June 2020 (ROTM#138) Redhead Beach, NSW, Australia

Can art save lives at the beach? The Smart Beaches program aims to use cutting-edge technology to increase safety and improve visitor experience at four beaches in the Lake Macquarie region of NSW (south of Newcastle) and on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Lake Macquarie City Council (LMCC) is the lead organisation behind Smart Beaches and they have also developed an Art Program to educate beach visitors about beach safety. They have recently unveiled a series of fantastic murals at Redhead Beach including this one on the side of the Redhead SLSC next to the lifeguard station, which depicts a rip current, the red and yellow flags, and a lifeguard going in to save someone.

I'm not sure I've ever seen beach safety education using murals before, but it's a very large and attractive visual method that will hopefully capture people's attention when they walk past. The Smart Beaches program hopes to assess whether this, and other murals, are effective in this regard. Looks great to me! The murals were created by Daniel Joyce of the Smart Beaches Art Program and the images were provided by Tony Blunden of Smart Beaches/LMCC.

Eye catching rip art