Taking care: conserving Sydney’s public art and memorials
Meet the conservators, masons, architects and artists preserving our precious City Art Collections
The Wives and Mothers Memorial, Woolloomooloo. Photo: Chris Southwood / City of Sydne
The First World War Soldiers Memorial (Wives and Mothers Memorial)
Andy Wilson has an Edinburgh accent as thick and strong as his hands. A banker mason by trade, he’s been carrying out restoration work for 35 years. There are three apprentices under his watch, carrying out a repoint and clean of the First World War Soldiers Memorial (Wives and Mothers Memorial) in Woolloomooloo.
“I started my apprenticeship when I was 15 in Scotland, then followed a woman to Australia! That old story!” said Wilson. He landed in Australia right as restoration work was undergoing something of a boom, in the early 90s.
He’s had the opportunity to work on some of Sydney’s most iconic buildings, but the clock tower at Town Hall has been his favourite project. “It’s the heart of Sydney. When you go up there, you can’t help but think about all the things that building has seen. The number of famous speeches and moments that have happened right there on the steps.”