IPSWICH is poised to become Australia’s next great street-art city – if it has the confidence to put its own stories on the walls.
Australia’s first street-art consultant, Matt Tervo, says Ipswich already has the raw ingredients – rich history, distinctive character and creative talent – to turn its streets into an outdoor gallery.
“The biggest opportunity is solving problems,” Tervo said.
“For too long artists have done a poor job of articulating our value.
“We ask for funding because art is good, but councils need to know why it’s valuable.
“Street art lifts the visual amenity of a place, attracts people, creates economic activity and helps activate spaces that have been sitting dormant.”
Rather than simply decorating walls, Tervo sees street art as the catalyst that encourages people to explore a city.
“We make a place beautiful and then the food trucks come, boutique businesses move in, community groups become active and cafes benefit,” he said.
“We convert beige walls into colour, but what follows behind that is where the real value is.”
He believes Ipswich’s underutilised buildings could become one of the city’s greatest strengths.
“Unfortunately, there are too many vacant buildings,” he said.
“But that also means there are a lot of canvases.”
Rather than viewing empty shopfronts as a problem, Tervo believes they can become part of a broader strategy to revitalise the CBD while encouraging visitors to spend time and money throughout the city.
“If you can create an effective street art trail, people catch the 50-cent train to Ipswich, walk through the city, discover murals, stop at cafes, restaurants and pubs and explore places they otherwise wouldn’t have visited,” he said.
While murals have become tourism drawcards across Australia, Tervo believes Ipswich has something many regional cities lack, with an authentic story waiting to be told.
“We’ve got rail manufacturing, coal mining, rugby league, floods, First Nations history, incredible architecture, industry and culture,” he said.
“You could create murals that each tell one chapter of Ipswich’s story, and by the time someone has walked through the city, they’ve genuinely learnt something about the place.”
Today, his consultancy continues to grow, but Ipswich remains close to his heart with his family’s connection to the city stretching back generations, and he believes preserving Ipswich’s identity has never been more important.
“My biggest fear is that Ipswich just becomes Western Brisbane,” he said.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said Ipswich City Council was proud to support the growth of local creatives who share their talents across the State.
“Seeing the successes of local artists like Matt Tervo is something that all of Ipswich can be proud of, inspiring our creative community to bigger and better things every day,” she said.
With Brisbane 2032 now just six years away, Tervo believes the time to act is now.
