Legal battle delivers a win for artist

When a public art commission was cancelled, artist Tim McVeigh sued the City of Vincent Council and achieved a precedent for commissioned artists.
[This is archived content and may not display in the originally intended format.]

Detail of Matthew McVeigh’s commission Togetherness finds its place. Photo Matthew Pitcher.

In April 2013 ArtsHub brought you the story of WA artist Matthew McVeigh, whose $30,000 public art commission was ‘cancelled for an off-the-shelf imported work almost twice the price.’

Titled Togetherness, the City of Vincent Council had paid McVeigh a deposit of $5,000, but on reviewing his final submission decided to purchase an alternative (and more expensive) piece by Chinese artist Chen Wen Ling, which had been displayed in the celebrated Sculpture by the Sea exhibition.

Unlock Padlock Icon

Unlock this content?

Access this content and more

Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina