Evandale Sculpture Walk: An Introduction


Gold Coast City has the perfect climate for outdoor sculpture with its mild winters and warm summers enabling the City's citizens and visitors to enjoy outdoor sculptures in the heart of the City.

Gold Coast City Art Gallery opened in 1986 and subsequently had its collection focus broadened in March 1990, when Gold Coast City Council approved the concept for the Evandale Sculpture Walk. The Sculpture Walk is situated on the triangular peninsula of land that divides the waters of the Nerang River in Surfers Paradise.

The spectacular site is in effect a microcosm of the original habitat of mangroves and casuarinas on the river. The Evandale Sculpture Walk presents to the City's citizens an alternative to the concrete fringe and the throb of commercial endeavour that surrounds Evandale; therefore the Evandale Sculpture Walk has the potential to provide the City with an extremely high profile environment and cultural project.


 

In the midst of the Evandale Sculpture Walk is a large man made salt water recreational lake and surrounding the Walk a meandering walking, running and riding path which takes visitors into close proximity of the sculptures and the stunning mangroves, clear blue water and natural vegetation and trees.

Evandale Sculpture Walk presents an oasis in the heart of bustling Surfers Paradise providing artists with the challenge of creating sculptures that are mindful of this contrast as well as providing an engaging outdoor piece.

The Gold Coast Arts Centre has acquired twelve works to date for the Evandale Sculpture Walk. Chris Booth, Antoine Bruinsma, Robert Morris, Stephen Newton, Peter D. Cole, Vincent Martino, Ian McKay, Mike Nicholls, David Wilson, Ron Robertson-Swann and Barbara Sikora all feature.
 

Sandstone, timber and steel are the principal materials utlilised by this group of artists. Since 1990 the profile of the Evandale Sculpture Walk has continued to grow amongst curators, sculptors and art lovers.

Several works are on long term loan including Richard Goodwin, Kenneth Armitage, Philip King, Fumio Nishimura, Paul Bacon, Kevin Norton, Angela Nagel and Sandra Lancaster. Clearly the Evandale Sculpture Walk has become, similar to Gold Coast City itself, a cosmopolitan depository of some of Australia's and indeed the worlds, highly regarded sculptors.