City of Sydney’s Creative Hoarding Program: Expression of Interest 2022

We are thrilled to once again be working with the City of Sydney to enliven our beautiful streets and laneways, bringing colour and vibrancy to construction and development sites through the Creative Hoardings Program. 

The Creative Hoardings Program encourages artists and designers to create concepts that will transform the visual impact of construction sites in our city. There have been two incredibly successful iterations of the program to date that have seen 20 high quality contemporary Australian artworks feature on more than 220 hoardings across the city in five years. As the City of Sydney calls for new expressions of interest in 2022, the program is set to be better than ever. Artwork pieces from earlier iterations of the program are available to view via the City of Sydney website.

About the Program 

This strategic initiative has been developed under the Creative City – Cultural Policy and Action plan which is an initiative that aims to increase distinctiveness between precincts and bring creativity to the public domain. In 2022, the Creative Hoardings Program will license ten original artworks and install them on eligible hoardings across the city. Mesh Direct has partnered with the City of Sydney as a preferred supplier of the hoardings and our team could not be more excited to help bring the program to life! 

Who Can Apply

Artists are encouraged to respond, through visual art, graphic and photographic artwork, to the following themes when submitting: 

• Eora Journey: Recognition in the public domain. This theme reflects the commitment of the City of Sydney to display works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and designers to celebrate the First Peoples of Australia in our global city. 
• LGBTIQA+ pride. The LGBTIQA+ community in Sydney has a history we’re proud of. Through the submission of an LGBTIQA+ concept, artists will recognise the long-standing culture we are lucky to have, ahead of the city hosting World Pride in 2023.
• Expansive greening. Developed by a Sydney citizen’s jury that formed to imagine Sydney in 30 years’ time, expansive greening refers to creating a regenerative ecosystem. 

Individual artists or designers, or small-scale creative collectives are eligible to apply, and the sole focus of the artist’s work should aim to transform the visual impact of construction sites and provide residents and visitors access to temporary outdoor public art. It’s the City of Sydney’s objective to offer new income opportunities for artists and support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. 

Printing the Artwork on Vinyl Hoarding Banners 

Expressions of interest are now open and close Thursday 9 June. Following the assessment of each artist’s work, successful submissions will be published on City of Sydney website in August. The licensed artwork will then be available for developers with construction sites in high traffic areas to use if they wish – and this is where we come in! 

Mesh Direct is one of the City of Sydney’s preferred vinyl hoardings suppliers, which means once the final submissions have been assessed, Mesh Direct will be ready to print and install the artwork around the city. The product we use is our vinyl banners which offer a photo-quality print result. This top-quality ensures the clarity of the artwork we are printing is never compromised. Alongside construction sites, vinyl hoarding is often used for hoardings in urban areas, within shopping centres and as crowd control measures for events. To read more about our vinyl hoarding banners, click here. 

How to Apply 

Submissions are now open and can be made by individual artists or designers, or small-scale creative collectives. All respondents (including all members of a collective) must be Australian citizens or permanent residents, be aged 18 or over and reside in New South Wales. Submissions close Thursday 9 June. Artists can apply via the City of Sydney website here. 

From everyone at Mesh Direct, we wish the artists the best of luck with their submissions and cannot wait to be a part of this fantastic initiative!