Art on the Marion Coast
The Marion Coast Park features some exciting public and community art, which is well worth a visit.
For further information about the artwork, download the Brochure (1.8mb) or the
Map indicating recommended walks (800kb)




A major public artwork commissioned by Marion Council (pictured above) can be seen at Marino Esplanade.

Titled Contemplation, it was created by artist and former Marion resident Marijana Tadic, and launched in February 2006. The artwork takes the form of a ‘rocked boat’ and marks the northern gateway to the Marion Coast Park.

Inspired by local geology, culture and natural environment, it provides a place for people to visit, explore, reflect or sit and watch the sun go down. The design shows the 'fossilised' hull of a 10m long boat, a 7m high mast and deck. The mast features celestial patterns in reference to the way that nations navigate the globe, and represents the meeting of cultures.

The budget for fabrication and installation was $98,000, funded by State government through Planning SA. The design phase was supported by $10,000 from Arts SA.

“I walk along the beach each day with a friend. It will be nice to sit and watch seals, dolphins and the occasional whale. This is a special place and the artwork will reinforce that feeling.” - Local resident Victoria Hall.



Coastal signage and community arts
The Marino public artwork is an important element of the Marion Coast Park Interpretive Project.


Coastal and marine interpretive signage has also been developed as part of this project. Community artist, Barbary O’Brien worked with local schools, residents groups and members of the Kaurna Aboriginal community to develop the designs.

Thirty three large 'art signs' in the shape of dolphins, fish, crabs and traditional Kaurna shields plus 63 smaller aluminium signs and colourful cartoons were produced and have been installed along the Marion Coastal Walking Trail.




Murals

Council has supported the creation of many murals, ranging from aerosol art to more conventional painted scenes. Many have been developed as a collaboration of Council's Cultural Development and Crime Prevention teams. Information on other Crime Prevention activities. The most recent is the Warriparinga Walk mural by a group of young indigenous people, and coordinated by Jimmy C. The mural was designed with input of senior Kaurna people, and incorporates images of land and local culture. It was launched in February, during the Adelaide Fringe. The project was also supported by the Office for the Southern Suburbs. For more information on the Warriparinga Walk mural go to 'Latest news'.

The I-con sculpture
In pride of place in front of Marion Cultural Centre is an eye-catching work called From the Horizon - To the Horizon.

Designed by internationally acclaimed local sculptor Greg Johns, the work is popularly known as the I-con sculpture. It represents the 'I' in the word MARION, the letters of which are woven through structure of the post-modern building.

The 8 metre high dual steel column which relates to both the Australian landscape and the immediate surrounding enviroment.

Warracowie Wells

The Marion Cultural Centre is built on a slight hill where the old Warracowie homestead used to stand. The Warracowie Wells artwork can be found in the paved plaza area. Artist Martin Corbin used salvaged materials from the old homestead to acknowledge the Kaurna and European histories of the site.

The Tjilbruke Gateway

At the entrance to Warriparinga and the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre is the impressive Tjilbruke (or Tjirbruki) Gateway. This ‘forest’ of dead tree trunks was created in 1995 by Margaret Worth and Gavin Malone working with Kaurna artist Sherry Rankine.

It tells the story of the Kaurna ancestral being Tjirbruki. Materials used include coloured sands from the Red Ochre Cove area, morthi (Stringbark) trunks salvaged from plantation timber and other gums felled for the Southern Expressway. No trees were felled specifically for the project.

Circles around the tree trunks symbolise the fresh water springs formed from Tjirbruki's tear drops. The flow patterns on the ground refer to the gully winds for which the area is known, as well as the flow of the river and of life.

The artwork was commissioned by the City of Marion as part of the Local Councils Remember Program, a partnership between the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and the Australian Local Government Association.

To visit, enter off Sturt Road onto Warriparinga Gateway, opposite McInerney Avenue.


Warriparinga Watersculpture
The gleaming steel structure on the corner of Marion and Sturt Roads, Bedford Park is the Warriparinga Wetlands Water Sculpture. It features laser-cut images of Wetlands insects and provides a distinctive 'sign post' for Marion's Warriparinga Wetlands.

Designed by Andrew Stock and John Wood, the work high lights the value and beauty of indigenous insects, and the life-generating significance of water in the Australian landscape.

The project was supported by a grant of $33,000 from the Commonwealth Government's Federation Community Grants Program.

For further information please contact Marg Edgecombe on 8375 6682 during office hours or by email Marg.Edgecombe@marion.sa.gov.au