Public & street art
Art installations in the streets of Randwick City
Wander the streets and discover colourful artworks celebrating the culture and history of Randwick City. From monuments to murals, memorials and modern quirky sculptures.
ArtMoves
The footpaths of Kensington and Kingsford have undergone some drastic changes as part of Randwick Council and Transport for NSW’s ArtMoves public art program. Seven nationally and internationally acclaimed artists were selected to create unique artworks at five locations along Anzac Parade.
The result is a sculpture walk that encourages people to look up, down and all around as they take in the vibrant and playful expressions of art that have injected life into under-appreciated areas.
There’s the gramophone that amplifies sound and murals that pay homage to local legends on Southern Cross Close, the trippy park bench on Duke St and of course expressive paintwork and pandas on Borrodale Rd in Kingsford.
Local history walks
Discover the heritage and history of our city with a local history walk.
Randwick City Art Deco History Walks
Art Deco was a reaction to the organic and flowing forms of the Art Nouveau period and was characterised by a clean and minimalist style which encompassed everything from fashion and decorative arts to interior design and architecture.
Popular in the 1920s to 40s, Art Deco architecture contrasted starkly with the more ornate Victorian and Federation periods. Art Deco had a pure, no nonsense simplicity, and an uncluttered design style and has a timelessness which makes it still one of the most popular periods of design and architecture in our history. Art Deco pieces remain highly collectable.
As in greater Sydney, the 1920s-1940s saw an explosion of residential building activity in Randwick and Coogee, catering for the boom in population between the wars. Many of the blocks of flats (Gower-Galtees in Coogee Bay Road), shops (Belmore Road in Randwick) and public buildings of this era (Randwick Ritz Cinema), are examples of the Art Deco style. Art Deco architecture and objects reflected a time of unprecedented change in the world and its clean, geometric design was appealing to many in a world that would continue to rapidly change.
As part of our 2013 Picture Perfect Art Deco exhibition by our Local History librarians, we've produced two self-guided walking tours of Coogee and Randwick showcasing some of the beautiful architecture which dots the area. Click on the links below to download them to your phone or print them out for your own tour.