A walk through Bourke’s streets has never been dull, but now a trail of sculptures from local artist Andrew Hull’s are scattered across the town, telling local tales as they go. 

Local artist Andrew Hull describes his work as the ‘vehicle’ for the stories of Bourke, with each ‘Standing Stories’ sculpture sharing a different part of the town’s culture

“I knew a couple of blokes (Jason and Joseph Dixon) who were running an Indigenous heritage tour at the time, it was called Come Walk With Me Tours. So I thought the sculptures might tie into that and… help to communicate some of the stories that they were telling,” Mr Hull said. 



The project was born from Outback Arts, who despite a shortage of staff in the local area, were eager to get projects happening that would support local Indigenous artists and cultural activity. 

“A story that relates to some part of Aboriginal culture or a local Aboriginal person is kind of the underlying theme…they all have a different story that talks about different aspects of people’s lives or their cultural practice and spiritual beliefs,” Mr Hull said. 

The project itself is much larger than the eye-catching sculptures, but are accompanied by a video that helps to tell the story. 

Known as 'The Bard of Bourke', the town is very familiar with the local artist's work. (Andrew Hull via Facebook).

“You can wander around and read about it in the brochure, and then scan the QR code if you want to see the person telling their own story,” he said. 

While the sculptures are new to town, the idea came about at least five years ago, when work first began. 

“Part of that was a bit of a slowdown during Covid time and just the time it takes to get things done. Some of them were made overseas in fabrication studios,” Mr Hull said. 

For the poet, songwriter, and man of many other hats, it’s not the first time the seasoned artist has been able to share his work with his local community. 

The new sculptures have been a popular addition for locals too. (Supplied)

“I’ve got a number of artworks in Bourke, a range of murals and other things. I’m involved in lots of cultural activities and festivals in Bourke, but this my first sculpture project,” Mr Hull said. 

“What I love about it is it’s a collaborative project. They’re not my stories, but people have told them to me and then I’ve been able to put a creative version of those that could possibly be created three dimensionally and work with the storyteller on that version,” he said. 

“It’s been a very rewarding project, really.” 

There are eight Standing Stories to be found across Bourke.