The I AM public artwork has made the short journey from Drysdale’s Potato Shed to Geelong Botanic Gardens where it will spend the next year on display.
The two-metre-tall concrete sculpture recognises community members who have a lived experience with disability and their achievements.
I AM acknowledges 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.”
Designed to be relocated around the municipality, each letter weighs around four tonnes and was craned into the gardens this week.
City of Greater Geelong 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 Victorian 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.
Executive director placemaking Tennille Bradley said the public artwork reinforced that everyone in the Greater Geelong community was welcome.
“The I AM sculpture celebrates the unique contributions of people with disability to our community and gives them a voice,” Ms Bradley said.
“Embedded with words and names from community members with disability, I AM has reached a wide audience having previously been installed in Drysdale, Pako Street, Lara and the Geelong waterfront.
“The sculpture invites passersby to be a part of the work – you can position yourself within I AM to take photos that will form a collective voice celebrating the diversity of our local community.”
