Somebody is stealing the artwork of the Gold Coast. Not work from galleries, however bronze sculptures, bolted to concrete in parks and public areas.
In one of the brazen incidents, Solar Spirit, a beloved bikini-clad statue by the veteran artist Frank Miles, vanished from its plinth at Currumbin seaside throughout Cyclone Alfred 4 months in the past. Locals imagine the noise of the storm camouflaged the rowdy enterprise of separating the 100kg bronze statue from its anchor factors with an angle noticed.
“I’ve obtained 4 public works on the Gold Coast and three have been stolen,” Miles says.
“One time, they simply discovered the pinnacle at a scrap supplier. It seems like they’re simply taking them for scrap.”
However in an surprising second act, the lacking Solar Spirit appeared to resurface – virtually 1,000km away, lounging by a swimming pool in an actual property itemizing for a property in Curl Curl, on Sydney’s northern seashores.
Tipped off by a Gold Coast actual property agent concerning the Sydney property itemizing, native surfie Nicka Atkins posted the sighting in a video on his Instagram account.
“Oh my God, are you kidding me? Look, I’m not accusing anyone of something, however that positive seems like Solar Spirit to me,” he wrote, superimposing his physique on to the Sydney actual property itemizing video.
“To say I’ve been ready for at the present time for a very long time is an understatement. Take a look at this … Come on viewers, inform me is that the Solar Spirit statue sitting down in seaside in an actual property video proper now. Are you kidding me?”
The sculpture’s obvious reappearance triggered a wave of on-line hypothesis and media frenzy. The Gold Coast eating precinct Oxley supplied a $5,000 reward for info. Atkins made it on to Nine’s The Today Show, providing a reward of two cartons of beer for extra info.
Quickly accusations started to fly towards the house owners of the Sydney property, Annette and Brett Straatemeier.
“Abruptly it was simply ding, ding, ding – the cellphone wouldn’t cease,” Annette Straatemeier says. “Individuals had been tagging the police, calling us thieves, threatening to return take her again. It was wild.”
‘It’s not about artwork – it’s about melting it down’
Amid all of the furore, nobody contacted the artist or the owners – till Atkins himself despatched a mate down south to research.
The Straatemeiers swore they’d purchased the sculpture from Miles practically 20 years in the past. The artist confirmed the provenance, saying he had forged three Solar Spirits, modelled from his daughter however bigger than lifesize, and had offered one to the Sydney couple for $20,000, which they’d affectionately named Sheila. The third iteration nonetheless stands in his studio.
Fairly than retreat from the chaos, the Straatemeiers leaned into the second, in search of a solution to rework the misunderstanding into one thing constructive. Longtime supporters of the Starlight Youngsters’s Basis, they determined to donate the sculpture to the Gold Coast council, to take the place of the stolen one, but only if $50,000 could be raised for Starlight.
“We thought, if everyone seems to be so invested on this statue, then let’s do one thing lovely with it,” Annette mentioned. “The Gold Coast will get a sculpture again, Starlight raises cash for sick children, and Sheila will get a brand new life.”
A contrite Atkins pledged to steer the fundraising drive.
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“Annette and Brett are these superb, great philanthropist individuals who elevate all this cash for Starlight Children Basis,” he says.
“We’ve turn out to be associates and I’m about to satisfy them for the primary time subsequent week after I come to Sydney, in order that’s going to be actually cool.”
“We’ve accomplished nothing, actually,” Annette says. “We simply wished to make some good out of a really unusual second. When life offers you lemons, make limoncello.”
Miles, nonplussed concerning the spate of lacking public sculptures lately, says he’s deeply moved by the gesture.
“It’s extremely beneficiant,” he says. “I believe it’s a beautiful supply.”
With bronze fetching about $4 a kilogram, he believes the thefts are motivated by cash.
“It’s not concerning the artwork for these folks – it’s about melting it down.”
Considered one of his different sculptures, Melody, has survived two tried thefts, although not unscathed.
“She used to have a bugle,” he says. “Now she’s solely obtained half of 1.”
The Gold Coast mayor, Tom Tate, declined to debate the spate of thefts.
A Gold Coast councillor, Gail O’Neill, says a big bronze pelican mounted on a timber pole in close by Robert Neumann Park has additionally vanished since Solar Spirit’s disappearance in February.
Gold Coast police say investigations proceed.
