The Southern Way

In 2013, three monumental contemporary sculptures were installed along the Peninsula Link freeway in Melbourne’s south east as part of a unique and award-winning commitment to public art – the Southern Way McClelland Commissions.

Established in 2013 as a Public Private Partnership between Southern Way and McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery, this ongoing program of iconic artworks has established the Mornington Peninsula as an internationally significant hub for public art and contemporary sculpture.

The series alternates every two years between sites at Skye Road and Cranbourne Road along Peninsula Link, which will result in 14 commissions over a 25-year period to 2037. Southern Way generously donates funding for the sculptures in giving back to the community of Frankston and Langwarrin. After four years on public display the commissions become part of McClelland’s permanent collection in its 16-hectare sculpture park. McClelland was awarded the Creative Partnerships Australia 2013 SME Award for its work with Southern Way’s Peninsula Link Freeway through this initiative.

Commissions to date include Louise Paramor’s Panorama station, which resembles a space-station and is permanently located on Peninsula Link at the EastLink interchange. Dean Colls’ work Rex Australis: The King is dead, long live the King is located at McClelland Sculpture Park. Phil Price’s wind-activated kinetic sculpture, Tree of life, has found its new home at McClelland. At the Cranbourne Road site, Gregor Kregar’s chrome gnome titled Reflective lullaby has been replaced by Love flower by John Meade with Emily Karanikolopoulos. Michael Riddle’s Iconoclast, a transmission tower crushed under the weight of a boulder, has recently been replaced at Skye Rd by Manon Van Kouswijk’s Peninsula pearls.