Explore Brisbane’s Outdoor Gallery and public art collection. Find cultural events and creative opportunities.
Public art in Brisbane is an important expression of our city’s culture and creativity.
It includes sculptures, murals and street art that:
Available for everyone to admire, these artworks are easily accessible. Head to an outdoor exhibition in the city or explore public art installations across Brisbane’s streets and alleyways.
Council supports an exciting program of art exhibitions, events and projections.
Council's Outdoor Gallery turns Brisbane's laneways, streets and car parks into imaginative spaces for everyone. It showcases art in light boxes, banners, vitrines and evening projections.
Living Observatory transforms Brisbane’s Outdoor Gallery into a city-wide exploration of citizen science, observation and care, inviting audiences to discover the many ways communities connect with the natural world. Brisbane is defined by its outdoor lifestyle, subtropical environment and remarkable biodiversity. Wildlife exists alongside us throughout the city, from birds and insects in suburban backyards and urban parks to marine life in the river and Moreton Bay. This exhibition is curated by Michelle Brown and runs until 11 April 2027.
This exhibition is delivered as part of the 2027 World Science Festival Brisbane presented by Queensland Museum.
Fish Lane, South Brisbane
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Field Observations, 2024-2026
About the artwork
Field Observations reflects the artist’s love of spending time by water and watching wildlife. Slowing down beside a natural waterway offers an opportunity to connect with nature and observe the rich diversity of species that inhabit these environments. Through photography, these moments not only support one’s mental wellbeing but also contribute to citizen science by documenting the sightings onto databases.
About the artist
Josh Topfer is an avid birdwatcher and photographer from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. His practice is informed by active contributions to citizen science initiatives, including eBird and iNaturalist. Through his images, he invites audiences to look more closely at the remarkable diversity of birdlife that inhabits South East Queensland.
https://www.instagram.com/joshtopfer/
Heritage Lanes, Brisbane City
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Kinyingarra Guwinyanba, Quandamooka Country, 2022
About the artwork
Kinyingarra Guwinyanba (which means ‘place of oyster rocks’ in local language) is a hand-built sculptural formation that returns material and knowledge to Country, creating living sculptures for the future. Situated in the intertidal zone on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) in Moreton Bay, the work forms part of an ongoing collaboration with her community and Country. ‘Off Country’ iterations have been presented in numerous exhibitions, extending the project’s dialogue across different contexts and audiences.
About the artist
Megan Cope is a multidisciplinary artist and Quandamooka woman from South East Queensland whose practice encompasses sculptural installation and public art. Through a socially engaged approach, she applies Indigenous stewardship, cultural continuity and custodial ethics as forms of contemporary art practice. Drawing from inherited Indigenous knowledge systems and collaborative processes, her work highlights the interconnected relationships between land and sea ecosystems and communities. She has exhibited widely in Australia and internationally, and her art often invites public participation, blurring the lines between maker, material and audience.
https://www.instagram.com/nutmegandhoney/
Musuem of Brisbane, Brisbane City
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Complex Ecologies: Evergreens at Dusk (Iteration II), 2026
About the artwork
Complex Ecologies: Evergreens at Dusk (Iteration II) is part of an ongoing series exploring the significance of native plant life in Tamika Grant-Iramu’s sense of belonging and connection to place. Growing up in Brisbane, her memories of everyday moments and familiar neighbourhoods are intimately connected with the subtropical environment of the city. Through this work, Grant-Iramu celebrates native flora and the way it shapes personal and collective connections to one’s notion of home. Tamika has worked with animator, Sai Karlen, to realise this artwork.
About the artist
Tamika Grant-Iramu is a Brisbane-based printmaker whose practice explores the translation of works on paper into textiles, interior furnishings, murals and public art. Grounded in close observations of her natural environment, she employs relief-print carving as a means to capture her visceral impression of place. With printmaking at the heart of her creative process, Grant-Iramu enlarges and elevates often overlooked botanical details by bringing them into the foreground of her large-scale public art commissions, inviting closer attention to the natural world.
https://www.instagram.com/tamikamaree.art
King George Square Car Park, 100 Adelaide Street, Brisbane City
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tide times, 2025
About the artwork
tide times is a deck of intertidal divination cards created in collaboration with the Australasian Mangrove and Saltmarsh Network. Each card represents an organism or process related to tidal wetland habitats in Australasia, along with associated stories about survival, diversity, adaptation and connections within these dynamic marine shoreline habitats.
