The Watchful Ones

This piece is the fifth commission in a partnership series between Public Art Melbourne and the Hero Apartment Building Owners Corporation – The Watchful Ones by Jarra Karalinar Steel.

The Watchful Ones celebrates the harmonious bond between nature, family and community, reflecting the timeless guardianship shared across species and generations existing in our urban city spaces.

Jarra Karalinar Steel is a multidisciplinary artist known for her Rising Melbourne Art Tram 2021, and as curator of the First Peoples Melbourne Art Trams from 2022-24 , her powerful poster art, large-scale public installations, video games, digital art and commemorative signage. Steel explores her South Eastern Kulin identity, memories, pop culture, folklore from her cultural history, and lived experiences growing up in Melbourne and living on country in culture with knowledge passed down through her family.

View the artwork from the intersection opposite the Hero Apartment Building on the south corners of Russell and Little Collins streets.