Located on the lands of Wiradjuri People, the NSW Government is investing $250 million in the Griffith Base Hospital redevelopment, which will provide Griffith and the surrounding communities with state-of-the art health facilities and enhanced health services closer to home.
Due for completion in 2025, the new, purpose-built three story Clinical Services Building has been designed to support contemporary models of care and will house all major health services at the hospital under one roof.
The Cad Factory and Murrumbidgee Local Health District invited artists to submit Expression of Interests to develop artworks for identified locations within the Griffith Base Hospital. The selected artists will create dynamic visual experiences and aim to create a welcoming, culturally safe health service for all who work and seek care at the Hospital.
About the Artwork Commissions
Community Courtyard
The Community Courtyard, with its central shape as the gugaa (goanna), has been designed in consultation with various members of the Aboriginal community including the Land Council and Aboriginal Health Workers. It celebrates the totem of the Wiradjuri Nation.
This courtyard will be accessible via a community lounge/ kitchen area to provide space for various community and cultural needs. The large glass windows that lead from the kitchen to the courtyard have been identified as a location for an artwork in order to give privacy and provide a welcoming environment.
This artwork commission is for a local First Nations artist/s, in collaboration with the Griffith Aboriginal Working Party. The commission will create an artwork to provide privacy, beauty and cultural sharing on the courtyard window via enviro-graphics, sandblasting, metal screen or other appropriate methods.
Yarning Circle
The Yarning Circle is a place for people to gather, talk and reflect. Outdoor sound speakers will be installed in a courtyard that will share cultural stories from the Griffith Aunty Jeans group.
The sound will appear to be coming from the surface material of the yarning circle itself, rather than from identifiable speakers. This installation method enhances the idea of culture and story and life itself being a part of the land, the materiality of place.
Pre-forecourt Sculpture
The curatorial vision has a commitment to including and celebrating all people that make up the Griffith and surrounding communities.
This commission is for an artist to propose an artwork and engagement strategy to collaborate with local school groups or vulnerable youth that supports their wellbeing, such as partnering with the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG), the Clontarf Foundation or Griffith Multicultural Council.
Within this commission we want to connect young people to the hospital through direct involvement in making new work, to offer students project-based learning opportunities that have real world outcomes, to build young people up and give them a sense of community belonging and pride through working on public artworks.
This commission is to create 3-dimensional artwork/s within the zig-zag walkway area.
Archaeological Display
In the initial stages of the Griffith Hospital Redevelopment, over 3,000 cultural objects were discovered. The custodianship of these artifacts lies with Griffith Local Aboriginal Land Council. A video will be produced to share the significance of these objects.
Emergency Department
The Emergency Department (ED) has been identified as a location for two artworks:
1. Inside the ED air lock
An artwork that celebrates Griffith's multicultural diversity and offers a welcome to community. The final artwork will be created in or converted to a digital format and applied via an enviro-graphic film.
2. Outside the ED at the Ambulance Entrance Bay
A painted mural with a First Nations theme, that includes the Murrumbidgee Local Health District's acknowledgement of Country.
This commission is for a lead artist to work in consultation with the Griffith Multicultural Council, Aboriginal Working Group and the broader community to collect and create imagery of cultural significance that speaks to the diversity of cultures in Griffith.
The Griffith Multicultural Council are excited to contribute to the making of this artwork by creating community connections to explore images that hold deep significance for the community.
Artists
Carolyn Williams
Carolyn Williams is a proud Wiradjuri
and Ngiyampaa woman based in
Griffith, NSW. Carolyn is passionate about culture, mob, education, Aboriginal artwork and story sharing. Carolyn's artwork incorporates traditional earth colours with contemporary colours using symbols and images to represent her stories.
Carla Gottgens
Carla is an active public artist creating commissioned works for councils and exhibitions across Australia. Her professional work spans photography, painting, sculpture and multi-media installations. She has created sculptures for City of Casey, Adelaide Airport, Strand Ephemera Townsville and Lorne Sculpture Biennale. Gottgen’s multi-disciplinary practice includes the delivery of workshops for students and adults. Gottgens has completed numerous murals for councils, including Maribyrnong, Moreland, Monash and Maroondah.
Aunty Jeans Group
The Aunty Jeans program is a community-focused program to support Aboriginal people with/or at risk of chronic illness. The program is run by Murrumbidgee Local Health District.
Griffith Local Aboriginal Land Council
Griffith Local Aboriginal Land Council works with and supports the local First Nations community in Griffith and surrounds.
Jacinta Oakley
Jacinta Oakley is a proud Wiradjuri woman from Griffith with a strong passion for making positive change in her community, honouring her culture and Old People, and walking alongside young ones in her community. She enjoys creative storytelling and visual work that reflect connection to place and community. Jacinta is proud to have contributed to this project alongside her Aunty Vicki, leaving a meaningful footprint in her hometown.
Lawrence Barlow
Lawrence Barlow is a Nyiampaa Wiradjuri country music singer-songwriter who enjoys telling his stories of family and country through his songs. He studied performing arts at Redfern Tafe Eora Centre. His music is influenced by Country music, Rock and Roll and what he calls the "middle of the road stuff",along with many Aboriginal entertainers.
Jackie Cooper
Jaqueline “Jackie” Cooper is a Wagga Wagga–based photographer and videographer and the creative behind Jack of Hearts Studio. Jackie is deeply drawn to people, community and the stories that shape who we are. She finds joy in listening, connecting and quietly documenting moments as they unfold, creating authentic, story-rich imagery. Having grown up in the Riverina, Jackie holds a strong connection to place and community, and has spent many years collaborating with and photographing hundreds of local artists, makers and storytellers, capturing the feeling and spirit that lives within the region’s creative and arts community.
Vic McEwan
Vic McEwan is an interdisciplinary artist working with sound, video, installation and performance with a particular interest in site-specific work. He is interested in creating new dynamics by working with diverse partners and exploring difficult themes within lived experience. Vic aims to use his work to contribute to and enrich broader conversations about the role that the arts sector can play within our communities.
Sarah McEwan
Sarah McEwan has been working and volunteering at the Cad Factory since 2006. Sarah is an artist, musician, artist‑curator and Creative Producer who lives and works between Sandigo, within the Wiradjuri Nation, and in Sydney, within the Eora Nation. She likes to time‑travel through the past in order to learn from what has happened before and to understand, navigate and create the world she wants and needs in the present and the future. In the spirit of ethically engaged practices, she values community, collaboration, gentleness and embracing differences.
Welcome Video
Yindyanga Yanha (Walk Slowly), Carolyn Williams
This project is supported by Health Infrastructure NSW and the Murrumbidgee Local Health District.