culture
The story behind the scene and the people who created it
Local makers in Geelong have spent months shaping new cultural installations that opened this week across the city centre.
How we reported this
A team of 12 artists and technicians completed installation of a large-scale light projection work along Little Malop Street on 10 July 2026. The piece uses 48 custom-built LED panels mounted on the facade of the Geelong Arts Centre and runs nightly until 31 August.
The project gained urgency after the Melbourne International Film Festival announced its 2026 program last month. Geelong organisers wanted to draw festival visitors south along the Princes Freeway corridor before the main events begin in late July. They secured a $185,000 grant from Creative Victoria that required the work to be ready before the school holiday period.
Venues and makers in the CBD
The main control room sits inside the former post office building at 60 Moorabool Street, where three technicians monitor the system each evening. Two blocks away on Ryrie Street, volunteers from the Geelong Regional Arts network have converted a disused shopfront into a workshop that produced the aluminium frames for the panels. The same group ran weekly sessions at the National Wool Museum on Moorabool Street to test fabric diffusers that soften the light output.
These locations were chosen because they sit within the existing Little Malop Street arts precinct and already have after-hours access agreements with council. The arrangement avoided the need for new planning permits that would have delayed the July opening.
Numbers that shaped the timeline
Records from Geelong Arts Centre show 4,872 tickets sold for related workshops between March and June this year, a 31 per cent increase on the same period in 2025. Average ticket price was $28, with concessions at $18. The extra revenue covered the cost of hiring a crane for three nights to lift the heaviest panels into position.
Visitors can view the projections from 6 pm each evening at the corner of Little Malop and Moorabool streets. Printed maps are available at the Geelong Visitor Information Centre on the waterfront, and free tram rides run along Moorabool Street until 10 pm on Fridays and Saturdays for the duration of the installation.