Art in the Park
Home to the largest collection of outdoor large-scale site specific public artworks in a single precinct in Australia.
Those feeling like flexing their creative muscle will be delighted to discover Australia’s largest collection of large-scale, site-specific urban art dotted around Sydney’s very own Olympic Park precinct.
Over 50 vibrant works of art populate the Park, celebrating culture, history, nature and industry. These striking installations tell the stories of Sydney Olympic Park’s past and future; keeping its industrial and cultural history alive and acknowledging its present and future standing as the home of a new and growing creative community.
Connoisseurs and artistic newcomers alike can undertake an emotive journey throughout the Park, spotting celebratory works including Rivers of Light and Path of Champions, outside the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic and Athletic Centres, commemorating the outstanding achievements of Australia’s sporting men and women in major Olympic sporting disciplines.
The 45 metre-long An Eventful Path, comprising blocks of cast coloured glass, stainless steel channel, fluorescent lights and honed concrete pavement, capturing the intense festivity enjoyed at the Park during major events such as the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The iconic Cauldron, at the centre of one of the most spectacular moments of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, can be found in its new permanent home at Cathy Freeman Park.
Meanwhile, the Drinking Trough Animal Memorial attempts to recreate the atmosphere of the NSW State Abattoirs, which operated on the current site of Sydney Olympic Park between 1913–1988. Harking back to the park’s industrial past, works such as the Brickpit Ringwalk and Machinery, Bulls Head and 6/9 Surrounds Mosaic provide an artistic link to the Park’s original industrial uses.
Home to over 400 native plant species and over 250 native animal species, it is only appropriate that Sydney Olympic Park’s collection of artwork would celebrate the area’s rich biodiversity and stunning natural surroundings. Neil Dawson’s Feathers and Skies, respectively circling the columns over the eastern and western entries to Accor Stadium, depict the diverse range of Australian bird life and the Australian skies at different times of the day.
Abstract piece Migration, located within Bicentennial Park, was conceived to be viewed as though you are underwater, swimming with the fish through the sea grasses within an ocean of blue sky; while sandstone sculptures of the Green and Golden Bell Frog and Sun Baking Lizard adorn the Wentworth Common Children’s Playground, paying homage to some of the Park’s most recognisable reptiles and amphibians.
Learn more and explore Sydney Olympic Park’s rich collection of art below: