Curtin University engaged Artify as Public Art Consultant for the redevelopment of B100, the University's "front door" and one of its most public-facing spaces. As the formal entry to Curtin, home to the Council Chamber and a co-location for works from the Curtin University Art Collection, B100 offered a rare opportunity to embed high-quality, culturally significant artwork that reflects the University's story, values and commitment to innovation, reconciliation and community connection.

Artify prepared the Public Art Opportunity Summary that guides the commissioning of new artwork across the refurbished building. Our role spans the curatorial vision, artist procurement and engagement, and specialist advice through design and delivery, developing the brief in discussion with the John Curtin Gallery and project architect Woods Bagot, and drawing on Noongar knowledge and perspectives shared through Cultural Workshops guided by Emeritus Professor Simon Forrest.

At the heart of the work is a set of commissioned artworks that reimagine the identity and experience of B100 while adding new layers of meaning to the existing collection. Together they engage the layered history of the Bentley campus: the long-held Noongar traditions that continue to this day, the site's endemic ecology, its past life as the Collier Pine plantation, and its standing as the first and primary campus of Curtin University.

The Summary maps three connected opportunities across the building. A major low-relief sculptural artwork rises nearly six metres across the double-height wall of the main staircase, the largest and most prominent work in the refurbishment, carrying a strong First Nations narrative and reserved for a First Nations artist. A digital art commission brings a single-channel video work to the Anteroom alongside a four-channel work within the Council Chamber. And a pair of applied print artworks, licensed as custom wallpaper, softens the alcove waiting spaces either side of the balcony. Each is matched to the procurement pathway best suited to it, from curated shortlist to direct appointment, reflecting the project's accelerated timeline.

B100 sits on Whadjuk Noongar boodja, and respectful engagement with Noongar people and knowledge runs through the brief, with the flagship relief artwork commissioned from a First Nations artist and a smoking ceremony anticipated as part of the building opening.