Waratah at Sunrise — Floral Mural, 2025
Waratah at Sunrise is a floral mural created in 2025 in Hobart’s city centre. The mural celebrates Tasmania’s iconic Waratah, bringing colour, movement, and a sense of quiet storytelling into an everyday urban space.
Location:
Signal Box at the intersection of Murray Street and Liverpool Street, Hobart, Tasmania
Project Details
Artist: Anna Mykhalchuk
Year: 2025
Type: Floral mural
Location: Hobart, Tasmania
Site: Signal Box, Murray Street & Liverpool Street,
Paint brand: Haymes Paint
Commissioned through: Signal Box Program
Partners: Vibrance Project, Hobart City Council
Responding to Place
Situated at a busy city intersection, the signal box offered an opportunity to transform a functional structure into a visual moment of calm. The floral mural introduces natural forms and colour into a space defined by movement and transition, gently softening the surrounding streetscape.
Concept & Visual Story
This floral mural unfolds across multiple sides of the signal box, with each surface representing a different stage of the Waratah’s awakening at dawn.
As the flower opens, hidden details begin to emerge. Small birds are subtly woven into the petals, waiting for the first rays of sunlight before greeting the morning with their song. These symbolic elements invite closer viewing and offer moments of discovery for passers-by.
Interpreting Nature Through Samchykivka art
Waratah at Sunrise is my interpretation of Tasmania’s wild beauty through the Ukrainian decorative painting tradition of Samchykivka.
Rather than depicting the flower realistically, the mural focuses on rhythm, symbolism, and flow. The Waratah becomes a living form — carrying ideas of renewal, attention, and connection between place, nature, and people.
The work is intended as an invitation: to pause, to observe, and to experience the presence of nature within the city.
If you’re interested in commissioning a mural or discussing a cultural or public art project, you’re welcome to get in touch.
About the Artist
Anna Mykhalchuk is a Ukrainian-Australian artist and muralist based in Australia. Her practice focuses on working with Samchykivka painting as a living cultural tradition, translated into contemporary mural, public art, and educational contexts.
Reflection
Waratah at Sunrise explores how floral imagery in public art can reconnect urban spaces with natural cycles. Through layered symbolism and colour, the mural offers a quiet moment of observation and renewal within the rhythm of city life.