Living in Alice

Arts @ Council


Pub­lic Art serves to cel­e­brate our her­itage and cul­tur­al diver­si­ty by cre­at­ing visu­al land­marks, which act as nat­ur­al gath­er­ing places for local sto­ry­telling and infor­ma­tion-shar­ing. Pub­lic art also enhances the visu­al expe­ri­ence for vis­i­tors and encour­age emo­tion­al con­nec­tions with our unique­ly cre­ative town.


Open Expres­sions of Inter­est (EOI)

See below for cur­rent Oppor­tu­ni­ties with­in the Alice Springs Municipality.

To be noti­fied of upcom­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties, sign up to the Artist Reg­is­ter.

1. Closed — EOI — Func­tion­al Art: Seat­ing Along the Todd River

Appli­ca­tions are being assessed.

Alice Springs Town Coun­cil invites artists (indi­vid­u­als or groups) to sub­mit an Expres­sion of Inter­est (EOI) for the devel­op­ment of a series of func­tion­al art pieces that will dou­ble as pub­lic seat­ing to be placed along the Todd River.

This project aims to pro­vide seat­ing (and could include tables) in the form of cre­ative art which will allow the user to enjoy the mag­nif­i­cence of the scenery as well as con­nect to coun­try through inter­pre­ta­tive sto­ry telling. 3 to 5 bench­es should be con­sid­ered for the project. The art­work should explore the themes of liv­ing water and focus on local sto­ries of our con­nec­tion to the Todd River. 

Expres­sion of Inter­est Brief


Pub­lic Art Masterplan

Pub­lic Art is a major draw­card for Alice Springs for tourists and our com­mu­ni­ty. Recog­nised around the world for our unique char­ac­ter, our Pub­lic Art draws inspi­ra­tion from our Town’s land­scape, peo­ple and sto­ries. Not only does Pub­lic Art pro­voke thought, but it also encour­ages sense of place with­in our community. 

To make sure we con­tin­ue to pro­vide oppor­tu­ni­ties to our cre­ative’s, the Coun­cil devel­oped the Pub­lic Art Mas­ter­plan 2020 – 2030 which was cre­at­ed after exten­sive con­sul­ta­tions with res­i­dents and the cre­ative and cul­tur­al sector. 

This Pub­lic Art Mas­ter­plan defines the vision, prin­ci­ples and a frame­work to guide deci­sion-mak­ing on future pub­lic art. 

It builds on exist­ing pub­lic art prac­tices and poli­cies and will assist Coun­cil to sup­port the devel­op­ment of a rel­e­vant, diverse and excit­ing col­lec­tion of pub­lic art in Alice Springs!

Sam­son & Delilah and Sweet Coun­try, by CTO & LINZ

Public Art Masterplan 2020-2030



Artist Reg­is­ter

Are you an Artist look­ing for upcom­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties with the Alice Spring Town Council?

To get on our mail­ing list and Artist Reg­is­ter, sub­mit your interest!

We will use this data­base to send you through upcom­ing Expres­sions of Inter­ests for pub­lic art works and keep you in mind for events and work­shops opportunities!

Oppor­tu­ni­ties are avail­able to solo musi­cians or bands, street per­form­ers, visu­al, dig­i­tal or sculp­tur­al craft artists, video­g­ra­phers and pho­tog­ra­phers, as well as facil­i­ta­tors, MC’s, come­di­ans and advocates!

For more infor­ma­tion, get in touch with the Com­mu­ni­ty & Cul­tur­al Devel­op­ment Team at 08 8950 0582.

Register your Interest on the Artist Register!

Alice Springs Town Coun­cil Art Collection

Alice Springs Town Council’s art col­lec­tion con­sists of over 350 art­works and rep­re­sents sev­er­al decades of award-win­n­ing art­works from the Cal­tex Art Award (lat­er known as the NT Art Award) and the Alice Prize.

Pieces acquired by the Cen­tral Aus­tralian Art Soci­ety and the Alice Springs Art Foun­da­tion, between 1968 and today, have been gen­er­ous­ly donat­ed to Coun­cil for the peo­ple of Alice Springs. The col­lec­tion com­pris­es a note­wor­thy 30% of the Aralu­en Art Col­lec­tion, where it is com­mon­ly held, and fea­tures around 20 paint­ed boards from the ear­ly Papun­ya peri­od – the start of the West­ern Desert Art Move­ment, famous for its Abo­rig­i­nal dot paintings.

Council’s Civic Cen­tre is home to the extra­or­di­nary Bat­tle for the Spinifex series by then local artist, Kaye Kess­ing – 11 paint­ings high­light­ing the fer­al ani­mal prob­lem in Cen­tral Aus­tralia. Kaye’s vibrant and enter­tain­ing art­works were also used as scene back­drops for an edu­ca­tion­al play which toured Aus­tralia in 1990.


Pub­lic Art Map

In Sep­tem­ber 2020 Coun­cil launched its inter­ac­tive online pub­lic art map — www​.alice​springs​.nt​.gov​.au/​a​rtmap. Hav­ing the abil­i­ty to view online, vis­it, learn and engage with more than 60 pub­lic art­works is a ben­e­fit to both locals and vis­i­tors to Alice Springs. 

The map was joint­ly fund­ed by Coun­cil and the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry Gov­ern­ment through the Vis­i­tor Expe­ri­ence Enhance­ment Program.

Hard copies of the Alice Springs Pub­lic Art Map are freely avail­able from Coun­cil recep­tion or many vis­i­tor sites around town, or you can down­load the map below!

Untyeye/​The Fork-Leaved Cork­wood Tree/​Hakea divari­car­ta and Local Birdlife by Pip McManus

View the Public Art Map


Arts in the Community

Are you an Artist in Alice Springs? Check out some of these Arts Organ­i­sa­tion that offer art groups, work­shops and oppor­tu­ni­ties for artists. 

Here are a few key con­tacts to begin your cre­ative journey:

To find out more about Pub­lic Art in Local Gov­ern­ment, check out the NAVA Love Your Local Toolk­it!