Council, at its February meeting, endorsed the volunteers who formed a Design Group to lead the design process of the water tower artwork. The proposed design from the artist has been created based on the reference material received from Design Group in line with Council's 2017 Public Art Strategy theme based on Hay’s ANZAC WWII military history.

Portraits of the service men and women are included on the Water Tower art design includes portraits of local people who served in theSecond World War: Private William ‘George’ Cannon, Corporal Cliff Farlow and Norman Flack, Lorna Whyte representing service women, Victor George Murray representing indigenous service men.  These service people were chosen for their connection to Hay and their stories.

The portraits are positioned for maximum impact, the eyes sit at different levels which is designed to undulate the viewers’ attention up and down, across the piece as not to appear static.  Having a combination of eyes staring straight out will connect with the viewer from various viewpoints, and by depicting eyes staring straight out to the East, it connects the North side with the Eastside where the artwork continues with Corporate Cliff Farlow on the raft.   

The artist believes including action scene amidst the portraits, it makes the artwork more dynamic, offering context and difference, which will encourage audience intrigue and hopefully spark conversation. 

The colour slashes select by the artist connect the two sides by wrapping around the cylinder and splashing across both towers for one cohesive artwork.

The artist may need to make adjustments as required to the design during the process of painting to create major impact from the artwork.

The proposed design was presented to Council at its July meeting and was endorsed to be placed on public exhibition for two weeks.

We acknowledge that some may see the artwork as controversial and the discussion is welcomed by Council.

The final design for Hay’s water tower art project is expected to be tabled for approval at Council’s next meeting on August 25, with painting to commence in September, subject to COVID travel restrictions.

Due to the artist being based in Melbourne, completion date for the project has been extended to December 31.

Council will receive comments up until 4pm Monday 17 August via written or email correspondence or handed at reception.

Email: mail@hay.nsw.gov.au