Mundaring Sculpture Park

Child Places

• 08531 Mundaring Station Master's House

Statement of Significance

Mundaring Sculpture Park, a landscaped park containing several pieces of artwork, a CWA Rest Room, playground, Amphitheatre, former station master's house and Scout Hall, all contained within what was formerly a railway station reserve, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
. the place is the only community sculpture park in Western Australia;
. the Earth Sound Device, an audio installation by artist Nola Farnham, is recognised nationally as an innovative piece of artwork;
. the place successfully combines natural landscaping with built elements and sculpted pieces to create a fully integrated cultural precinct;
. the place has become a popular venue for local festivals and other cultural events and is held in high esteem by the local community; and,
. the place has retained physical reminders of the site's railway heritage, such as the former Station Master's House, the former Mundaring station platform and the former railway formation, all of which were important to the development of Mundaring

Physical Description

Mundaring Sculpture Park is located at the southern end of Nichol Street on the edge of the central business district of Mundaring. The site is bounded by Jacoby Street to the north, Maddock Street to the east, Phillips Road to the south and Gugeri Street to the west. Nichol Street bisects Jacoby Street approximately halfway along the length of the park.
The southern side of the park is bounded by a residential area, while the eastern and western sides represent the continuation of the Railway Heritage Trail.
The route of the former railway line bisects the site east - west and there are secondary paths which run through the site approximately north - south. A prominent feature of the park are the numerous mature trees on the northern and southern side of the park (at the eastern end). These trees include pines, plane trees and a variety of eucalypts.
Numerous, younger trees are clustered randomly along the northern and southern edges of the former railway line and some have also been planted down the centre of the former line, at the eastern end, creating two distinct paths.
A central lawned area lies opposite the terminus of Nichol Street. The area directly opposite the southern end of Nichol Street is a cleared open space with a backdrop of mature eucalypts and native plants. On the southern side of this area are four large, roughly squared logs which bear the name of the park 'Mundaring Community Sculpture Park. Just to the
west of these logs is an exit point for one of the north- south pathways. The former Mundaring Station Master's House lies on the western side of the cleared area.
The amphitheatre and former railway platform lie to the west of the lawned area and south of the former Mundaring Station Master's House. The Scout Hall is located on Nichol Street to the west of the former Mundaring Station Master's House. The rotunda is to the south west of the Scout Hall amongst young saplings and native plants. The CWA building is located at the eastern end of the park, while the sculptures are spread along the paths at the eastern end
of the park and near the amphitheatre.
The sculptural pieces are: Mother (Jon Tarry), Tractor (Peter Dailey), Moondae Ring (Ronald Sims), Missed Last Train (Ron Gomboc), Mainstream (Hans Arkveld), Tourists (Stuart Elliot), Second Wave (Alan dark) and Earth Sound Device (Nola Farnham).

History

Assessment 2003
Construction 1902 - 1996
Mundaring Sculpture Park comprises the former Mundaring Station platform (1898), the former Mundaring Station
Master's House (1902), the Mundaring CWA Hall (1954), the Mundaring Scout Hall (1960s), several pieces of public
sculpture (1988 - 1995), a rotunda (1993), landscaped grounds (1988 & 1991) and a children's playground (1960s -
996). These elements are all located on a section of the Railways Heritage Trail (1988). The Park was officially
opened on 11 September 1988 as part of the Commonwealth Bicentennial celebrations.
The development of the Park was organised by a community based committee which consulted regularly with the local
community. Many of the artists lived locally and gave their time freely to the project, while local businesses donated
materials.
2 Mundaring Sculpture Park was placed on the Shire ofMundaring's Municipal Inventory in 1997.
In April 2003, the Park is heavily used by local community groups for various activities and there are proposals in place
for the commissioning of additional sculptural pieces.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.