Nylex Clock street art festival a $1m goal for Stynes’ charity
Jim Stynes’ legacy is set to get a $1 million kick forward that could paint it in a whole new light.
The footballer and youth advocate’s Reach Foundation will be the beneficiary of a street art festival descending on the iconic Nylex Clock site later this month.
It is hoped the host of 25 artists including David Bromley, Anthony Lister, Julian Clavijo and internationals Ben Eine and Elle, will attract thousands of exhibition visitors and some high-priced art auction sales totalling at $1 million.
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It will be launched as a short-term art gallery for a 10-day festival site titled Untold at Caydon Property Group’s Malt District project — better known as the home of the Nylex Clock and silos — later this month.
Reach chief executive Chris Naish says the festival will ensure the charity’s future in a competitive charitable environment in Melbourne.
“They were all very, very positive,” Naish says.
An artist impression of restorations to be made to the Malt House and incorporated Caydon’s Malt District development.
“They love the site and they want to use their creativity on the site.”
According to Naish, the response from a long list of international and local artists has been surprising and heartening.
Art will be themed around untold stories related to people, places and transformation — fitting given the redevelopment of the former brewery as a residential, retail, office and hotel precinct.
The exhibition will also be the public’s first chance to see the development site.
Caydon chief executive Joe Russo says he felt The Malt District would be a perfect venue for the exhibition on behalf of Reach.
Artist David Bromley working on a mural.
“With Melbourne being the cultural and arts capital of Australia, it is a source of immense pride that this initiative has attracted such a large and high-profile group of young artists to Melbourne,” Russo says.
The developer recently draped the silos in a canvas artwork by Julian Clavijo visible to traffic passing along Punt Rd.
The $1 million target will help Reach show disadvantaged youth how to be resilient and build strength to make good decisions, and expand the frequency of camps and workshops.
UK-based artist Ben Eine transforming the facade of The Reach Foundation’s Abbotsford headquarters on April 9, 2018.
Ben Eine, a UK-based artist who has had work gifted to former US president Barack Obama, has also started painting the Abbotsford headquarters of The Reach Foundation.
“It’s all helping make Reach more prominent and appealing to young people,” Naish says.
“The Reach foundation are just so grateful for the opportunity of all these international and local artists coming out.”
The Malt District development was earlier this year cleared to proceed with the second stage of its development, adding 258 apartments to its first stage.
The unfurling of the art piece on the Nylex Clock silos. Picture Andrew Tauber.
A mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments are for sale in its first stage.
The exhibition will be the first chance for the public to see how the development site has been transformed since Caydon commenced work at the site.
The Untold exhibition will commence on April 19, with tickets available for $10 at untold.melbourne.
This article from the Herald Sun first appeared as “Malt District urban art festival at Melbourne’s Nylex Clock site to raise funds for Jim Stynes-founded Reach Foundation”.
