'Reimagine' was a participatory art project and exhibition based on the collaboration of eleven artists responding to the redevelopment of a 'Do It Yourself' skate park in Central Wollongong, New South Wales. In 2019 a large carpark in the Wollongong CBD had been transformed (with the approval of its private owners) into a skate park by a group of people who wanted to manually reconstruct the space into a location that could be shared actively, creatively and inclusively.
Redevelopment has now erased the skatepark, but the same spirit of invention and community remains among the people who came together there.
Eleven artists from the community responded to the site with artworks (made with a variety of media including photography, sculpture, textiles, painting, glass, graff work and drawing) that were exhibited at Project Contemporary Artspace, Wollongong, in July 2022.
The exhibition, curated by Tom Williams. memorialised the site and its social and cultural significance, while also becoming one means of preserving community connection and its spirit of collaborative reinvention.
Photographs without captions are by Tom Williams.
Artworks by other artists involved in the project and exhibition are captioned with the artist’s name, title and media.
Artists:
Sarah Cameron, Simon de Mayo, Keanan Garret, Ryan Grant, Seiji Hirajima, Megan Low, Mark Merrikan, Will Morgan, Marlon Roche, Brett Scar, Tom Willams.
