Melbourne was doing what Melbourne does best this evening. As I made my way from work to ANVAM (Australian National Veterans Arts Museum), the rain arrived and I reached the introduction session for the Veterans Public Arts Trail slightly damp.
Despite getting rained on, I had a wonderful evening.
I was there to learn more about becoming a volunteer tour guide for the trail, an opportunity that brings together so many things I care deeply about: veterans and their families, creativity, storytelling, curiosity and the stories held within the places around us.
I first experienced the Veterans Public Arts Trail in July 2022. At the time, I was blown away by how significantly veteran artists, veteran family members and the wider veteran community have shaped the city of Melbourne.
Their work was everywhere, waiting to be discovered.
There were sculptures I had previously walked past without knowing the stories behind them, murals whose deeper meaning I had never stopped to consider, and buildings I had entered without realising they had been designed or created by people connected to the veteran community.
It changed the way I saw Melbourne.
Now, when I wander through the city, I find myself looking at familiar streets through a fresh perspective. My eyes are wider open, filled with curiosity and wonder about the stories held within the places, buildings and artworks around me.
When you “look up from the ground”, you begin to see your everyday surroundings differently.
You stop simply moving from one destination to another and begin noticing what is above you, beside you and sometimes hidden in plain sight. A building becomes more than part of the city skyline. A sculpture becomes more than something you pass on the way to work. A mural becomes a doorway into another person’s experiences, ideas and contribution.
As far as can currently be established, Melbourne’s Veterans Public Arts Trail is the only known trail of its kind in the world, and I am excited to be part of this amazing experience.
If you are in Melbourne, I wonder how many times you have wandered past, or even been inside, the work of veteran artists without realising it?
Over more than 100 years, members of the veteran artist community, including family members, have helped shape Melbourne’s skyline, landscape and distinctive character through 3D sculptures, 2D murals, architecture and many other forms of public art.
Approximately 65 veteran community artists are represented along the trail, which stretches for around 2.5 kilometres through the city. That may not sound particularly long, but there is so much to see, learn about and be inspired by along the way.
It is not simply a collection of artworks. It is a living story of creativity, service, family, identity and contribution.
Public art has a wonderful way of connecting people with stories they might never encounter through more formal records. It invites us to pause, ask questions and consider the people behind the work. In the case of the Veterans Public Arts Trail, it also challenges some of the narrow assumptions people may hold about veterans and the wider veteran community.
Veterans are not represented only through military memorials or stories of service. They have also shaped the cultural, creative and architectural identity of the places in which we live.
Their influence can be seen in the buildings surrounding us, the sculptures occupying public spaces and the murals adding colour and meaning to the city. Veteran family members have also played an important part in this artistic legacy, reinforcing that the veteran community is broader and more diverse than many people realise.
Perhaps that is part of what makes the trail so powerful. It does not ask people to enter a museum or attend a special exhibition. The stories are already woven into Melbourne.
We simply need to notice them.
Becoming a volunteer tour guide will give me the opportunity to learn much more about the artists, artworks and stories connected to the trail, and then help other people experience the city through those same curious, wide-open eyes.
For me, that feels like a wonderful meeting point between so many things I care about: veterans and their families, creativity, storytelling, community, curiosity and helping people see possibilities that may previously have been hidden from view.
As always, it was also wonderful catching up and chatting with Mark Johnston and Tanja Johnston. There is something very special about spending time with people who care deeply about preserving these stories and helping others understand the contribution veteran artists have made to Melbourne.
I cannot wait to undertake the training and become part of this amazing experience.
Sometimes loving your tribe means supporting the people within it.
Sometimes it means helping their stories to be heard.
And sometimes it means encouraging people to look up from the ground and discover that those stories have been around them all along.
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Jenn Barfield - Holistic Clarity Coaching 