About the artist
Caitlin Franzmann is a Brisbane-based artist working in installation, sound, performance and community-based projects. In reaction to the sensory overstimulation of contemporary urban life, she encourages people to slow down and pay closer attention to their surroundings and interactions with nature. By creating thoughtful and engaging experiences in galleries and public spaces, she fosters conversation and reflection on local histories, ecosystems and environmental issues. Franzmann has exhibited across Australia and internationally, with exhibitions at the National Gallery of Victoria, Kyoto Art Centre and the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia.
https://www.instagram.com/caitlinfranzmann
Irish Lane, Brisbane City
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Kaboora #1, 2025
Enoggera Reservoir, 2025
About the artwork
Kaboora #1 (left) and Enoggera Reservoir (right) are images from Thom Ryan’s experimental infrared photographic practice where he explores how different photographic processes allow viewers to access colours of electromagnetic radiation outside the visual spectrum of light. Enoggera reservoir was the first major dam built in colonial Queensland. Kaboora has been one of the most stable freshwater ecosystems on the continent for thousands of years. Juxtaposing images of these 2 bodies of waterinvite contemplation of the history of land, water, environment and culture in South East Queensland.
About the artist
Thom Ryan is an emerging photographer based in Brisbane/Meanjin whose work investigates the natural and built environment. His recent body of work focuses on the consequences of human intervention on the landscape, which he explores through durational alternative photographic processes (which are non-traditional image-making techniques that rely on extended exposure times) and the synthetic composition of diverse visual elements to create abstract and contemplative images. Ryan also writes regularly on culture and photography and has a background in academic philosophy.
Edward Street & Queen Street (Vitrine 1), Brisbane
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Reverse Sky Pendulum, 2026
About the artwork
Reverse Sky Pendulum is part of an ongoing body of work created using a reverse-dyeing technique, where bleach is applied to cotton canvas. Made under the open sky, these works feature rhythmic patterns that evoke the movement of celestial bodies. Their imperfections are integral to the work, reflecting both the artist’s hand and the natural unpredictability of liquid moving across the canvas.
About the artist
Sandra Selig’s artworks poetically evoke ideas and phenomena spanning both quantum and cosmic scales of existence. Her works often incorporate everyday materials, electric light and sound, and more recently have engaged elemental forces such as wind and gravity. Selig’s work is held in major Australian collections, including MONA Museum, Queensland Art Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia and Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. She is represented by Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
Edward Street & Elizabeth Street (Vitrine 2), Brisbane
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Bird Cage Song, 2026
About the artwork
Bird Cage Song is a place-based installation that translates the songs of Brisbane’s common bird species into sculptural soundwaves. Creating a visual and interactive way of observing urban biodiversity, this work reflects on how wildlife adapts within increasingly constrained urban environments. As human activity continues to reshape ecosystems, birds persist within these changing conditions, their songs acting as enduring expressions of resilience, presence and communication.
About the artist
Matthew Somers is a musician and sound artist known for his work across bands and his experimental audio practice. He gained international recognition as a member of I Heart Hiroshima and currently performs with Brisbane punk rock band Total Pace and the dance-punk project Trim Reaper. His sound work combines layered loops, effects-driven processing and immersive soundscapes, blurring the boundaries between music, performance and installation.
https://www.instagram.com/contackmusick/
Edison Lane, Brisbane City
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Burnett Heads at Dawn, 2017
About the artwork
Sandy Harvey’s artwork, Burnett Heads at Dawn is featured in Edison Lane. Harvey’s practice is grounded in attentive observation, capturing fleeting moments that reveal the rhythms of tides, light and the diverse lives these environments sustain. As an Aboriginal artist, her deep cultural connection to water and custodianship of living systems inform the way she observes and creates. The work invites viewers to slow down and connect with the subtle patterns, relationships and energies that animate coastal landscapes.
About the artist
Sandy Harvey’s practice engages with the idea of a living observatory through an attentive, embodied witnessing of water and wildlife as both subjects and storytellers. As an Aboriginal artist, she holds a deep cultural connection to water and a strong sense of custodianship for living systems, which shapes the way she observes and creates. Working across ocean surfaces, waterscapes, landscapes and wildlife, Harvey employs a range of techniques to reveal subtle shifts in light, movement and rhythms in our natural environments.
https://www.instagram.com/sandycappuccino
Eagle Lane, Brisbane City
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Seaworld Starfish, 2018-2019
Hatchling Finding the Sea, Oaks Beach, 2018-2019
About the artwork
Sandy Harvey’s artworks, SeaWorld Starfish (top) and Hatchling Finding the Sea, Oaks Beach (bottom), are featured in Eagle Lane. Harvey’s practice is grounded in attentive observation, capturing fleeting moments that reveal the rhythms of tides, light and the diverse lives these environments sustain. As an Aboriginal artist, her deep cultural connection to water and custodianship of living systems inform the way she observes and creates. The work invites viewers to slow down and connect with the subtle patterns, relationships and energies that animate coastal landscapes.
About the artist
Sandy Harvey’s practice engages with the idea of a living observatory through an attentive, embodied witnessing of water and wildlife as both subjects and storytellers. As an Aboriginal artist, she holds a deep cultural connection to water and a strong sense of custodianship for living systems, which shapes the way she observes and creates. Working across ocean surfaces, waterscapes, landscapes and wildlife, Harvey employs a range of techniques to reveal subtle shifts in light, movement and rhythms in our natural environments.
https://www.instagram.com/sandycappuccino
Eagle Lane, Brisbane City
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Waiting, longing and growing, 2023-2025
About the artwork
Waiting, longing and growing is a series of images featuring local and introduced plant species photographed against a neutral backdrop, allowing its gestural forms to take centre stage. Removed from their natural context, the flowers evoke a mood and invite viewers to draw upon learned associations, creating relationships between the specimens and within broader ecological and cultural systems.
