Australia.

“Pambulong blends bushland into the urban environment by preserving a forest border around each residential precinct,” he said. “Residential streets are designed as shareways with narrow road pavements favouring pedestrians over cars and vehicle speeds kept to 15kph in shareways.”

Roy says the work done by the artists is being developed into a range of generic images to be incorporated into the landscape design. He said that the pavement art and bollard designs were of particular interest, providing subtle identification of pathways and public areas using images derived from local fauna and flora. The bollards double as lamps giving night time direction to key locations such as bus stops and pedestrian crossings.

“Art creates a distinctive character and identity in the locality while creating special places for enjoyment,” he said. “It engenders pride in the residents and will assist in promoting community spirit.”

Another Masters’ student on the art team, Jenny Brown, designed playground equipment as part of the project. She also praised the approach of the developer, Hammersmith Management Pty Ltd, for involving the artists early in the process rather than inviting them to create ‘plonk art’ to be fitted in the completed landscape.

“The project creates a good link between the University study environment and the real world of professional art,” Jenny said. “We have each received preliminary development fees of $1000 for the work we have done so far.”

Jenny’s playground design will be cast in concrete and replicated 10 times within the Pambulong Forest development and possibly elsewhere in Australia.

“The developers are a huge company with the benefit of national and international marketing at their disposal. We’re keen to develop partnerships with them that are ongoing as you don’t get many people interested in developing art on such a scale that are so well resourced.”

Construction on Pambulong Forest will begin this year and proceed in stages over the next few years. The six artists � Katherine Sullivan, Braddon Snape, Joy Longworth, Jo Chisholm-Ray, Caroline and Jenny began work on the project early last year.