Jan Mitchell (1940 – 17 March 2008) was an Australian artist, born in Melbourne, known for her painted

bollard A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. In modern usage, it also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to pre ...

s and work as a television graphic artist. She spent her formative childhood years near

Healesville Healesville is a town in Victoria, Australia, 64 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Healesville recorded a population of 7,589 in the 2021 census. H ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, before working in Ireland for 18 years, in the graphics department at

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

(Irish National television). Her pioneering work in Ireland included designing and creating the country's first pre-school television show, named after its red-haired central character Bosco. She returned to Australia in 1986 after 20 years in England and Ireland, and settled in Geelong in 1990, turning to book illustration, painting and printmaking. She created her first bollard art in

Barwon Heads Barwon Heads (previously known as Point Flinders) is a town on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, and is bounded to the west by fa ...

as part of an artist-in-schools program. She took the concept of the Baywalk Bollards to

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

city commissioners in 1994, and by 1999 there were over 100 brightly painted bollards, made out of recovered wharf pylons, scattered along the foreshore, depicting notable characters relating to Geelong's history and culture. Her bollards can also be seen at

Melbourne Airport Melbourne Airport , known locally as Tullamarine Airport, is an international airport serving Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operating 24/7 service, 24 hours a day with on-site parking, shopping and dining, Melbourne Airport is the List of th ...

and

Avalon Airport Avalon Airport is a domestic airport, located in Avalon in the City of Greater Geelong in Victoria, Australia. While located outside the Melbourne metropolitan area, it is the second busiest of the four airports serving the state capital i ...

. In 2006 Mitchell received an

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

medal for her contribution to Geelong's waterfront transformation. Mitchell died of cancer on St Patrick's Day 2008, in Geelong. At her request, her ashes were scattered beside the lake at

Glendalough Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead min ...

, Ireland.

Jan Mitchell Memorial Art Prize

The Zonta Club of Geelong Inc. celebrates

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

with an art exhibition titled "Women – a Celebration", presented by artists of the Geelong region using a range of different media. The first prize is the Jan Mitchell Memorial Art Award.

References

External links

Geelong Bollards - City of Greater Geelong
1940 births 2008 deaths 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian women artists Artists from Melbourne Australian expatriates in Ireland {{Australia-artist-stub