Bondi Sea Wall

Various artists
Aerosol and paint on wall
Elizabeth Drive

Street art has always been a part of Bondi’s youthful and vibrant identity with many major street artists living and working in Bondi. The Bondi Sea Wall is an evolving site where artists are welcome to leave a temporary mark on Bondi Beach. 

While the sea wall is an evolving space it contains two permanent murals:

Frangipani Girl

More than 200 people, including 88 Australians, were killed in the bomb attack at the Sari Club, Kuta Beach Bali, on 12 October 2002. One victim was Bondi local, 15 year old Chloe Byron, on holiday in Bali with her family.

The ‘girl with the frangipani in her hair’ grew up on the beach at Bondi and was widely known through her active participation in many local sporting clubs. She surfed longboards with her dad, David Byron, off the third ramp at Bondi, on an 8 foot board she ‘borrowed’ from him.

In 2003, with the support of Chloe’s family, local aeorosol artists led by Droogie painted a memorial mural for Chloe at the third ramp on the Bondi Sea Wall.

Over the years since it was painted, the Chloe Memorial Mural has become a beloved part of the Bondi landscape. Incorporating a portrait of Chloe, along with elements of beach culture including a view of Bondi Beach, a longboard and frangipani flowers, the mural captures and reflects back elements of the active beach culture that was such an important part of Chloe’s life as she grew up in Bondi.

Droogie has repaired the mural multiple times since 2002 with Waverley Council funding its restoration in 2012 for the 10 year anniversary of the bombings.

Anzac Mural

Around the time girl with the frangipani in her hair was being painted, Droogie was also working on an ANZAC mural. The artist painted it using a picture given to him by an old Bondi Digger. The murals, along with girl with the frangipani in her hair were endorsed by Council for long term preservation in 2009.