Rosalie Village creative placemaking outcomes

The community was invited to share their ideas for public space improvements for the Rosalie Village Precinct Project. In response to community feedback and building on public art curator Artfully’s creative framework, artists Eleanor and James Avery have created a contemporary sculpture celebrating place and community at Rosalie Village.

James and Eleanor Avery have collaborated on sculpture, installation and public art projects since 2004. Their work explores hierarchies, and value systems which they reinterpret and reformulate with a sense of humour and postmodern irony.

Rosie-Lee (2023) is a vibrant artwork that references the name of Rosalie and its associated iconography, overlaid with references to local historical and geographical sites and the social culture of the area. ‘Rosie-Lee’ is Australian rhyming slang for ‘cup of tea’, making reference to social meet-ups and the local café culture in the Rosalie community. The cut-outs on the sculpture’s rolled, fluted and channelled rose forms reference the rose windows from the nearby Sacred Heart Church, while the red colouring draws inspiration from the naming of Red Jacket Swamp, now Gregory Park. The roses sit on a channelled plinth which represents a crossroads and the concept of coming together, convergence, community, and a meeting place which bridges the past, present and future.

Rosie-Lee is a 2-metre-high painted aluminium and stainless steel sculpture. It consists of 3 rose forms fabricated from rolled, fluted, welded, polished and painted laser-cut aluminium sheet. They sit on a base fabricated from laser-cut and fully welded aluminium sheet, finished with a brushed surface.

Image gallery

Rosie-Lee (2023) by James and Eleanor Avery. Fabricated by Mike Mooney of Stainless Aesthetics, Brisbane.