'Solaris', a light artwork by Joshua Webb, is Historic Heart of Perth Inc's latest contribution to the revitalisation of Perth's east end. If you haven't seen it already, it's located at 572 Hay Street, directly opposite the City of Perth Library.
Why light laneways?
At a Historic Heart community action workshop held in March 2019, local residents, small business owners and people working in the area noted that parts of the neighbourhood can feel unsafe after dark - due to the emptying of the city after work hours, along with a lack of well lit spaces which create nooks for antisocial behaviour.
Students at a Historic Heart "Hackathon" event organised by Curtin University in December 2018 had made similar observations - noting that while Perth's east end is home to a growing number of bars and restaurants, there were still stretches of poorly lit space.
While the installation of basic security lighting can impact on safety, it does not create a sense of delight. Through the installation of light artwork, Historic Heart hopes to create both a sense of delight and a safer, more walkable neighbourhood for everyone.
Award for 125 Murray Street
Congratulations to COX Architecture on the Ross Chisolm and Gil Nicol Award for Commercial Architecture at the Australian Institute of Architects (WA Chapter) Awards on Friday 26 June 2020.
Historic Heart is very proud to be a small part of this project, collaborating with Cox Architecture and the building owner on the laneway artwork created by Jurek Wybraniec.
Judges' comments: "125 Murray makes a notable contribution to the revitalisation of the east end of Perth’s CBD, promoting a permeable city fabric and delivering public and commercial amenity."
New Art for the Historic Heart
Historic Heart of Perth Inc's first project saw 65 planter boxes and benches installed across Perth's east end in October 2017. This October we installed an additional 40 planter boxes - bigger and brighter than stage one - taking the total to over 100, and increasing the impact on the streets of the Historic Heart of Perth.
The planter boxes are a patina of what's West Australian - painted by West Australian artists and planted with West Australian native plants. Further details are provided below.
The aim is to signify new energy and change in the neighbourhood. The painted surfaces of the planter boxes and benches act as street level visual activation. Clustering the planter boxes into groups for particular artists ensures a rhythmic pattern of visuals that create sight-lines and art pathways within the Historic Heart neighbourhood.
Thank you to the City of Perth for providing Historic Heart of Perth Inc with a grant to make this project possible. The grant was matched by local property and business owners, and Perth based companies.
"Perth's most classy pub crawl? Historic Heart ups the ante with new addition." WA Today
Download our free Historic Heart of Perth app
“A not-for-profit with the mission of revitalising Perth’s East End through street art and tourism initiatives has just added a new offering to its app: the Pub Walk.
Launched in 2015, Historic Heart has obtained large state and local government grants to commission street art and install planters as well as create the free app cataloguing the assets of the area, with an architecture walk, art walk, coffee trail, museum walk, stadium walk and now bar walk.”
Emma Young, WA Today, 22 July 2019
Download the app directly from the App Store or Google Play by searching 'Historic Heart of Perth'.
Heritage Perth Weekend 2018
Historic Heart is pleased to be taking part in the Heritage Perth Weekend this weekend, 21 and 22 October 2018, with 3 free guided walks for the public:
Architecture Walk hosted by heritage expert Richard Offen on Saturday 21 October 2018
Architecture Walk hosted by Heritage Architect Philip Griffiths on Sunday 22 October 2018
Art Walk hosted by art curator Felicity Johnston on Sunday 22 October 2018
For further details, and to book a walk, visit the Heritage Perth website:
Historic Heart receives city of perth funding
Helen Shield, The West Australian, 3 October 2018
Another milestone for the Historic Heart Project with City of Perth commissioners approving $300,000 in matched funding support to Historic Heart of Perth Inc for stage two of our art and landscape revitalisation initiative in the city's east end.
City of Perth chair commissioner Eric Lumsden said the city would work with Historic Heart with the aim of creating a well-designed city space for all people.
“The City of Perth’s strategic vision is focused on revitalising urban spaces, such as the east end, that celebrate the city’s natural and built form,” he said.
“Historic Heart is a well established community group with evidence of high-quality outcomes, as shown through the positive impact of stage one.”
The Stage 1 program included installing planter boxes designed by Eekos Architecture and fabricated and installed by East Perth based Respoke.
These were planted with native wildflowers, selected by gardening expert Sabrina Hahn, and maintained by Green World Revolution, a not-for-profit enterprise that has created two jobs for people previously unemployed.
The artwork, including laneway murals by contemporary artists, was co-ordinated by art curator Margaret Moore, with urban design input from architect Sharni Howe.
Read the story via the following link:
Historic Heart APP Launch on 9 News Perth
9 News Perth, Saturday 1 September 2018
In case you missed it ... Historic Heart on 9 News Perth last night. Meet two of our virtual tour guides and find out how our new App works. Watch the story via the 9 News Perth Facebook page - link below:
www.facebook.com/9NewsPerth/videos/
Our Historic Heart of Perth App is free to download from our website now.
