Working to conserve and restore water quality and wildlife habitat in Perth inner city catchments
Flora and Fauna in city art and architecture
Native plants and animals have been used to decorate items from ball gowns to city buildings.
Here are some of our favourites in the City of Perth.
This kangaroo is in the stained glass window above the entrance of the Young Australia League (YAL) building on Murray St, Perth.
Swans have been used as decoration on buildings, on bridges. Here is a particularly nice one on the front of 57 Murray St, Perth.
The Perth Mint, which was built in 1896, has banksia nuts in the decorative frieze around the outside of the building.
Gumnuts and gum leaves of the marri tree inspired this more sophisticated vent by sculptor Edward Kohler in the Karrakatta Crematorium (now demolished). Our thanks to Dr Robyn Taylor for this photo.
Swans, pelicans and cockatoos decorate the upper walls of Gleddon Arcade (corner Hay and William Streets, Perth). (Above) The University of Western Australia commissioned paintings with flora, fauna, fish and birdlife characteristic of Western Australia. The nankeen night herons (above right) can be seen today fishing from the river's edge along Mounts Bay Road at night.
Native flora was also used in design and decorative work on paper. This illuminated address, presented to the Governor in 1895 was decorated with Calothamnus quadrificus a popular garden plant today. From Wildflowers in Art by Janda Gooding (1991).
A Highgate Primary School student in 1909 used red and green kangaroo paws, cowslip orchids and a swan for this design on paper which was included in a presentation booklet given to a visiting dignitary. From Wildflowers in Art by Janda Gooding (1991).
In the good old days, when the range of available vices were much less than today, businesses such as E.S. Lazarus of Standard Place, Perth used to advertise on the back of Collector's cards included in cigarette packets. This handsome swan was one in a series of 60 cards featuring Australian birds and animals.
Wildflowers have always been an important tourism drawcard for Western Australia. This is the cover of a 1939 brochure.
