In 2025, ART AID partnered with Collins Place to deliver a precinct-wide artist residency program that brought new energy, visibility and vibrancy to one of Melbourne's most iconic commercial destinations.
Across the year, we collaborated with three artists — Jason Parker, Tommy Day III and Sahil Roy — to reimagine a vacant tenancy beside the Sofitel on Collins. What began as an empty retail space became a working studio, exhibition venue and creative hub, each residency culminating in a full public show.
The program
Alongside the exhibitions, each artist extended their practice into the broader precinct, applying artworks to key touch-points including stairways, lift interiors and external façades. The program also featured a live screen-printing activation, inviting the public to witness and engage with the making process firsthand.
Jason Parker: My Graceful Lament
The residency launched with Jason Parker, whose floral compositions set the tone for the program. His tenancy transformation evolved into a fully realised exhibition space, supported by ART AID from production through to delivery. Jason's work also animated Collins Place at street level, wrapping exterior surfaces and lift interiors with bold imagery that changed the everyday visual experience for commuters.
Jason Parker, My Graceful Lament. Collins Place, Melbourne.
Precinct artworks and lift interiors by Jason Parker. Photography by James Bugg.
Exhibition opening, Collins Place tenancy. Photography by James Bugg.
Tommy Day III: YARKEEN — A Retrospective
Next, we welcomed emerging Yorta Yorta artist Tommy Day III (Jirri Jirri) for a retrospective titled YARKEEN. Tommy's residency marked a significant moment in the precinct, with his dynamic visual language applied across large-scale surfaces and architectural features. His exhibition brought together years of practice, creating a meaningful cultural anchor within the tenancy.
Custom installations, floor graphics and public-facing vinyl artworks created a spatial experience that surrounded visitors with Tommy's contemporary expressions of Country and identity.
Tommy Day III (Jirri Jirri), YARKEEN. Collins Place, Melbourne.
Precinct artworks by Tommy Day III. Photography by James Bugg.
Exhibition installation, Collins Place tenancy. Photography by James Bugg.
Sahil Roy: Tapestry
The program concluded with Sahil Roy, whose residency culminated in Tapestry — an immersive exhibition that merged precision with energetic, gestural abstraction. Sahil painted live in the tenancy throughout his residency, turning the space into a studio-theatre hybrid. The final exhibition celebrated this process, presenting a body of work that was both technically rigorous and shaped by the evolving environment of the residency itself.
Sahil Roy, Tapestry. Collins Place, Melbourne.
Sahil Roy painting live in the tenancy. Photography by James Bugg.
Final exhibition, Tapestry. Photography by James Bugg.
A precinct activated
Across all three residencies, ART AID worked closely with each artist to produce exhibitions, manage installations, transform the tenancy, and lead the design and creation of the precinct-wide artworks. This collaboration allowed Collins Place to shift beyond a commercial setting and into a year-long cultural platform — one that welcomed workers, visitors and passersby into new encounters with contemporary art.
The partnership demonstrated how underused spaces can be reactivated through meaningful creative investment — and how embedding artists directly into place-making strategies creates lasting cultural value.
A residency program delivered by ART AID in partnership with Collins Place by Mirvac. Art Direction by Eddie Zammit. Photography by James Bugg. Find out more at art-aid.co or follow @artaidau.
