24 July: Bondi Mermaids

Bondi Mermaids

Council formally recognises the 60th anniversary next year of the placement in April 1960 of the Bondi Mermaids by local sculptor, Lyle Randolph on the 235-tonne Big Rock boulder off Ben Buckler headland at North Bondi.

Following a Mayoral Minute at this month’s Council Meeting, Council Officers will investigate options for a series of events and activities to commemorate the anniversary. Council also supports, in principle, the reordering of sites in the Public Art Master Plan to allow for the commissioning of a new public art work in Bondi Park to give new life to the Mermaid story. Council will also consider if this piece is re-located potentially to the Bondi Pavilion after the refurbishment project is complete.

Bondi Memorial Project

Waverley Council and ACON are inviting artists to submit expressions of interest for the first phase of the Bondi Memorial Project at Marks Park, Tamarama. The memorial will be in the form of a public artwork to acknowledge the gay men and transgender people who were targeted in homophobic attacks from the 1970s to 1990s in the area. Submissions close 27 September. To submit, search ‘TenderLink Waverley’ online or visit https://www.tenderlink.com/waverley/.

- Waverley Mayor John Wakefield.

This column first appeared in the Wentworth Courier.