Lucia's art work

Lucia says:
"Parks are the only real open-access areas where it is OK to stop and hang out, bringing noisy children and pets, eat messy food, become lost in deep thought and nap and, if one is so inclined, do cartwheels and stand on one's head. Thus, they are not just oxygen producing environmental havens for plants and those hardy animals that share the city with us, nor are they just pleasant places to inhabit, they are important breathers for the mind and soul within the urban landscape.

"This piece explores the different uses and users of this park and is a tribute to Prince Alfred Park as one of Sydney's earliest green spaces. Bourke Street Public School Year 2-3 class worked with me to make the fabulous spinning thought wheels - thank you Bourke Street Public."

Lucia Scurrah is driven by twin passions for textiles and environments. Her work explores the relationships between human forms, interaction and space. It can be quirky, colourful, ironic and performative. Lucia lives and works in Sydney, though some folky Latina influences come from a childhood in Peru.

Meet Lucia

Meet Lucia Scurrah, one of the artists who has worked on the Oh Alfred Project. Tomorrow I will show you Lucia's completed work.

Basketball

Very New York! Shooting baskets in Prince Alfred Park.

Tennis courts - before, during and after.

The tennis courts in Prince Alfred Park - before, during and after renewal. I rather liked the charming, almost bucolic look in the "before" shot, but the facilities really did need an upgrade.

Ice skating, Prince Alfred Park

In 1959, a swimming pool and ice skating rink opened in Prince Alfred Park. The rink was demolished in 1993. I remmeber seeing Torvill and Dean skate there. As part of 2010 Art and About, the Oh Alfred project is decorating the fence around the park while renovations to the park are taking place.

Artists Tealia Scott says of her work: "The project has evolved to represent a silt catchment or stormwater fence, a filter catching memories of ice-skating and Alfred park. The collected plastics, industrial waste and textiles are stitched up in the gridlock of cyclone fence. Materials have been salvaged from dumpsters and building sites across the city."

Here's a terrific aerial picture of the pool and skating rink under cover, from the 1980s.

Nookie

Reportedly the smallest cafe shop in Sydney.
Read more here.
Of course, there's a facebook page.

Remaking Prince Alfred Park

New turf is being laid. The grass in a classic park like this is very inviting to sit or lie on. I have sat in the sun in this park, on the grass, and idled away time in a very pleasant way.

Bounce!

23 September: Spring Equinox.
An interesting name for a hotel. The southern edge of the city is home to many of the city's budget hotels and backpackers' hostels. This hotel is in Chalmers St, across from Central Station and Prince Alfred Park. In the spirit of the current theme of spring and renewal, here is another example of renewal - an old building finding new life. The facade would not be out of place in Europe. Here's what it looked like when Google Maps drove past:


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Spring azaleas

Nothing says springtime to me quite like banks of azaleas. Unless it's jasmine, or.....

Spring leaf

The new leaves of spring look fresh and green. Sydney is abundantly planted with the species London Plane (Platanus x hybrida). It tolerates pollution, neglect, vandalism and poor soils and in return it provides plenty of summer shade and in winter a deciduous canopy that allows the sun through. Some people experience allergic reactions to their pollen and fibres in September. Luckily, I don't and I love them!

Spring sunshine

This was taken last friday, a deliciously warm early spring day. People enjoying lunchtime in Centennial Plaza, Surry Hills.

Walk the pony

This is not a good photo - snapped on my phone as I drove past, all out of focus. But it's the subject matter.....along an ordinary suburban street in Daceyville, a family takes their dpg for a walk - and the pony!

Meet Jess, curator of Oh Alfred!

Jess Cook is the curator of Oh Alfred! and founder of art group Token Imagination. I walked around the Chalmers St and Cleveland St borders of Prince Alfred Park, met Jess, and stopped to talk for a while.

You can read here what Jess has to say, and see more about Oh Alfred here.

Prince Alfred Park - more

This weaving includes a "spider web" linking the tree and fence. You can just see the swimming pool behind....it is being renovated as part of the work in the park. The really ugly brown tower beyond is the University of Technology.

Weaving, Prince Alfred Park

Prince Alfred Park in Surry Hills is undergoing a major renovation, including rebuilding the swimming pool. As part of Art and About Sydney 2010, weavers are decorating the fence around the works in a project named Oh Alfred! More info here.

Readers Digest Building, Surry Hills

Built 1967. Architect : John James. Described as "modern gothic".

Facade, Surry Hills

South Head Signal Station

The lookout was established on 20 January 1790 by Captain John Hunter of H.M.S. Sirius, flagship of the First Fleet to signal the colony of Sydney Cove of any vessels arriving off the port.

A flagstaff and timber huts were placed on site for crew members of the Sirius, who were placed in charge.

The present ston ebuilding was designed by colonial architect, Mortimer Lewis and erected by convict labour in about 1840 to replace the wooden huts.

The station is now staffed by members of the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard.

See and read more here, at Louise's blog : 52 suburbs.

Equal Pay Day

September 4 is Equal Pay Day . This date represents the number of extra days women have to work after the financial year to earn the same as men.

But wasn't this fight won in the 1970s? In the 1970s it became illegal to pay a woman less for doing the same job as a man, so many think women achieved equal pay, but in 2010 Australian women still do not have pay equity.

As of February 2010, the gender pay gap was 18 per cent, an increase of 1.5 per cent from the year before, the highest it has been since 1994.

Women's work is still undervalued in Australian society and this can been seen in female dominated professions. Often these are not as valued as professions dominated by men.

Teaching is a highly feminised profession and continues to be undervalued, but teachers are not the only ones.

For more information on Equal Pay Day and to access resources visit the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) Pay Equity website.

Beer O'Clock

Thank God It's Friday....

The city from Watsons Bay

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

An embankment and some broken up cardboard boxes makes for a great sliding combination. Did you ever do this when you were a kid? Still do?
This is at Dudley Page Reserve, Dover Heights