About the artist
Jimmy Eng is Brisbane-based visual artist and fashion designer whose multidisciplinary practice spans photography, textile and dance. Eng’s practice seeks to create spaces for dialogue, inviting audience participation as equal collaborators in the creative process. Alongside his own work, Eng fabricates artworks for other artists, produces garments for local fashion labels and performs with community-focused dance company Bring A Plate.
https://www.instagram.com/sadasata
Giffin Lane, Brisbane City
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@OliveTheBugGirl, 2025
About the artwork
Olive the Bug Girl is a genre-bending online series that promotes environmental awareness and appreciation for insects, featuring Yirritja actress Merranda Thatcher appears as ‘Alien’. The project was created, written, directed, co-produced and developed by Lilli Corrias-Smith, and co-produced and developed by Kate Boylan-Ascione.
About the artist
@olivethebuggirl is a Queensland-based live-action online narrative project that has gained international recognition, including a Webby Award nomination. Mimicking the style of user-generated bug-themed social media content, it gradually unfolds into an ambitious ‘hope-core’ story that spans nature adventure, science fiction and mockumentary. Travelling through diverse ecosystems and papier-mâché worlds, the project explores the lives of insects while encouraging their care on our planet.
https://www.instagram.com/olivethbuggirl
Hutton Lane, Brisbane City
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Filtered Signals, 2017-2025
About the artwork
Filtered Signals explores perception through subtle shifts in image-making. Combining familiar photographic gestures with new technologies, Marek Rygielski creates works that make the ordinary feel slightly more than real. Using filters and experimental techniques, the series invites viewers to look again at what might otherwise be overlooked. Through these altered perspectives, Rygielski reflects on change, possibility and the belief that things can be different.
About the artist
Marek Rygielski is a Brisbane-based artist working with analogue and digital photography. His recent practice explores abstraction using in-camera effects. Known for his experimental documentation of Brisbane’s cultural life and outdoor landscapes, he maintains a prolific presence across social media platforms. Beyond photography, Rygielski has worked on music videos and regularly documents Brisbane gigs and performs in experimental music groups including Blend 42 from outer space.
https://www.instagram.com/lsmefilm
Howard Smith Wharves, Brisbane City
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Complex Ecologies: Evergreens at Dusk (Iteration II), 2026
About the artwork
Complex Ecologies: Evergreens at Dusk (Iteration II) is part of an ongoing series exploring the significance of native plant life in Tamika Grant-Iramu’s sense of belonging and connection to place. Growing up in Brisbane, her memories of everyday moments and familiar neighbourhoods are intimately connected with the subtropical environment of the city. Through this work, Grant-Iramu celebrates native flora and the way it shapes personal and collective connections to one’s notion of home. Tamika has worked with animator, Sai Karlen, to realise this artwork.
About the artist
Tamika Grant-Iramu is a Brisbane-based printmaker whose practice explores the translation of works on paper into textiles, interior furnishings, murals and public art. Grounded in close observations of her natural environment, she employs relief-print carving as a means to capture her visceral impression of place. With printmaking at the heart of her creative process, Grant-Iramu enlarges and elevates often overlooked botanical details by bringing them into the foreground of her large-scale public art commissions, inviting closer attention to the natural world.
https://www.instagram.com/tamikamaree.art
Outdoor Gallery’s previous exhibition, AMPLIFY ME!, celebrated local Brisbane artists with a lived experience of disability, showcasing their artwork in accessible outdoor spaces across the city. Grounded in inclusive arts practice, the exhibition encouraged collaboration and barrier‑free creativity. It supports lasting connections, inclusion and social change across Brisbane’s cultural landscape. Curated by Nicole Crosswell, the exhibition ran from 21 November 2025 to 25 October 2026.
Council's Public Art Collection showcases more than 200 artworks created by prominent Australian and international artists.
Ranging from streetscape elements to contemporary sculptures, the collection features artworks of cultural, social and financial significance.
Integrated throughout the city and surrounding suburbs, the artworks are on display for both locals and visitors to enjoy.
Explore innovative, socially inclusive and diverse arts and cultural events.
Take an art class, attend an exhibition or join in on a workshop.
Join Council’s Creative Register to receive information about creative opportunities, tenders, events and funding.
The register is open to artists, performers, producers and vendors.
When opportunities arise, we’ll contact you to:
Public art refers to artworks specifically created to be displayed in public spaces. These artworks are designed to engage and interact with a larger community or audience. They are generally accessible to everyone, regardless of background or socioeconomic status.
'Art' is a broad term that includes public art. It also covers works for private collections, galleries, museums and personal fulfilment.
You can find art made by street artists on:
Learn where you can see street art in Brisbane.
