What's New Nearby

New Public Art commissions as part of the upgrade to Rowland Street Carpark and the City’s Greenwalks initiatives during February 2026.  

Installation by artists will be underway during February and we thank you for your patience during this period.

The work will impact the narrow laneway between Delisio and Dimario Italian Shoes as well as the rear of Delisio and Dallimores Homewares. (173-175 Rokeby Rd and 177 Rokeby Rd).

The laneway may be closed fully or partially during this period to prevent windborne paint debris impacting al fresco dining on Rokeby Rd. Kannis Lane (to the south, between Rowland St Carpark and Rokeby Rd provides an alternative pedestrian route).

Public artwork - Rear 173-175 Rokeby Rd

Artist: Leanne Bray

Work will be underway mid – late February 2026.  

Leanne’s new mural takes inspiration from the vivid blooms of the surrounding jacaranda and poinciana trees — and perhaps the deep red hues of the nearby Cherubino wines. The artwork reimagines the playful, curving forms of spaghetti through Leanne’s distinctive approach to pattern and repetition. With a nod to the post-painterly abstraction of the 50’s and 60’s, the geometric patterning is a direct reflection of her current studio work and her rigorous approach to abstraction.

Whet your appetite at www.leannebray.com.au

Public artwork – Laneway between 173-175 and 177 Rokeby Rd

Artist: Graeme Miles Richards

Stage one underway February 2026, with a second stage to be undertaken in April 2026

Graeme’s new mural features a collection of miniature scenes designed to be discovered up close — a perfect fit for the intimate scale of this petite laneway linking Subiaco’s main thoroughfare to the Rowland Street Carpark. Drawing upon elements featured in his earlier work Whimsey on Walmsley (next to Bar Amelie at 118 Rokeby Rd), this new piece extends the charm of Graeme’s imaginary world, where objects unexpectedly take flight, astronauts and their pets pause to ponder, and penguins fight for equal rights.

Delve further at https://graememilesrichards.com

Public artwork – Rupert St Pocket Park

This artwork is to be created by Jenny Dawson (ceramic artist) and Sandra Hill

(Nyoongar Visual Artist, Elder and cultural consultant). 

The title for the artwork is Nanninup and was chosen by Sandra Hill. Nanninup means a place to stop and rest.

Artists Jenny Dawson and Sandra Hill collaborated on their first public artwork together in Subiaco in 1998 resulting in the Subiaco Centenary Tiles Project in Postal Walk. Jenny and Sandra have gone on to make many artworks together, and each has been publicly recognised many times for their contributions to arts and culture in WA. Notably Sandra won the Red Ochre Award in 2023 for Lifetime Achievement at the Australian Council for the Arts First Nations Arts and Culture Awards, while Jenny and partner Peter Zuvela took out the Creative Industries Excellence Award in 2020.

When parts of this earlier artwork were removed as the result of the expanding roots of a nearby flooded gum tree, the City of Subiaco received an influx of queries from people who had helped make these tiles whilst primary school students in Subiaco and continued to visit them, first with their parents and later with their own children and grandchildren. Former student Nick Teraci still frequents the area when popping in for a Saturday coffee at Citizens of Brew-Ha and admires his handiwork featuring Subi wildlife “I was only eight years old when I painted that tile,” he says. “I wasn’t very good at drawing but it’s pretty cool to see it still here now.” The removed tiles are celebrated in a 2023 artwork by Jenny Dawson, Preserving Our Shared History.

In response to the continued interest in the 1998 artwork, the City of Subiaco has commissioned a new work by Jenny Dawson and Sandra Hill, working now with a 2026 group of children from Subiaco Primary School. This latest collaboration brings this intergenerational story of collaboration full circle.

Six tiles designed by Sandra Hill introduce each of the six seasons , with six more tiles set into the cast concrete seating feature the Wagyl, continuing the themes of the earlier 1998 artwork. The childrens’ designs feature local flora and fauna and reference the importance of water in this area. Bushland textures and patterns will be prominent in the design. Leaves and bush litter used in the designs are taken from the areas of remnant bushlands near and on the site enabling the work to celebrate a sense of place.

