You have a strong and well-defined vision to create public art with purpose; can you explain the thought behind it? Sydney art has tended to be design-focused, and what that tends to do is beautify an area. That’s an important role of art, but, in history, public art has very much been about mirroring peoples’ dreams, fears and aspirations and how the community can create a platform to fulfil those dreams. Public art can bring people closer together to drive the kind of change we want to see in the world. When you travel the world, whether it’s to Mexico, Berlin, San Francisco or New York, you can see this culture in their public art – it really says something and advocates for change. For us, that is incredibly inspiring. We are working with communities that want to see change. There are only so many avenues for people to participate in public life and create tangible change. The democratic system, while admirable, sometimes fails and people become disengaged. People feel they are unheard. We believe we are hearing and responding to things from the public and incorporating that into public art, which allows us to engage with problems creatively while assessing solutions. It allows us to inspire one another to be agents of social change. Public art is tangible, it is impressive and it creates transformational results when you collaborate with the community on a large scale. The community can play an active role in creating a changed space where they live, work and play every day. That is what inspires us. We have seen art play an incredible role in moving people forward to a more inclusive future. You describe yourself as an artivist. Can you describe what that is? It is a movement that is happening globally. An organisation we aspire to, Pangea Seed, coined the term. It’s a marriage between art and activism and hones in on the power of public art as a mechanism for change in the social, environmental and political space. Pangea Seed does incredible work with internationally renowned artists to create public art that gives the oceans a voice, and that encouraged us to start something locally facilitating art in the places that we are passionate about. MERCEDES-BENZ PARRAMATTA 18 CULTURE