A sculpture that celebrates people who have a lived experience with disability arrived at the Geelong West Town Hall on Pakington Street this week.
‘I AM’ recognises the empowerment of diversity and draws from political and pop culture statements such as the 1968 Memphis black sanitation workers slogan ‘I AM a man’, and Helen Reddy’s 1971 anthem ‘I AM woman’.
At more than two metres tall, the public artwork was designed to be relocated around the municipality and has previously been installed at the Geelong Waterfront and Austin Park in Lara.
The city commissioned Mark Cuthbertson with artist-collaborators Robert Croft, Hannah Wilkinson, Christian Den Besten and George Macaronis to develop the large-scale work, with more than 85 contributions from the community.
Funded by the state government through the Community Support Fund, ‘I AM’ was delivered in partnership with VALiD (Victorian Advocacy League for Individuals with Disabilities) and Geelong-based ArtGusto.
Deputy mayor Anthony Aitken, chair of the Volunteering and Disability portfolio, said each letter in the sculpture weighs around four tonnes.
“I AM was designed to be relocatable so that awareness can be raised across Greater Geelong around the important concepts it conveys,” he said.
“It’s also designed to invite community members to be a part of the work by positioning yourself within and taking photos, joining others in the region who celebrate diversity.”
Visitors can use the hashtag #IAMGeelong when posting photos to social media.
The sculpture is outside Geelong West Town Hall until October.
