Shared Waters Public Art at Glenorchy War Memorial Pool

2026

Project Details

Artwork Title: Shared Waters
Client: Glenorchy City Council
Project: Site-specific public art commission for the redevelopment of Glenorchy War Memorial Pool, Tasmania
Medium: Hand-drawn digital artwork reproduced in printed architectural vinyl
Scope: Eight large porthole artworks across the front brick facade of the swimming pool, an additional artwork for the all-abilities Changing Places facility, and a long ripple installation across the brickwork and entrance glazing
Fabrication and installation: Signrite

The eight main circular artworks were approximately two metres wide, while the final ripple installation measured approximately 6.4 × 1 metre.

Client Brief

Glenorchy City Council wanted the artwork to capture the magic of water and the familiar experiences that gather around a community swimming pool: splashing, bubbles, reflections, childhood memories, play, energy and joy. 

The work also needed to reflect the diversity of people who use the pool, including the facility's new wheelchair accessibility, while avoiding identifiable portrait-style faces. 

Rather than treating the commission as a series of separate swimming illustrations, I approached it as one visual experience unfolding across the building.

Starting With The Site

Before drawing the final compositions, I visited and photographed the pool. It was still under renovation, empty and in the middle of winter. Nonetheless I looked closely at the mountain beyond the site, lane ropes, flags, handrails, the accessible ramp, pool-edge heights, vegetation and the ways people would physically move around the building. 

Those observations became part of the finished imagery. Even practical discoveries changed the drawing: after seeing that the shallow end was around 1.2 metres deep, I revised my early ideas that had shown children standing in the water. 

I wanted the finished public artwork to feel unmistakably connected to the Glenorchy War Memorial Pool, rather than being a generic celebration of swimming. 

Details such as lane ropes, tiles, dive blocks, handrails and shade structures mattered. 

Finding The Story

I developed two possible narrative approaches. Council selected Shared Waters, which treated the pool as a communal place experienced across generations rather than following one child through a single day. 

Across eight scenes, the viewpoint continually changes. Sometimes we look across the pool, sometimes down towards the surface, sometimes we are underwater looking upwards. The movement helped the series feel more like fragments of memory than repeated views of the same place. 

The Portholes

Responding to the slightly ship-like character of the main building, the project’s Art Coordinator / Inclusivity Officer suggested placing the artworks within circular portholes.

I kept the porthole structure deliberately restrained so the frame suggested an opening rather than competing with the scene inside it. Each circle became another glimpse into the same watery world; anticipation, immersion, play, movement and rest. 

Although each artwork needed to stand alone, I connected the suite through a shared colour world, consistent scale and perspective, recurring landscape details, bubbles, splashes and a repeated visual language of water. I wanted the circles to feel less like pictures attached to a wall and more like portholes revealing what might be happening just beyond it.

Designing Accessibility as Part of the Story

The commission expanded to include an artwork for the new Changing Places facility. I was asked to depict a person entering the pool using an aquatic wheelchair and access ramp, while keeping the artwork within the same visual language as the wider project.

Rather than forcing this artwork into another porthole, I allowed it to develop into an asymmetrical form suited to its different architecture. Elements extend beyond the main body of the design, creating movement and subtly directing the eye towards the pool entrance. This Changing Places artwork was one of the more technically demanding parts of the commission. The perspective of the ramp and handrails had to feel convincing, while the artwork still needed to have its own commanding presence and remain joyful rather than clinical.

The Ripple Across the Building

I developed a long ripple using the same curved forms and colours established inside the portholes. It travels across the brickwork and entrance glazing, becoming the connective element between the separate artworks.

Despite being one of the simplest designs of the project, landing on a ripple pattern that felt extracted from the porthole series but strong enough to lead visitors towards the entrance took a surprising amount of refinement. Because it sits at the entrance, I felt it carried a particular responsibility within the overall composition. I wanted the pattern to feel as though it had genuinely emerged from the visual language of the portholes, rather than being added later as decoration.

During fabrication the final dimensions changed, so I reworked both ends rather than simply cropping the artwork. The aim was for the final 6.4 metre ripple to retain its tapering movement and scale, allowing it to feel deliberately designed for the architecture.

Collaboration and Delivery

The project involved ongoing consultation with Glenorchy City Council's project team, Council leadership and the vinyl fabrication team. 

The main series required very little alteration after review. 

The Finished Work

From a distance, the circles and ripples animate the building. Up close, the individual experiences emerge. 

The completed artwork has been warmly received, with feedback particularly recognising the way it captures the character of the pool and its importance as a shared community place. The diversity of people, ages and body types represented across the work was also warmly welcomed. 

The first porthole, Familiar View grew from my research into what the community valued most about the pool. Again and again, people spoke about the mountain view beyond the water as one of the things that made swimming there special. 

It is fitting that this porthole image later became one of the most widely used artworks from this project, appearing across social media and launch merchandise and gradually becoming closely associated with the restored Glenorchy War Memorial Pool.

The all-abilities artwork was another part of the project that received particularly positive feedback.

Seeing the ripple installed at full scale, I was especially glad I had spent so long refining this element. The final colour relationships and pattern are among my favourite details in the entire commission. Up close, the ripple gives the composition a richness and movement that I think would have been lost if I had settled on an earlier version.

Credits