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On 28 April 2025 at dusk begins to settle at 5pm, an illuminated bench seat marking the closure of the iconic Liddell Power Station will be unveiled outside Muswellbrook Library. The remarkable work has been created by artist-blacksmith Will Maguire – much of it “smithed” from pieces collected from the Liddell site. Its intriguing design includes two smokestacks like the power station itself, and a journey from coal to generator to wires.
The work was commissioned as a piece of public art by Arts Upper Hunter. “It’s an unusual and significant artwork,” according to AUH director John O’Brien, “exploring the journey of electricity – it even lights up!”
The bench will be unveiled on the second anniversary of the shutdown of Liddell’s last generator in 2023.
For Maguire the challenge was to create something that offered positivity without glossing over difficult questions we all must ask ourselves.
‘This seat is built from the industrial bones of high pressures and hard work. It sits next to the highway providing restorative rump support for all, with ample room for your neighbour. Liddell’s history is one of both public good providing electricity to NSW, alongside public harm with its extensive warming emissions on a disrupted planet. This forms an ongoing tension we all must deal with. A publicly available circular bench made with pressure pipes, old nuts and ‘King Dick’ spanners ripe for a chat.’
The bench seat is one of the last elements in the LiddellWORKS creative program marking the closure. A partnership between AGL, Arts Upper Hunter, Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre and Singleton Arts + Cultural Centre, this huge multi-artform program honoured the legacy of the workers but still spoke to the future. Public programs gave workers and the public the chance to create and make work themselves. There was even a nationally broadcast debate on the future of the valley.
“The power station’s time had passed but it really did deserve to be memorialised,” according to O’Brien.
LiddellWORKS, including the bench seat, was funded by the Department of Regional NSW’s Stronger Country Communities Fund and supported by AGL. Muswellbrook Shire Council have contributed time, engineering and staff to getting the seat in place.
The public are warmly invited to attend the unveiling at 5pm on 28 April 2025.
Image: AGL’s Rob Cooper, AUH’s Marina Lee Warner, and Will Maguire give the seat a try in Maguire’s workshop.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
126 Bridge St, Muswellbrook NSW 2333, Australia, 126 New England Hwy, Muswellbrook NSW 2333, Australia,Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Cessnock
