Arts and cultural development

Council's Our Creative City Cultural Plan 2033 sets the strategic direction for producing a range of contemporary arts programs that span the visual and performing arts, digital arts, public art and social history. The plan articulates a suite of directions to lead the development of Council's cultural program.

Council adopted the Our Creative City - Cultural Plan 2033 and Public Art Strategy in August 2023.

Related items

• Our Creative City - Cultural Plan 2033
• Public Art Strategy

Public Art provides the perfect opportunity to communicate and represent cultural meanings. Public Art refers to a range of art work and art based activities that are located  in the public domain. Areas of public domain include open space, public buildings, parks, playgrounds, and anywhere else where the general public has access to. On a fundamental level the value of Public Art is to be found in the level of public benefit it provides to people regardless of their individual circumstances.

Public Art can include sculpture, place-making elements, wall embellishments, artist designed seating and fencing, paving work, lighting elements and other creative possibilities. Public Art can serve both as an aesthetic and functional purpose.

Embedding Public Art into the built environment is a well recognised way of generating character and identity into newly developed or renewal urban places. Public Art has a role in celebrating  through bringing into the public domain, the stories and relationships that communities have with places and spaces.

There are many sites around the City which present exciting opportunities for Public Art. It can be used as a way of improving the urban environment and public spaces, and also to celebrate the past, present and future of the local environment. Public Art can make a vital contribution to the experience of public places within cities and regional urban centres.  

More information

• Public Art Strategy

For more information please contact Council on 9911 6555 or send an email.

The Rhodes Peninsula, located in the City of Canada Bay Local Government Area lies astride the Parramatta River close to Sydney Olympic Park. It is one of Sydney's most significant post-industrial landscapes and represents a rapidly changing urban environment.

An important component of the renewal of the Rhodes Peninsula, which will result in a new urban community, is the cultural meaning associated with the area. As Rhodes completes its transition from a once heavy industrial site of the 20th century, to a new residential, business and commercial precinct of the 21st century, exploring the cultural meanings associated with the area are essential. Bringing a range of histories and stories associated with Rhodes' industrial past, environmental heritage, Parramatta River foreshore location and culturally diverse communities into the broader public sphere will assist in supporting local residents, visitors and workers in creating a cohesive community who together, can experience a strong sense of well being.    

Rhodes West Development Control Plan

The City of Canada Bay, in recognition of the role that Public Art has in connecting communities and creating a high quality public domain, has included the requirement of Public Art in the Rhodes West Development Control Plan (DCP). 

The Rhodes West DCP states:

• All public art should be relevant to Rhodes West, be of a scale appropriate to the public realm, and be specific to time and place
• Development proposals are to include a public art strategy outlining how public art has been selected to suit the historic, environmental and social contexts of Rhodes West and contributes to a unique sense of place
• Public art is required at Shoreline Park North, Shoreline Park South and Rhodes Town Square
• Public art is encouraged in other publicly accessible locations such as main entrances, lobbies, street frontages, gardens, walls and rooftops
• Consult with Council and community groups in the design and execution of public art
• Consider also public art that has an amenity function eg seating, street furniture - Rhodes West Development Control Plan Clause 4.2.11. 

Rhodes Peninsula Arts Plan

In 2011 the City of Canada Bay commissioned the development of the Rhodes Peninsula Arts Plan. Milne & Stonehouse and Guppy Associates were engaged to develop the Rhodes Peninsula Arts Plan to provide Council, developers and the Rhodes communities with direction and guidance for the delivery of Public Art across the Rhodes Peninsula.

The Arts Plan was adopted in 2012, and a series of Public Art projects will roll out. The Arts Plan identifies locations for Public Art including the foreshore, in parks, playgrounds and other areas of open space, in the town square, community centre and other places used by the community.

The development of the Arts Plan has been informed by community consultation and participation. This has included surveys, focus groups and interviews with Rhodes residents and other interested members of the community.

For more information please contact Council by email or on 9911 6555.

More information

• Rhodes Peninsula Arts Plan

The Hidden Gems video series, produced by Media Farm, captures the essence of the City of Canada Bay. From suburb to suburb we visit the people and places that give the area its distinct character and charm.

Each video is an individual glimpse of interesting natural beauty and foreshores, restaurants, heritage, recreation and what it's like to be part of the local community. The videos give visitors and residents alike the opportunity to take a virtual tour of areas such as Cabarita, Concord, Abbotsford and more, highlighting things that are not always well known but are accessible with ease.

View the Hidden Gems Videos.

The City of Canada Bay is seeking to commission illustrative, online and public artwork for a new City art trail in Rhodes.

To read the artist brief and supporting slide deck please click here. Submissions close at 9pm on Tuesday, 27 May 2025.

If you have any enquiries please contact:

E: arts@canadabay.nsw.gov.au P: 02 9911 6555