An Gorta Mor
Artist: Smith Sculptors (Charles Smith, Joan Walsh Smith)
Asset Type: Sculpture, Metalwork
Year of Work: 2017
Location: Southern side of Market Square near Roberts Road Subiaco 6008
Provenance: City of Subiaco
Image source City of Subiaco
Statue of John Curtin
Artist: Joan Walsh-Smith and Charles Smith
Asset Type: Sculpture, Memorial
Year of Work: 2003
Location: John Curtin Place, Kings Square. Town Hall end of High Street Mall
Provenance: City of Fremantle
Description: Perhaps the most iconic of Australia’s prime ministers, John Curtin is bound to ordinary Australians by his working class roots and trade union advocacy, but most importantly as Australia’s war-time voice. Although Victorian by birth, Curtin made Western Australia his home in 1917 where he became an editor for a union press.
He joined federal parliament in 1928 as the elected Member of Fremantle. He became leader of the Labor Party in 1935 and prime minister in 1941 in the midst of war with Germany and Italy, with troops deployed in fronts in the middle-east and Europe. Weeks after his succession Australia was pulled into a war in the Pacific.
Curtin’s decisions strengthened relations with the United States, as their interests were directly threatened by Japan who had attacked ports in Australian and allied ports around the pacific.
Curtin died in office only weeks before the formal ending of the war in the Pacific. As Western Australia’s first and only prime minister, John Curtin is commemorated at King’s Square in Fremantle.
Image source Eugene Scrivener (Museum of Perth)
May Gibbs Inspiration
Artist: Charles Smith, Joan Welsh-Smith
Asset Type: Sculpture
Year of Work: 2006
Location: Windsor Park, South Perth - NE Part of Park, under Trees
Description: "This sculpture captured the moment in time – when inspired by her love of the West Australian bush and wildlife – May Gibbs glimpsed at those ‘little creatures’ that became the genesis of the magical and enchanting world she created. We wanted to create an atmosphere where perhaps May Gibbs, while sitting in the nature that she loved, glimpsed or imagined the lovable bush creatures that she became famous for.”
Provenance: City of South Perth
Image source Moondyne
Energia
Image source City of Karratha
Artist: Smith Sculptors (Joan Walsh-Smith, Charles Smith)
Year of Work: 2012
Location: Dampier Highway and Bayview Road Nickol WA 6714
Asset Type: Sculpture
Provenance: City of Karratha
War Memorial
Image source City of Joondalup
Artist: Smith Sculptors (Charles Smith, Joan Walsh-Smith)
Asset Type: Sculpture
Year of Work: 1996
Location: Central Park, Joondalup
Provenance: City of Joondalup
Kangaroos (Phase 2)
Artist: Joan Walsh-Smith, Charles Smith
Asset Type: Sculpture, Metalwork
Year of Work: 1998
Location: St Georges Terrace, Southern side, near Stirling Gardens
Provenance: City of Perth
Description: These life size bronze kangaroos are a realistic representation of how kangaroos might behave in the bush. You can imagine the mob being startled from its quiet feeding by the sound of traffic and bounding away, led by the large male. The sight of the kangaroos bounding at full speed along the pavement of St George’s Terrace makes a surprising contrast to the backdrop of the CBD.
Percy Buttons
Image source Eugene Scrivener (Museum of Perth)
Artist: Joan Walsh-Smith, Charles Smith
Asset Type: Sculpture, Metalwork, Memorial
Year of Work: 2006
Location: Hay Street Mall, Southern side, East of London Court
Provenance: City of Perth
Description: Inscription reads:
“Percy Button was a local street entertainer and one of Perth's best known faces from the 1920's to the 1950's. Performing somersaults and handstands, Percy entertained people for a few shillings while they waited to see films, newsreels and theatrical performances at the theatres that were concentrated in what is now the Hay Street Mall, the Theatre Royal, the Ambassador and His Majesty's Theatre.
Percy was renowned for his grubbiness and in November 1929 local newspaper, The Mirror, dressed Percy up in a long-tailed suit and ran a front page competition asking readers to guess the identity of the cleaned up man. The Mirror offered a guinea's worth of goods for the first opened letter giving the man's name. The newspaper later asked Percy to write the 1929 Centenary Christmas Message.
This artwork celebrates the spirit of the street.”
Launched by the Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor Dr. Peter Nattress
12 October 2006The sculpture commemorates street entertainer Percy Button (1892 - 1954) and celebrates the spirit of the street.
Percy Button emigrated from England to Western Australia in 1910 and worked at odd jobs and as a farmhand. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F) in World War One but was invalided home and discharged in 1918.
He took to a vagrant life in Perth, sometimes earning a living by selling newspapers and collecting bottles, but soon becoming the city's best-known street entertainer. Neither the 1930s Depression nor World War Two made much difference to Button's style of living, but, as age slowed his acrobatic prowess and he added the mouth-organ to his repertoire.
By 1951 his condition had so deteriorated that arrangements were made for his admission to the Old Men's Home at Dalkeith. He died of coronary thrombosis on 5 March 1954 at Claremont Mental Hospital and was buried in Karrakatta cemetery with Catholic rites. The Repatriation Department paid for his funeral.
Visit: monumentaustralia
Kangaroos (Phase 1)
Image source Eugene Scrivener (Museum of Perth)
Artist: Joan Walsh-Smith & Charles Smith
Asset Type: Sculpture, Metalwork
Year of Work: 1996
Location: St Georges Terrace, Southern side, near Stirling Gardens
Provenance: City of Perth
Description: These life size bronze kangaroos are a realistic representation of how kangaroos might behave in the bush. You can imagine the mob being startled from its quiet feeding by the sound of traffic and bounding away, led by the large male. The sight of the kangaroos bounding at full speed along the pavement of St George’s Terrace makes a surprising contrast to the backdrop of the CBD.
De Vlamingh Sundial Memorial
Image source Eugene Scrivener (Museum of Perth)
Artist: Albert De Boer, Smith Sculptors (Joan Walsh-Smith, Charles Smith)
Asset Type: Sculpture, Monument
Year of Work: 2007
Location: Near the Narrows Interchange on Riverside Drive
Provenance: City of Perth
Description: Designed through a collaboration between Artforms founder Albert De Boer and Smith Sculptors, the De Vlamingh Memorial Sundial is a custom-made ferritic stainless steel structure. It is engineered to record time simultaneously in Perth, Western Australia, and the Netherlands, symbolising the connection between the two regions. The sundial features intricate engravings of an ancient world map and the trade routes of early Dutch traders, reflecting the extensive reach and influence of Dutch exploration.
Surrounding the sundial are premium granite bollards, each etched with laser engravings that detail the journeys of great explorers such as Dirk Hartog and Willem de Vlamingh. These bollards provide educational insights, enhancing the sundial’s role as an informative and commemorative piece of public art.
Originally situated next to the Bell Tower in Perth, the memorial was displaced in 2012 due to the development of Elizabeth Quay. After several years in storage, the Perth Council decided to relocate the sundial to a new site near the Narrows Interchange on Riverside Drive