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SPECIAL ACTIVITY GUIDE TO HELP YOU PLAN FOR THE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

H O L I D A Y G U I D E

Tuesday, June 25, 2013 hillsshiretimes.com.au

Legacy lostVladimir Tichy’s greatest artwork - a 30-metre long mosaic - will be reduced to rubble when the Hills Centre is demolished in coming months. Full report, page 7

Picture: SUE GRAHAM

THE North West Rail Link and M2-F3 link dominated local spendingin this year’s State Budget butthey certainly were not the onlywinners. PAGE 5

NEWS

Rail link not onlywinner in Budget

IT would be difficult to findenough water in Kenthurst to geta boat up to full sail but that is notstopping siblings Rebecca andStephen Hancock. PAGE 68

SPORT

Smooth sailingfor siblings

LOOKING every bit the tropical re-sort as well as a family home, thisWest Pennant Hills house is invit-ing to visitors of the human andfeathered varieties. LIFTOUT

REALESTATE

Tropical retreat inWest Pennant Hills

THE world-famous Blue ManGroup is heading to Sydney andwe have tickets to give away tothe amazing stage show.

PAGE 49

LIFESTYLE

Tickets to bestlive show in town

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Main HILLS SHIRE TIMES, Tuesday, June 25, 2013 07

CASTLE HILL

Mural’ssad endEFFORTS TO SAVE WORK FAIL

Vladimir Tichy at his Hornsby home (top) and The Hills Centre mural. Picture: SUE GRAHAM

WHEN The Hills Centre isdemolished in the comingweeks to make way for theNorth West Rail Link, thegreatest work of VladimirTichy’s colourful artisticcareer will lie broken inthe rubble.

Tichy, 86, is the creator ofthe epic 30m long muralwhich spans an entire wallon the ground floor of theperforming arts venue.

The mural, which depictsvivid scenes of ballet, musicand theatre, took Tichymore than 12 months to de-sign, sculpt and install.

It is one of hundreds ofsculptures, murals and mo-saics Tichy has installedaround the country sincedefecting from Czechoslo-vakia in 1968, but it is alsohis proudest achievement.

“This mural is the biggestand the best that I have everdone,” he said.

“It means a lot to me and Iam not happy about losing itbut what can I do?”

Investigations by The HillsShire Council found therewas no cost-effective way ofsaving the mural, withthe artwork simply crum-bling when removed fromthe wall.

It is not the first time Ti-chy will have watched hiswork demolished in thename of progress.

A giant mural at the baseof Centrepoint Tower waspulled down during redevel-opment in 2009, while othersignificant works were lostat Queanbeyan RSL and StGeorge Sailing Club.

Tichy said he had losttrack of how many of hisone-of-a-kind creations hadbeen destroyed. “It’s sad butthat’s just how it is,” he said.

His body of work isshrinking fast, with Tichylaying down his tools uponthe death of his wife Jirinain 2009.

Having been married for46 years, Tichy said therewas no way he could con-tinue making art withoutJirina in his life.

“I stopped working com-pletely when my wife passedaway,” he said.

“My work was for her andfrom that moment I lostinspiration.

“I can’t work any more.”Tichy’s last creation was a

lovingly handcrafted urn,which occupies pride ofplace in his Hornsby home,cradling the ashes of hismuse Jirina.

The Hills Shire Councilhas taken some steps to pre-serve the memory of Tichy’sHills Centre mural, commis-sioning a set of professionalphotos and recording anin-depth interview with theartist.

Evan Sieff VLADIMIR TICHY■ Born in Prague,Czechoslovakia in 1926■ Worked in porcelainfactories, studied art and wassoon one of Czechoslovakia’spremier ceramists■ Arrived in Australia as apolitical refugee in 1968■ Opened ceramicarchitectural studio, StudioDybka Tichy, with RudolphDybka in Parramatta in 1969■ Commissioned for hundredsof murals and tiling projects■ Some of Tichy’s work is heldin public collections in Russia,Italy and the Czech Republic■ Tichy’s work can still befound at 26 Foveaux St inSurry Hills, St Pauls AnglicanChurch in Albion Park and theElizabeth St entrance toMuseum Station

NEWS WHAT'S ON LIFESTYLE CLASSIFIEDS SPORT1-46 34-35 47-55 56-65 67-68

NEWS WHAT'S ON LIFESTYLE CLASSIFIEDS SPORT1-46 34-35 47-55 56-65 67-68

POLICE have released theseimages of two men they wishto speak to in relation toalleged standover tactics be-ing used on Castle Hill busi-nessmen.

North Sydney detectiveshave been investigating sev-eral reports of money alleg-edly being demanded withmenace in Castle Hill andFairfield.

The incidents date back toApril last year.

Anyone who knows themen, or may recognise tat-toos depicted in the images,are asked to call North Syd-ney Police or Crime Stop-pers on 1800 333 000.

HILLS Local Area Com-mander SuperintendentPhilip Flogel (pictured) is onthe move and protectingconsumersfrom scams ina major partof his newbeat at FairTradingNSW.

Supt Flogel started hisnew role as Assistant Com-missioner in the complianceand enforcement divisionyesterday after 26 months aspolice chief at Castle Hill.

Supt Flogel said the 12month secondment was a“great opportunity’’ .

“I have spent 33 years in-side the organisation (PoliceForce) and this is a great op-portunity to look from out-side the organisation.’’

Part of his duties will beoverseeing the ban on syn-thetic drugs and crackingdown on travelling con men.

CASTLE HILL

Police searchfor two men

THE HILLS

Officer targetsdrugs, scams

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07NEWS