On Monday, the 1st of November, the Year 2s and 3s went on an excursion to Perth City to look at some street art. In Perth City, we met a tour guide called Joan from Two Feet and a Heartbeat. The different street art she showed us was graffiti, Straker, sculptures, paintings, statues and places of historical significance.
The place that we first saw and met Joan in was Yagan Square. In Yagan Square, Joan told us the Noongar story of Yagan and showed us a statue of Wirin. Wirin is the Noongar word for spirit and it expresses connection to land. Next, Joan took us to a painting of emus and eggs. It was by Amok Island, and told a Noongar story. The eggs were blue and the emus were shades of grey and orange. Joan also pointed out graffiti that was scribbled on it and said that was serious vandalism. Then she took us to a tower. Joan said that the 14 poles represented the 14 Noongar language groups.
After that, Joan directed us to William Street where she showed us a collaboration between two artists, Beatsman and Vans the Omega. The painting was of three blue faces with lots of swirls and paintings. We then sat down on granite rocks designed to be seats. Next we walked up some steps and saw pentagonal shaped and yellow objects hanging from the ceiling to make it look happy and bright. We walked through the hall and saw colourful plastic rectangles hanging from the ceiling. When the sun shone down, it reflected on the ground and made it look pretty. Joan then took us to two paintings by Western Australian artists, and one was Kyle Hughes Odgers. One of the paintings had a stick figure with lots of houses in orange shades and blue. The other painting had a person with a swirly body and blue hair. They were both a mix between cool and warm colours.
Joan then led us towards Forrest Chase, where we saw a bright green hollow sculpture that we called the Cactus, which was built in 2011. Joan said that there was a competition between sculptures and the Cactus won. James Angus was the one that designed the Cactus, but he called it Grow Your Own. Nowadays, people call it the Cactus. We took a photo in front of it. Soon after, Joan showed us a granite ball that had water underneath it and turned round and round.
Eventually, on Hay Street, we saw some artists at work in an alley. They were painting pictures of plants that stretched wider and wider as we went along. Later on we noticed that, interestingly, all of the plants had symmetry! We were still in the alley when we heard the London Court Clock chime for eleven o’clock. Joan took us out of the alley to see the London Court Clock. It was a clock with two soldiers above it. She explained that when the London Court Clock chimed the soldiers went around in a circle. Next we looked at a statue of Percy Button. Percy Button was a busker who did tricks and other things to collect money. The statue was built in 2006 by two people named Charles Smith and Joan Walsh – Smith.
Joan then led us on a historical walk. We first looked at the Town Hall, and saw a plaque that said it was built by the convicts in 1870. It had since been renovated and it was founded by Mrs Helen Dance, who cut down the tree, in 1829. We then looked inside and Joan said that the Town Hall used to be a market, and then a fire station. The fire station had a wagon, but there was no horses. So when they rang the fire bell, people would come and lend their horses to use for the wagon. After that, we saw where the stables used to be. The Town Hall was registered on the Western Australian State Register of Heritage Places in 1989. It stands as a permanent and majestic reminder of Perth’s rich social and architectural history. After we looked at the Town Hall, Joan directed us to a swirly blue sculpture. We called it the ‘river’ sculpture. We next looked at St George’s Cathedral, and Joan pointed out a small church at the back. The people who went to the church had the idea to build the cathedral. The cathedral was built in the year 1845. We saw there was a sculpture outside the front but we couldn’t see it because it wasn’t done yet and covered in black tarp. Next we looked at a painting that had a yellow circle with a small white dot inside and a bigger blue dot as well. On the side it had waves of blue, pink and black.
Next Joan took us to an alley. The paintings we saw there was Straker. Straker paintings had white spray paint and over the top neon spray paint. Straker’s full name was James Straker. We looked at at the paintings for a while then came out of the alley to look at St Mary’s Cathedral. It was completed in 1865. The architects were Michael Cavanagh and Peter M. Quinn. St Mary’s Cathedral is a white building with a apex at the top.
After that, we waited for a cat-bus to pick us up and head for Wellington Square Playground (Koolanga Koolanga Waabiny*). Soon we got there and sat down on the white rocks to have lunch. After lunch we headed down to play. There was slides, swings, rock climbing, obstacles, a skate park, trampolines, and lots more. We had a fun time at Perth City!
*Koolangka Koolangka Waabiny means Children’s Children’s Playground.
Year 2 and Year 3 Two Feet Walking Art Excursion Photo Gallery
Sophia vP
Year 3 Student