The Melbourne summer of 2021 will be remembered as the season of the UooUoos. The art trail celebrated 150 years of The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) and shone a light on the history of great care, as well as the importance of the community’s support in enabling this.
What was Me and UooUoo: The RCH150 Anniversary Art Trail?
The RCH marked its 150th anniversary in 2020. In recognition of this major milestone, the RCH Foundation, supported by Wild in Art, held a spectacular public art trail titled Me and UooUoo to celebrate and raise funds for the hospital.
From January to April 2021, 100 blank UooUoo (pronounced you-you) sculptures were brought to life by emerging and established Australian artists and sponsored by Victorian businesses and fundraisers. These strange, colourful creatures popped up in streets, laneways and parks across Melbourne and Geelong, and quickly found their way into the hearts of Victorians and those visiting the state.
What is UooUoo?
The concept of UooUoo was created by Alexander Knox, the artist behind the iconic sculpture Creature in the atrium of the RCH. UooUoo is an imaginary Australian creature whose shape is loosely drawn from the wombat and dugong. A mysterious being, UooUoo is highly empathetic, playful and brave, but can be mischievous at times.
Each UooUoo was decorated by an Australian artist, making it unique.
The sponsors
The RCH150 project team assessed the project to determine the various sponsorship requirements and their relevant costs, before nurturing relationships to recruit 73 partners and sponsors. The RCH Foundation would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the partners and sponsors who made the art trail possible.
These generous sponsors have helped to ensure that the RCH Foundation can continue to support the future of paediatric healthcare.
The artists
Artists, both emerging and established were invited to submit designs between 2 December 2019 and 31 January 2020. Overall, a total of 137 submissions were received from artists across Australia. The artists were free to submit a design of any medium. All designs were assessed by a volunteer art committee, with a final 100 designs being chosen.
Me and UooUoo was well received by the artists and throughout the project they were given credit with their work recognised on social media, printed media, and newsletter distributions.
UooUoo farewell event and auction
Me and UooUoo ended with a fantastic farewell event in April 2021 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre where over 3,000 people were welcomed for a final wave goodbye.
The UooUoos then went under the hammer at a fundraising auction hosted by generous sponsors Riverlee. An incredible $867,100 was raised through sales of the UooUoos, which will ensure the RCH can continue to provide world leading care to our children now and for generations to come. All 100 UooUoos are now in their forever homes around the state, country, and world.
UooUoos in the wild
There are a number of UooUoo’s that have been made available to the public which you can view below. Click on the address to view each UooUoo’s location on Google Maps.
Clinging to the Hands of Life
by Chris McQuinlan
Reception, 6 Wedgewood Road Hallam, VIC 3803 (Norwood Industries)
Rainbow Dreaming | Binbiyal Malamiya
by Sharlee Dunolly-Lee
Foyer, 575 Bourke Street Melbourne, VIC 3000 (Equity Trustees)
Koalafield Barrandhang
by Vandal
External to reception, 120 Frankston Gardens Drive Carrum Downs, VIC 3201 (Australian Dairy Park)
Uoo-Uce-Cream Truck
by Kenny Pittock
Showroom, 34 Garden Street South Yarra, VIC 3141 (Lovelight Blinds)
Participating artists
The UooUoos were brought to life by 100 emerging and established artists, including First Nations artists, painters, graphic designers and sculptors. See the complete list of participating artists below:
Belinda Aíkas
William Ainger
Brett Ashby
Maxime Banks
Shaya Barron
Be Free
Tristan Bennett
Lauren Bester
Nicole Bester
Simon Beuve
Anna Blatman
Jeremy Blincoe
Vanessa Bong
Bonsai
David Booth (Ghostpatrol)
Russ Brebner
Vair Buchanan
Audrey Buttigieg Cardona
Lillian Carland
Katherine Castle
Joy Chiang
Joyie Choi
Christy Chudosnik
Matthew Clarke
Olivia Collins
Creature Creature
Juzpop Creations
Pete Cromer
Caelene D’Arcy
Hayden Dewar
Winnie Dougall
Sharlee Dunolly-Lee
Camilla Eustance
Ashleigh Farrow
Janie Fearon
Nathan Ferlazzo
Jacklyn Foster
Hannah French
Kubota Fumikazu
Sophie Gaffney-Smith
Deanne Gilson
Luisa Gioffre-Suzuki
The GLAD Rappers
Leslie Goldman
Carla Gottgens
Ilanit Gros
Melinda Harper
Melanie Hava
Dave Higgins
Laine Hogarty
Kathy Holowko
Tegan Iversen
Lukas Kasper
Ralf Kempken
Alexander Knox
Manda Lane
Julee Latimer
Mimi Leung
Mike Makatron
Gregory Matthews
Lauren McDonnell
Zara McKenzie
Chris McQuinlan
Carla McRae
Steve Monk
Joel Moore
Josh Muir
Alex Mulcahy
Sascha Muller
Candy Ng
Felicia Nguyen
Holly O’Brien
Pandarosa
Jason Parker
Kenny Pittock
Nani Puspasari
Wayne Quilliam
Jane Reisegar
Abbey Rich
Sam Sae-Sue
Donna Sharam
Tania Smith
Sid Sprague
Leslie Stanley
Beck Storer
Christopher Strong
Scott Stuart
Suki
Charlotte Swiden
Fiona Tweddle
Emily van der Molen
Vandal
Liz Walker
Emilie Walsh
Emily Walters
Glen Walton
Patricia Waugh
Brittany Wetherspoon
Alison White
Christie Widiarto
Dr Ru Ying Cai
Thank Uoo!
Me and UooUoo would not have been possible without the generous support of artists, sponsors, partners, fundraisers, host sites, councils and adventurers – both young and young at heart.
Thank you to our Principle Partners:
