From Winchelsea’s Dawn and Dusk sculptures to public park mosaics, Aireys Inlet’s community hall mural to playground totem carvings, Surf Coast Shire is home to 279 individual items of public art.

Surf Coast Shire Council is seeking to guide the management and protection of these and future creative assets through the creation of a Public Art Policy.

This is our first ever draft Public Arts Policy. It sets a framework for acquisition, commissioning, care and maintenance of public art, and the protection of artist rights. It will create a unified approach to ensure we can care for our collections.

Background:

‘Creative Places 2023-2031’ is our long term vision for the Arts and Creative Economy. The Strategy identified an audit of public art assets and associated maintenance planning as a priority for Council. We did this last year. It gave us good information about the nature, extent and condition of our public art.

Of our 279 public art items across the Surf Coast Shire, Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPPA) manage about a quarter on their land.

Creative Places 2023-2031 extensively consulted with the arts and creative economy community and included the following action:

To complete an audit, asset management plan and supporting policy documentation to ensure the sustainable activation of public spaces with art.

This draft policy is an outcome of the Creative Places 2023-2031 Strategy.

During the March Council meeting our Council voted to release the draft Policy for community feedback. We will consider the submissions before we present a final version of the Policy to Council for endorsement at a future meeting.

The draft Policy is available in the document library. Please read and let us know what you think via the survey below.

If you would like a hard copy of the survey posted to you, please call 5261 0600. Feedback closes Monday 5 May 2025