A BIG koala project for Port Macquarie-Hastings is underway and aims to capture the essence of the region and celebrate our place as the koala capital of the world.
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The Hello Koalas project is in its infancy and will include the commissioning of two 2.5m tall koala sculptures for placement at key locations, one being at a new tourism precinct by Forestry NSW at Cowarra State Forest which will also include a world-class wild koala breeding sanctuary.
The breeding facility will be managed by the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.
The public art project, which comes under the umbrella of Arts and Health Australia, is being directed by Margret Meagher.
The location of the Port Macquarie big koala has not yet been determined but its commissioning complements plans for a koala sculpture park.
Mrs Meagher hopes to have the big koala unveiled at the 2020 Hello Koalas Festival on September 26-27 in Port Macquarie.
Local artists will be commissioned to paint the sculpture which Mrs Meagher says will encapsulate everything that makes Port Macquarie-Hastings unique.
The fiberglass model will be poured by John Belfield at Johns River who has been instrumental in the creation of the koalas featured along the popular sculpture trail.
Over 8-10 weeks, artists will then create a design that portrays the species of koala specific to the region.
"Our vision is to create a koala that is bears an iconic Greater Port Macquarie design," Mrs Meagher said.
"When we first commenced designing the sculpture we consulted with Cheyenne Flanagan at the koala Hospital and engaged one of our digital designers to work with her to create an accurate representation of the koalas that live in and around Port Macquarie.
"The design will be seen as an authentic representation of the way our koalas look.
"It's not a generic koala, it's a true blue Port Macquarie koala. We have been working on design ideas since 2013 - it's been a long time in the process."
Mrs Meagher said the big koala will be like looking at a 3D map of Greater Port Macquarie and will feature major geographic landforms including North Brother mountain, Bago Bluff, the Coastal Walk and important environmental tourism attractions like Sea Acres and the Koala Hospital.
Hello Koalas is also working closely with the Greater Port Macquarie Tourism Association and National Parks and Wildlife on the development of a koala sculpture park concept. A location for the sculpture park is yet to be confirmed.
"From a bushfire recovery aspect this is very important to us and from a community recovery process around COVID-19, we feel this is an enormously positive way to embrace community and boost tourism which also has a social and economic flow on," Mrs Meagher said.
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