A group art show in honour of Sydney legend Doris Goddard to take place 15 – 30 September at Sydney’s Hollywood Hotel in Surry Hills

Doris Goddard was a true bohemian who ran Sydney’s beloved Hollywood Hotel with an open-hearted, eccentric spirit. In September the pub will host Hooray for Hollywood, a sprawling group art exhibition cover its entire first floor, a museum-like historical space that’s ever before been open to the public.

On display will be work by 50 local and international artists, ranging from Archibald winners to art student and everyone in between.

Says former adman and the Hollywood’s artist in residence David Art Wales: “We curated the show the way Doris ran the pub. Her customers ran the gamut from famous politicians to bikies, so we’re showcasing work by famous artists like Lindy Lee and Blak Douglas, through to outstanding local art students and first timers like John Safran. There’s even a piece by my Mum!”

To draw artworks from as broad a group as possible, Wales, who’s 59, enlisted the help of hot young Sydney art collective MART, consisting of Rupert McEvoy, 21, and Alba Tijm, 28.

Says McEvoy: “Our role was bringing in the cutting edge of younger artists.”

Says Tijm: “The art world can be ageist and status conscious. Showing artists from different strata together like this is inclusive and totally unconventional.

The trio are self-funding the show themselves on a shoestring budget.

Goddard, who died at 80 in 2019, became legendary in Sydney as the publican who put the Hollywood in the Hollywood Hotel. After playing a string of bit parts in real Hollywood movies during the 1950s, opposite stars like Bob Hope and Katherine Hepburn, she bought the pub in 1977, moved in upstairs and took to pulling out her ukulele to serenade fellow drinkers. Along with the Hollywood’s eccentricity, the pub became famous for being the first in Sydney to be run by a woman and the first to allow women to sit at the bar.

The Hollywood was purchased in 2021 by Sydney personality Brody Petersen, who beat high-profile pub operators to snap up the Surry Hills watering hole for $10 million. To highlight the pub’s artistic character, he ad manager Ben Calladine removed the pokies, introduced live weekly music and installed Wales as artist in residence.

Says Wales: “In an age of sanitised pubs blaring sports channels on TV, Brody and Ben recognise the need to maintain beloved cultural institutions like the Hollywood Hotel. That’s a gift to the city.”

Hooray for Hollywood runs September 15-30
Open daily 12-6pm or by appointment
Hollywood Hotel, 2 Foster St, Surry Hills, Sydney
For info or photography: David Art Wales, 0415 395 394 or david@davidartwales.com