Urunga Mural Makes National Art Finals
Published on 16 February 2022
Walkley award winning local artist David Bromley’s amazingly realistic street side mural, which features numerous local identities from Urunga’s past and present, and portrays shopfronts dating back to the early 1900’s, has been nominated as a finalist in the 2021 National Street Art Awards.
Bellingen Shire Mayor, Cr Steve Allan, said the mural had been nominated for the award’s prestigious Best External Mural Category, which was open to painted artworks up to 300 square metres in size that were created for the site’s location and were easily accessible and visible to the public.
“David’s mural takes pride of place in our CBD, and it captures the spirit of our seaside village because it reflects on our past and speaks to our future by featuring the history of Urunga and locals who in their own special way have all contributed to the social fabric of our tight-knit community.”
Mural artist, David Bromley, said the most unexpected and magical thing he experienced while creating the artwork was his interactions with Urunga locals and visitors during the four years it took him to paint the exquisitely detailed 23m long and 3.5m high mural.
“People’s reactions have been amazing, their gratitude and generosity of spirit encouraged me to keep painting, with one person even asking me if I had any idea how much joy I was bringing to the lives of the people in Urunga and that warmed my heart.”
Cr Allan said the Urunga Mylestom Chamber of Commerce had been working together with Council for several years to explore and deliver arts-based grant funded projects that would attract visitors and stimulate Urunga’s local business economy.
“Our Shire’s Yarning about Urunga Project and the NSW Department of Industry’s Future Towns Program resulted in David being commissioned to paint the mural and also funded a pop-up art gallery in our main street which featured local artists creating live and interactive artworks.”
Cr Allan said the spirit of collaboration between Council and our Shire’s local artists, sculptors and crafts folk has continued to deliver great results for our arts scene, including the transformation of the old butcher shop on the corner of Urunga’s main street into a thriving arts hub.
“I appreciate that it can be difficult for local artists to gain exposure and promote their works but thankfully as a community we’ve decided to invest in our creative industries and the end result is that we have a range of vibrant and attractive art works in our CBD that everyone can enjoy.”
Cr Allan said the winners across the award’s seven categories would be announced during an online ceremony held on Friday 04 March 2022, and that a link to the online ceremony would be posted shortly on the award’s homepage at https://www.streetartawards.com.au/ .
“As far as our community is concerned, David is already a winner because we know we have the best mural in the country, but we wish him the best of luck and hope he wins the award because his work definitely deserves to be recognised on the national stage.”
So to find out more about David Bromley’s four year journey researching, designing and painting this amazing public artwork, simply click here or go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8X6p9osteM