“I created only three casts of this statue. Each one is unique, and to have one returned in such an extraordinary way feels like a small miracle,” Miles said.
He first exhibited Sun Spirit as part of the first Swell Sculpture Festival in 2006 before it was acquired by the council and took up permanent residence on the foreshore.
Locals believed the work was separated from its plinth using the noise of the cyclone to disguise the din of an angle saw.
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Curl Curl residents the Straatemeiers purchased their version of the work, which they named “Sheila”, two decades ago for $20,000.
They agreed to donate Sheila in return for a $50,000 fundraiser for the Starlight Children’s Foundation.
The sculpture’s replacement comes two days before the 2025 Swell Sculpture Festival, with 80 temporary artworks installed at Currumbin Beach and in other pop-up locations.
Festival founder and curator Natasha Edwards said Sun Spirit held a lot of meaning for visitors.
“There’s something magic about sculptures on the beach. They stop people in their tracks. Sun Spirit is one of those sculptures.”
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