In a prominent position at the lookout on the summit of a small peak within the town area.
Nannygoat by Chris Graham, welded rio bar, c. 1989 was commissioned by the local council and is placed on a boulder overlooking the town at the Nannygoat Hill lookout. Life sized, its head turned as if interruped whilst surveying its kingdom, the sculpture dominates the lookout.I believe that there was an earlier goat statue on this site, circa 1960s, artist unknown, reinforced cement, later vandalized, but will have to do more local research to discover details. The hill is named after the goats that were once pastured on its slopes. With its very graceful but truly goatish form and the texture of the rio bars suggesting a rough coat, this sculpture enhances what would otherwise be an unexceptional lookout area with a pleasant view to such an extent that I consider it to be a hidden gem of the region, at least equal in artistic quality to the more accessible Man from Snowy River. Also pleasing is that it celebrates a female, even though not a human one. Another pleasing aspect of this installation is that it lacks a plaque. Although this means that the artist is not credited, the not-always-sympathetically placed plaques on every other piece of public art and monument in Cooma do not generally enhance the artworks they accompany.
The area can be accessed from Massie St between Soho and Creek Sts.
Nanny goat with crow
Chris Graham was an artist and teacher at Cooma College of TAFE. His contribution to art in Cooma and the district was considerable and much appreciated. He died prematurely in the early 2000s.
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