Charlestown Square brings colourful immersive artwork BLOOM to the Hunter

Hunter locals will have the chance to step inside a vibrant world of colour and imagination this spring, with Bloom, a large-scale immersive artwork, coming to Charlestown Square, from 11 September to 11 October, as part of a new partnership with City of Newcastle's flagship arts festival, New Annual. 

Created by acclaimed 3D artist, Melissa Mathieson aka MelissaLovesSushi, BLOOM will transform Charlestown Square into an oversized garden filled with whimsical characters, foliage and larger-than-life details. 

Designed to surprise and delight, the colourful installation is an experience for all ages, inviting visitors to explore, take photos and rediscover a sense of childlike wonder, all without having to travel to a major city to see art on this scale. BLOOM has previously been exhibited only once, in Melbourne, making its arrival to Charlestown Square a perfect opportunity for the Hunter community to appreciate the work closer to home. 

The installation will arrive ahead of New Annual's 10-day festival, running from 25 September to 4 October, and forms part of the festival's program of more than 40 events featuring 400+ artists and 7 new commissions across the City of Newcastle. 

We couldn't be more excited to bring BLOOM to the Hunter — and here's why.

As a centre, we've always believed in bringing people together, and BLOOM feels like the perfect expression of that. We're incredibly proud to be partnering with New Annual to bring something truly special to our community — something a little unexpected, a little joyful, and honestly just a lot of fun.

We hope that when people walk through the centre and find themselves surrounded by this larger-than-life installation, they stop, smile, and take it all in. And with school holidays just around the corner, it's the perfect excuse to bring the kids along and make a day of it — there's so much to discover between BLOOM and the wider New Annual program.

BLOOM will be on display at Charlestown Square from 11 September to 11 October.