Sandra has thoroughly researched the history of this area from an Indigenous perspective which is used as the basis for her original design for the metal panel artworks set into the top surface of the cast concrete seats. Her design for this artwork represents her artistic interpretation of the Indigenous sensibility associated with the history and connection to nature of the Subiaco area. She has referenced cultural knowledge passed on to her by many Elders in particular the late Shane Pickett (an acclaimed Indigenous Visual Artist) who was also Sandra’s consultant on Indigenous history on the earlier project completed by this team in 1998 “The Subiaco Centenary Tiles Project”.

See jennydawson.com.au and Sandra Hill | AGWA for more information about each of these artists.

Wandaraguttagurrup (Subiaco)

(Written by Sandra Hill 2025)

Wandaraguttagurrup, now known as Subiaco, was used as a stopping and resting place.Aboriginal families living in the inland wheatbelt areas would follow the songlines or Bidi (tracks) that crossed over the scarp to the Booloo (Perth) floodplains to enjoy the cooler weather. Along the way they would stop and rest at Wandaraguttagurrup (Subiaco) before moving on to their final destination, the coast. Families would camp close to the ocean to fish, swim, hunt and participate in numerous recreational community activities.
The area around Lake Jualbup - ‘a place where water rises in the spring’ (Shenton Park Lake) was as welcoming to Aboriginal people as all freshwater lakes, freshwater springs and swamps were to Bibbulmun people. The areas around the lake were hunting grounds for Booyi (Long Necked Turtle), Noorook (eggs), Gilgie (Freshwater Crayfish), Kyooya (Frog) and water birds such as Kaalyuang (Brown Duck) and Maali (Black Swans), and many other Jirda (Birds). Other food resources bountiful in the area were Yonga (Kangaroo), Koomal (Brushtail Possum), Quenda (Western Brown Bandicoot), Naaren (Ringttailed Possums), Kaarda (Gould’s Monitor) and other reptiles such as snakes and lizards. Quandongs (Native peach), Bardi (witchetty grubs), Zamia nuts, Bohn (bloodroot) and Yandjet (Bullrushes) were also growing in abundance near the lake and in the wider area for people to harvest and enjoy.

The Wunnang tree (Peppermint tree) the Bibool (Paperbark Tree) and the Kwel (Sheoak) which continue to grow around Lake Jualbup held great Cultural significant to Aboriginal people back in the old times and still do today. The Bibool bark provides shelter for our winter Mia Mias (homes) which are a dome shaped form using the pliable branches of the Wunnang tree to build the frame, paper-bark was gathered and then attached to the Mia Mia frame which provided a dry shelter from the rain in the winter times. The Kwel is significantly a ‘woman’s’ tree and holds spiritual significance, when the wind blows through the needle like branches it’s believed to be the voices of our old ancestors.
Most importantly, it was a significant water source, part of an extensive wetland area that provided an abundance of food, water and shelter for Bibbulmun / Noongar people who travelled through on an annual basis. It is known that up to the 1950’s Aboriginal Custodians continued to camp, hunt and gather traditional foods at Lake Jualbup and the surrounding areas and wetlands then, transferred that Cultural knowledge on to the next generation.

Footnote: In the early days of settlement the lake was known as ‘Dyson’s swamp’ after James Dyson, it was then sold to George Shenton’s son in 1877 then, it was renamed after land developer, politician and Mayor George Shenton. The Subiaco Football Club used it and then Jualbup was used as a rubbish dump. It was then developed as a park in the 1950s / 1960s which decimated most of the natural landscape around the lake while still striving to retain the lake as a bird and tortoise sanctuary. In 1996, the City of Subiaco recognised the Cultural significance of the lake and restored its original traditional name, Jualbup.

Lake Jualbup is a Registered Aboriginal Site, one of six in Subiaco.