00:00We've been very lucky to have a sculpture event here on the south coast for the last
00:05couple of years and because of that Gillian Mott reached out to us earlier this year and
00:11wanted to make the donation and it's come about fairly quickly and it's been obviously
00:15there's been a lot of talk and media hype around it in the community. Those that love
00:19it and hate it have come out in force and I think overall though it's a fantastic win
00:23for the community.
00:24Yeah and what's the reception been like for the first one there behind you? We can
00:29tell some of the kids like it and has it got a name yet?
00:32Yeah it does Meena, it was named before we received it and you know I think it was an
00:38initial shock for the community and now that I guess they've not only seen the story but
00:43also see that the amount of donation that we received and the sculptures that are going
00:47in. This is the second one that's gone in but obviously the largest as well so it's made
00:50the bigger impact but the queues have been forming every day to take photos with it and
00:54I'm sure once tourism season really hits down here on the south coast both the viewers around
00:59New South Wales and further afield will be wanting to stand in line as well.
01:02Yeah cool so you've got 20 odd more sculptures to go. How are you deciding where they go
01:07in the Shire?
01:08Yeah we've gone through a process meeting with the community in all of our three
01:12major towns showcasing what the sculptures that are coming and where the plans were for
01:17that and then just sort of having that consultation and chats with the community. But we've really
01:22chosen to make sure that we spread them out. We want to make sure we share the love around
01:25the whole community. Not only to get the tourists moving about but also so that those in the
01:30far south of the Shire see the you know the wind that we've gotten for the community.
01:34Yeah and we've got a shot of the other sculpture that you've already got. Can you just talk
01:39to that a bit for us?
01:40Yeah it's a blue ring on a bicycle. I think really about all these sculptures it's about
01:44interaction and it's making sure that you know it's something you want to stop, take
01:48a photo of but also climb on. You know it's really it's great for the kids and I think what
01:52we're seeing is we've seen high school kids come down here and take photos at the school. We've
01:56seen my young kids here in the background as well that have been climbing on it but there's
02:00lots of demand from the local community but I know that we've had a lot of correspondence from those
02:05further afield and really keen that once the summer hits that they're going to be wanting to get down
02:10here and see that whole trail across the whole Shire which will obviously spread the spin for all
02:14of our local businesses.
02:15Yeah cool and what are some examples of the other sculptures that you're going to get and are they as big
02:22as Mina?
02:22No Mina is definitely the biggest not to shock anyone else but there you know there are 21 critically
02:29endangered animals as well as the one that we've already placed at Noorooma and it's all about
02:33starting that conversation around those endangered animals and I think there'll be some that say it
02:37should be local native animals but you know this was a collaboration between the artists wanting to
02:42make a donation and this was one of those installations and pieces that we were able to get so I think it
02:46started conversation which is what art's supposed to do and it's I think it's just a big win for us totally.
02:50Yeah and the fires were terrible there several years ago how are you how has the process of recovery
02:57been and how do things like this help?
03:01Yeah you know every time the fires come up it's it's something that hits a real nerve with us all
03:05but it's we're coming up on the six year anniversary of Black Summer for us down here on the south coast and
03:11uh it's these little steps I think you know coming together as a community uh you know having donations
03:16like this made uh that really start bringing us back together it gets the community talking gets them
03:21out and about and again this is something that's free for the for the local kids to uh get around
03:26it's fully accessible totally free for the whole community and I think it's uh it's it's something
03:30that's a big win.
03:31Yeah okay and before I let you go how did you guys go with the heat today because yeah been a lot of talk
03:35about the the fire risk over over the today and the coming days how'd you go today?
03:40Yeah it was pretty good down here funnily enough this morning I woke up in gold when I was up there
03:43for a for a council conference at the big marino uh so I got to see that and then come down here and
03:49it's it's been handled pretty well and it's it's cooled right down now
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