"It's a bird, it’s a plane ... it’s a flying bronze sculpture.
A swan song to the Maroochy Shire was unveiled at Nelson Park at Alexandra Headland yesterday – a $130,000 bronze sculpture representing the area’s emblem, the black swan, ready to take flight next to an egret, the emblem of Maroochy’s sister city in China, Xiamen.
After three years of planning and controversy surrounding the cost of the project, the final product, weighing a massive 1.5 tonnes, was lifted into place by a crane yesterday.
Local Kenilworth artists Elli Schlunke and Tony Reay had a hand in the creation of the sculpture, which was constructed by Chinese artist Min Yi Ming.
“The idea of it was to use both cities’ emblems as a way of connecting the two, and for that reason we’ve called it 'sisters by choice',” Elli said.
“In some ways it has lost a bit of its significance now that the three councils have merged, but it’s also a record of part of that history of the area and of an era that has just finished.”
Former Maroochy Shire Mayor Joe Natoli, who championed the project after a similar sculpture was unveiled in Xiamen last year, defended the cost of the artwork and said at the time the statue was cheaper than the one in China and would be an outstanding piece of artwork for the Coast.
Tony said originally the statue was to go in the water, but due to its size – the swan has a wingspan of 6.3m while the egret stands 3.4m high – it was decided the statue would take pride of place on a small island situated in the centre of the park.
Chinese artist Min Yi Ming said it took almost a year to create the sculpture, which was constructed by placing bronze sheets over a steel frame and belting them into shape."
