When the METRONET Thornlie-Cockburn Link Project opens in mid-2025, commuters will be treated to four locally themed artworks across the new Thornlie, Ranford Road and Nicholson Road stations.
Created by seven artists, the pieces will celebrate the surrounding environment of each station, as well as Noongar culture and connection to Country - creating welcoming spaces for communities while supporting local emerging and established Western Australian artists.
Passengers taking the train from the new Nicholson Road Station will be greeted by a sculpture at the station’s forecourt. Created by artists Penelope Forlano and Marcia McGuire, the organic shape represents a flame or young plant shoot rising from an intricately etched concrete seating platform.
The sculpture will be lit and change from green during the day to red at night. Green symbolises life, fertility and rebirth, and red represents fire - a catalyst for many native plant species' seeds to transform into new life.
Artists: Penelope Forlano and Marcia McGuire
Nicholson Road Station will also feature a perforated screen around the nearby waterhole with designs by artist Darryl Bellotti. The intricate patterns will depict the Waugal (a Noongar dreamtime ancestral serpent), the waterholes around the station, and the traditional People and their pathways around these locations.
Artist: Darryl Bellotti
At the entrance to Ranford Road Station, a large-scale linear artwork by artists Alexander Knox and Eliza Hutchison will embody the movement of emus (Waitj) in the landscape as they form mountain-like shapes and their meandering footprints trace pathways through the environment.
Artist: Darryl Bellotti
Thornlie Station, which will have an extended platform and new concourse, will boast bright panoramic artwork on the walls of the station’s staircase and platform. Garden-themed sketches by Yale Primary School students will feature in the final artwork, creating a sense of identity and connection for the local community.
Artists Arif Satar and Audrey Fernandes-Satar
Click here to learn more about public art on the Thornlie-Cockburn Link, which aligns closely with the METRONET Public Art Strategy.