WARRACKNABEAL is one step closer to getting a statue of former resident and famed musician Nick Cave.
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A group of Warracknabeal Cave fans have set up a crowdfunding site, asking for donations towards the creation of the statue.
Project co-ordinator and Warracknabeal Arts Council member Peter Loy said it was great to have the project finally underway.
“The donations need to reach the magical figure of $250,000 before the statue is secure in the knowledge there is adequate money to complete the project,” he said.
“It will not only be an amazing, playful and surreal tribute to the talented writer, artist and musician but become a major tourist attraction for Warracknabeal and the region.”
Conversations around the creation of a statue have circulated since 2008, when Mr Cave himself was pushing the idea.
Mr Loy said he was thrilled London-based sculptor Corin Johnson was on board with the project.
“It was first discussed when Corin Johnson bumped into Nick Cave and his band The Bad Seeds while Corin was working on the Lady Diana Spencer memorial at Althrorp Estate in Northamptonshire England,” he said.
“From that chance meeting, plans were hatched of a humorous statue that presented Cave in a manner that the British tabloids had characterised him.
“The concept was developed further by Corin and he eventually presented Cave with a 300mm Marquette.”
The bronze prototype of the statue depicts Cave riding a horse shirtless.
Mr Loy said the statue would help drive tourists to the region.
“The project is seen by the Statue Group in Warracknabeal as a vehicle to increase tourism and link it to opportunities for the youth in Yarriambiack Shire,” he said.
“It will draw on the tourist potential of the statue to provide training and employment opportunities for young people in the district.
“Opportunities in all aspects of tourism could provide avenues for young people to improve skills in a wide and varied range of vocations.”
Nick Cave was born in Warracknabeal in 1957, and his family moved away from the town in 1960.
“Nick Cave’s parents, Dawn and Colin Cave, where instrumental in the Arts scene of Warracknabeal in the 1950s and early 60s,” he said.
“Dawn was a busy mother of four children a librarian and musician, and Colin was an English teacher at Warracknabeal High School and busy in production, acting and promotion of the dramatic arts.”
Mr Loy said people could donate to the Nick Cave Statue and the Cave Foundation by heading to the group’s crowdfunding page.
