POINTS OF INTEREST

The Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly officially called The Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central Melbourne suburb of Southbank in Victoria, Australia. It was designed by architect Sir Roy Grounds, the masterplan for the complex (along with the National Gallery of Victoria) was approved in 1960 and construction began in 1973 following some delays. The complex opened in stages, with Hamer Hall opening in 1982 and the Theatres Building opening in 1984. The Arts Centre is located by the Yarra River and along St Kilda Road, one of the city's main thoroughfares, and extends into the Melbourne Arts Precinct, with its spire a well-knwon landmark of Melbourne.

The sculptures are by Cole Sopov, who was born in Greece in 1938, and studied fine arts in Europe before immigrating to Australia in 1971. From 1973 to 1974 he attended the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, before being appointed lecturer in Fine Arts at Monash University from 1977 to 1995. Sopov was commissioned by John Truscott in 1983-84 to create two groups of figures, ‘Family of Man I’ and ‘Family of Man II’ for the entrance foyer of the Theatres Building. These two sculpture groups were moved in 2001 to their current prominent location overlooking the lawn area between the Theatres Building and Hamer Hall.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.