Perth Telstra building sculpture wins top prize at Joondalup’s 2025 Community Art Exhibition awards

A sculpture of the Telstra building in the Perth CBD has taken out the top prize at this year’s City of Joondalup Community Art Exhibition.

Created by Harry Young, the sculpture titled Forbidden Skate Ramp was crowned most outstanding artwork and earned praise from the judges for its clever play on scale and strong connection to the city’s lore.

“This small-scale concrete sculpture resonates for its economy of detail, inspiring curiosity about how it is made,” the judges said.

“It captures a local iconic building within Perth’s skyline — the Telstra building — and reflects on the local folklore of the building’s unique roof architecture, which looks like a skate ramp.

“The work’s striking play with scale transforms a large skyscraper into a cute miniature that contrasts its real-scale corporate edifice.”

Young received $4000 as the top award winner for his work.

He is no stranger to the Community Art Exhibition, having previously won the 2013 Artist in Focus award which led to a solo exhibition with the city.

Soyang Lee received the highly commended award for her painting “My Garden”, a “dreamy composition” blending illustrative and impressionistic styles, and was praised by judges for her poetic techniques.

Fred Maris won the celebrating Joondalup award for his painting Burns Beach, depicting the foreshore and cafe, with judges describing the style as reminiscent of filmmaker Wes Anderson.

The student award went to Pippa Rivett for ‘Emerging’, an “energetic and playful” painting depicting a whale breaching the water, symbolising breaking through via growth and transformation.

City of Joondalup mayor Albert Jacob said all the artists participating in this year’s exhibition had enriched the city with their creativity and congratulated them for their contributions.

“First held in 1998, the Community Art Exhibition is a favourite event on our cultural calendar with an impressive array of artworks on display,” Mr Jacob said.

“The arts are valued in Joondalup, as is the creativity and vibrancy that the visual arts community brings to our region.

“I’m proud to see the Community Art Exhibition continue to provide a platform for our local artists and tell us about the life and character of this place.”

More than 150 artworks are on display in the exhibition, which is at Lakeside Joondalup Shopping City until Saturday, June 28.

Exhibition attendees can vote for the popular choice award, with the winner to be announced at the event’s conclusion once all votes are tallied.

Artworks can be bought at the shopping centre’s sales desk.