37983c4efb9e3628ac065022034113bf64dc6e761216f
Menu
Re-imagining Bottle Alley
Expand/collapse
Details
TitleRe-imagining Bottle AlleyDate Created2022CreatorIpswich City CouncilPublisherIpswich City CouncilAcknowledgementIpswich City Council
Location
SuburbIpswichCity & StateIpswich, Queensland
Description
DescriptionExpressions of interest opened on 1 February 2022 and closed on 22nd March 2022. Applications were shortlisted and tenders opened on 26th April. Tenders closed on 17th May and evaluation occurred from 18th to 21st May. Contracts were issued and granted in late 2022 and the successful artists provided final designs in early 2023. Bottle Alley was closed from the 18th to 31st March to allow the artists to undertake work on the mural.
The artists were Sydney-based, Sharon Billinge and Karla Hayes from Dharwal land.
EXPLANATION OF DESIGN:
When considering the theme ‘Lost Buildings of Ipswich’ we immediately thought of the layers of development, longing, memory, fleeting personal histories and half-forgotten stories that colour cities, particularly the vibrant central business district that surrounds Bottle Alley.
As evocative as memories of Ipswich's lost buildings are, these recollections rarely occur in high-definition clarity. Instead, we recall fragments of buildings and faces, collages of light, sound and fading moments in days past.
Our painted depiction of Ipswich's built environment aims to be a dreamlike recollection, blurring foreground and background and creating transitions between buildings, streets and moments in time that swell and bloom. We constructed a narrative around the lost buildings that had momentum and flow despite the narrative subject being a seemingly static and inert built environment.
We wanted to give viewers a sense of immediate history. Not far from the mural site, they could stand where the buildings featured in the mural once stood.
The design features five historical buildings that were close to Bottle Alley but are now no more. We’ve provided a mix of different sketches that use the same key locations:
* Whitehouse Cafe
* Street scene showing the Nicholas St covered entrance to Bottle Alley and
the Central Hotel
* Rockman building, formerly Fleischmanns
* Waltons Building, formerly the Beirne building
* Street scene showing a view of Nicholas St in the 1950s including the
Bottle Alley side of Nicholas Street and the Central Chambers building
* Hoopers Store
These buildings were significant fixtures of Ipswich’s city culture and commercial history. Our historical research was completed through Picture Ipswich.
We have included large native flora and fauna to create visual interest and give viewers a break from the angular elements. We included local Ipswich flora and fauna including Plunkett Mallee, Black-necked Stork and a Ficus.
References (online)Behind-the-scenes of Bottle Alley's new mural 'Lost Buildings of Ipswich Central'. [YouTube - Accessed 28.03.2025]Re-imagining Bottle Alley: Lost Buildings of Ipswich Central [YouTube - Accessed 28.03.2025]Shape Your Ipswich - Re-imagining Bottle Alley
The artists were Sydney-based, Sharon Billinge and Karla Hayes from Dharwal land.
EXPLANATION OF DESIGN:
When considering the theme ‘Lost Buildings of Ipswich’ we immediately thought of the layers of development, longing, memory, fleeting personal histories and half-forgotten stories that colour cities, particularly the vibrant central business district that surrounds Bottle Alley.
As evocative as memories of Ipswich's lost buildings are, these recollections rarely occur in high-definition clarity. Instead, we recall fragments of buildings and faces, collages of light, sound and fading moments in days past.
Our painted depiction of Ipswich's built environment aims to be a dreamlike recollection, blurring foreground and background and creating transitions between buildings, streets and moments in time that swell and bloom. We constructed a narrative around the lost buildings that had momentum and flow despite the narrative subject being a seemingly static and inert built environment.
We wanted to give viewers a sense of immediate history. Not far from the mural site, they could stand where the buildings featured in the mural once stood.
The design features five historical buildings that were close to Bottle Alley but are now no more. We’ve provided a mix of different sketches that use the same key locations:
* Whitehouse Cafe
* Street scene showing the Nicholas St covered entrance to Bottle Alley and
the Central Hotel
* Rockman building, formerly Fleischmanns
* Waltons Building, formerly the Beirne building
* Street scene showing a view of Nicholas St in the 1950s including the
Bottle Alley side of Nicholas Street and the Central Chambers building
* Hoopers Store
These buildings were significant fixtures of Ipswich’s city culture and commercial history. Our historical research was completed through Picture Ipswich.
We have included large native flora and fauna to create visual interest and give viewers a break from the angular elements. We included local Ipswich flora and fauna including Plunkett Mallee, Black-necked Stork and a Ficus.
References (online)Behind-the-scenes of Bottle Alley's new mural 'Lost Buildings of Ipswich Central'. [YouTube - Accessed 28.03.2025]Re-imagining Bottle Alley: Lost Buildings of Ipswich Central [YouTube - Accessed 28.03.2025]Shape Your Ipswich - Re-imagining Bottle Alley
Connections
PlacesBottle Alley
Asset Details
Reference IDRe-imaging Bottle AlleyAsset TypeDocument - PDFCopyright NoticeThis licence lets you download, redistribute, translate, and remix the work, for NON-COMMERCIAL purposes only.
In return, you MUST always acknowledge the original creator of the work (photographer, studio, author, etc.) and acknowledge Picture Ipswich as your source of the work.
All derivatives of this work MUST be shared under the same Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license.
If you require a higher resolution copy of this work, please contact Picture Ipswich.CopyrightPicture Ipswich Copyright Information
In return, you MUST always acknowledge the original creator of the work (photographer, studio, author, etc.) and acknowledge Picture Ipswich as your source of the work.
All derivatives of this work MUST be shared under the same Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license.
If you require a higher resolution copy of this work, please contact Picture Ipswich.CopyrightPicture Ipswich Copyright Information
Linked To
SuburbPlaces
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike Australian License
This licence lets you download, redistribute, translate, and remix the work, for NON-COMMERCIAL purposes only.
In return, you MUST always acknowledge the original creator of the work (photographer, studio, author, etc.) and acknowledge Picture Ipswich as your source of the work.
All derivatives of this work MUST be shared under the same Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license.
If you require a higher resolution copy of this work, please contact Picture Ipswich.
Ipswich City Council, Re-imagining Bottle Alley. Picture Ipswich, accessed 16/09/2026, https://www.pictureipswich.com.au/nodes/view/37983