03 September 2025
For those who don’t know Creative Road, how would you describe what you do?
Creative Road is an independent public-art consultancy working nationally across regional and metropolitan Australia, as well as on select international projects. We create places with cultural dimension through facilitating public art, cultural strategies, and placemaking outcomes that are artist-led, culturally respectful, and practically delivered. We collaborate with artists at all career stages; emerging, mid-career, and established alongside communities, clients, and technical experts. This ensures every project is grounded in place and shaped by shared vision.
Our clients include government agencies, local councils, cultural institutions, and private developers committed to integrating art into the public realm. From city-shaping infrastructure to community-led initiatives, we partner with organisations that value artist-led outcomes and understand culture’s role in creating meaningful places.
Collaboration between an artist and an organisation can create a unique dynamic. What do you think makes these projects so meaningful?
They succeed when there’s mutual trust and clarity of purpose. When an organisation genuinely supports the artist’s vision, and the artist is open to context, the outcomes can be unexpected and meaningful. These relationships can also be challenging without the right support; someone who can speak both creative and commercial languages. That’s where Creative Road comes in, ensuring the process runs smoothly while keeping the artist’s vision at the centre.
When an organisation genuinely supports the artist’s vision, and the artist is open to context, the outcomes can be unexpected and meaningful.
How do you best facilitate an artist to realise their craft in a commercial way?
We support both clients and artists by managing the parts of a project that can otherwise overwhelm creativity such as engineering compliance, contracts, and stakeholder approvals. For clients, this means confidence that risks are managed, and delivery is seamless. For artists, it means they can focus on their vision while knowing the practicalities are covered.
A good example is our work with Georgia Hill on her largest public artwork to date for the Equinix Data Centre in Sydney. The project combined a large-scale wall painting and a facade sculpture, requiring specialist engineering, fabrication, and careful coordination. By managing the technical and delivery challenges, we enabled Georgia to concentrate on the creative process, helping her take a significant step forward in her practice while ensuring the client received a striking outcome. The project is a finalist for the 2025 Rider Levett Bucknall Award for Best Public Art Project.
What are some benefits to artists who work in this way?
Artists expand their practice technically, conceptually, and professionally. They collaborate with specialists, work with new materials, and reach much broader audiences. Importantly, we ensure they’re paid fairly and supported through what can be a complex process.
Public art can significantly contribute to place character. Because it’s free and visible to everyone, it also becomes part of daily life.
Do you have a project that stands out from the last few years?
The Here Together smokestack artwork in Perth stands out for its scale and spirit of collaboration. We approached internationally renowned artists MOMO (USA) and Abdul Abdullah (AUS) to lead the project, supporting them through concept design and assembling a local delivery team including cultural project manager Amy Miller. Delivered in just six months, with many stakeholders involved, it worked because everyone was committed to realising the artists’ vision. The result is a major new landmark that brings a bold visual identity to the precinct.
Can you explain why art in public spaces is so important?
Public art can significantly contribute to place character. Because it’s free and visible to everyone, it also becomes part of daily life. Great places often have a cultural layer that makes people want to spend time in them, whether that’s an artwork that tells local stories, sparks conversation, or simply makes a space feel more welcoming. Our project with Rose Nolan, All Alongside of Each Other at Central Station Metro is an example of how public art can enliven a busy transport hub with text that carries a daily message of togetherness.
What can you see the sector doing better in order to fully support public art?
We need to involve artists earlier in project planning and follow best practice such as fair concept fees, realistic timeframes, and adequate budgets. It’s also important to create pathways for emerging and regionally based artists. At Creative Road, we mentor early-career practitioners, such as Bradley Mapiva-Brown who we supported through his first major commission, Ngala Dhawura – Country of Many Trees, for the Canberra Hospital Expansion Project. Inspired by the traditional line painting style of the Ngunnawal people, the work reimagines sacred woodlands through layered timber forms. Delivered under the mentorship of Jade Oakley and Creative Road, this and the other artworks for the hospital received the 2025 Pamille Berg Prize for Art in Architecture. Watch the video here.
For any artists aspiring to work for larger clients, what advice do you have for them?
First, consider whether public art aligns with your practice as it’s not for everyone. These projects require collaboration, patience with long timeframes, and an ability to work within technical and stakeholder constraints. If that excites you, be clear on your vision and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Take time to understand how large projects work such as approvals, engineering, delivery and seek advice from those who’ve done it. Hold onto what matters to you creatively but stay open to evolving. When it’s right, the outcomes can be rewarding.
Can you speak about the benefits of artists working for more commercial clients? How do you support an artist’s creative practice through your work?
Commercial commissions can offer significant opportunities such as scale, visibility, and resourcing. We support artists by managing the complexities: aligning creative intent with client needs, guiding technical and stakeholder processes, and advocating for the artist at every stage. This ensures the creative core is protected while broader project goals are met.
Great places often have a cultural layer that makes people want to spend time in them, whether that’s an artwork that tells local stories, sparks conversation, or simply makes a space feel more welcoming.
What else is brewing for you at the moment? Any new ideas, collaborations or upcoming work you’d like to share?
We were recently a finalist in the Workers Memorial Commission for the City of Melbourne, a multidisciplinary collaboration with UK artist Wolfgang Buttress, musician Robert Forster, writer Don Watson, and HASSELL Landscape Architecture. While the commission went to another team, the process was a deeply positive one that highlighted the value of thoughtful partnerships.
We’re also finalising two major glass artworks by Quandamooka artist Megan Cope for Brisbane Airport. Megan, who was based in Lismore prior to the floods, is an internationally acclaimed artist, and this project has been a significant commission with a client we greatly value. Brisbane Airport Corporation continues to set an example of supporting artist-led work with care and ambition.
Looking ahead, we’re launching a new offering: One-on-One Expert Advice.
This service is designed for clients such as councils, developers, and design teams needing targeted input on briefs, strategies, or project processes, as well as for artists stepping into public or commercial commissions for the first time. We are offering tailored consultancy sessions to help clients de-risk projects and support artists to navigate the complexities of working in public art.
Finally, we’re producing a new website and magazine showcasing recent projects, including Ramesh Nithiyendran’s Earth Deities for Vivid Sydney. We look forward to sharing these projects in more depth—sign up to our newsletter via our website to stay connected.
