The Cormorants

THE CORMORANTS

Stephen Sarre Reynolds

Sculpture by the Sea · Marks Park, Bondi · October 2026

The Work

The Cormorants is a large-scale steel sculpture accepted into Sculpture by the Sea 2026,

placed at Marks Park, Bondi. Twin forms. Twenty-five feet high. Sixty feet wide. Wings

spread against the Pacific — open, exposed, poised at the edge of something. The work

does not announce itself. It simply stands there, in full exposure to the elements, and

waits. After dark it is lit — a presence on the headland against the night sky, visible from

the coastal path throughout the exhibition.

First installed at Burning Man 2025 as an Honorarium commission — the festival's

highest recognition for participating artists — the work survived record desert winds that

destroyed surrounding structures. For Sydney, it has undergone hot galvanization: full

immersion in molten zinc at 450°C, a molecular-level transformation that prepares the

steel for permanent coastal installation. What arrives at Bondi is not what left the desert.

It is more than what the desert made of it.

The pose the birds hold is one of the most spiritually loaded gestures in human history.

The orans — arms raised, palms open, chest unguarded — is the oldest posture of prayer

known to civilisation, found in Egyptian funerary art, early Christian catacombs,

Orthodox iconography, and across every inhabited continent. In the body's energetic

language it is the opening of Anahata — the heart chakra — governing love, compassion,

and the capacity to give without condition. The pose does not represent openness. It

produces it. The cormorant performs all of this without intention. That is what makes it

so arresting. 

By surrendering to this moment of vulnerability, they shorten it.

Sculpture by the Sea is the world's largest free public sculpture exhibition. Over half a

million people walk the Bondi to Tamarama coastal path during its two-week run each

October — no ticket, no threshold, no mediation between the work and the world walking by.

The Artist

Stephen Sarre Reynolds is a Melbourne-born, Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist.

His twenty-five year international practice spans large-scale sculpture, installation,

painting, and film. His work has been covered by Architectural Digest, The Guardian,

and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and has been exhibited at the Abington Art

Center (Philadelphia) and major New York galleries. He was a 2022 and 2025 Burning

Man Honorarium grantee and holds First Class Honours in Political Science and History

from the Universities of Melbourne and Sydney.

The Sponsorship Opportunity

The Cormorants offers sponsors a rare alignment: a critically credentialed international

artwork, a half-million-strong public audience, and a suite of original media and

experiential benefits with genuine marketing value. The work's themes — resilience, the

strategic use of exposure, the courage of openness under pressure — carry direct

resonance for financial institutions, professional services firms, and corporate

leadership. This is not incidental to the proposition. It is the proposition.

All social media content and film production is handled by Reynolds personally. The

assets produced are original, professionally executed, and deployable across sponsor

channels independently of any platform relationship with the project. The experiential

benefits — private access, executive entertainment at Bondi, a keynote from an artist

with an unusual international career — are the kind that distinguish a sponsorship from

a logo placement.

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Presenting Sponsor $60,000 AUD

One only — exclusive title partnership

The title partnership. The Presenting Sponsor is named across all materials, press, and

social for the full duration of the project. The package can be tailored to specific

communications objectives.

1 . Commissioned Short Film

A professional short documentary (5–8 minutes) tracing the journey of The Cormorants

from Burning Man to Bondi — the galvanization process, the Nevada installation, the

Bondi site, Reynolds on the work. Produced and directed by Reynolds and Audible Gasp

Productions. The film belongs to the Presenting Sponsor to own, publish, distribute, and

use across any channel without restriction.

2 . Original oil Painting

Reynolds will execute an original oil painting of The Cormorants en plein air at Marks

Park during the exhibition — gifted to the Presenting Sponsor. A unique original: a

specific painting of a specific work, made at the site of its installation during the

exhibition itself.

3 . Social Media Content Production

10 branded social posts across Reynolds's channels, formatted for Instagram and

LinkedIn. Two short-form branded videos (60–90 seconds). Full raw media asset library

— photography, footage, and behind-the-scenes material — for independent sponsor use,

calibrated to the sponsor's audience.

4 . On-site Branding and Digital Integration

Sponsor branding displayed on-site at Marks Park for the duration of the exhibition,

subject to Sculpture by the Sea guidelines. A QR code linked to the sponsor's nominated

landing page embedded in project materials and on-site signage, enabling direct

audience engagement from the headland itself.

5 . Keynote : Stephen Sarre Reynolds

A 60-minute tailored keynote at the sponsor's premises — creative risk, scale, the

architecture of resilience, the relationship between artistic and professional life. Built for

an audience of senior executives who have heard most things before.

6 . Executive Breakfast & Private Site Access - Ravesi's Hotel, Bondi

A private breakfast at Revesis Hotel, Bondi Beach, followed by a guided walk to Marks

Park with Reynolds for a small group of senior executives and clients. Includes a private

site visit during installation, before the public arrives.

7 . Recognition, Events & Merchandise

Lead credit in all press releases. Named in the Sculpture by the Sea catalogue entry. Logo

across all printed and digital project materials. Six VIP tickets to all associated events.

12 hand-printed artist merchandise packs — hoodie, cap, and t-shirt — one-off

artist pieces for distribution to senior executives and key staff.

Major Partner $25,000 AUD

One or two available

Major Partners receive co-presenting credit across all digital and print materials, and a

significant suite of content, experiential, and recognition benefits.

Social Media Content Production

8 branded social posts and 2 short-form branded videos. Full media asset library access

for independent use.

SpeakerSession : Stephen Reynolds 

A private 90-minute session with Reynolds for the sponsor's leadership team or clients —

conversation, Q&A, and discussion of the work, practice and surrounding controversies.

Executive Breakfast - Ravesi's Hotel 

As per the Presenting Sponsor, a private breakfast at Revesis followed by the guided walk

to Marks Park with Reynolds.

Original Plein Air Oil Painting

An original oil painting of The Cormorants executed en plein air at Marks Park during

the exhibition, as described above. Gifted to the Major Partner.

Limited Edition Archival Print

A signed and numbered archival print of The Cormorants, in an edition of 10. Gallery

quality, framed for presentation.

Recognition & Access

Named in press releases and SbtS catalogue. Four VIP event tickets.

Supporting Partner $10,000 AUD

Two or three available

Supporting Partners receive acknowledgement across all digital channels and a focused

content and recognition package.

Social Media and Content Production

Four branded social posts. Selected media assets for independent use.

Limited Archival Print

A signed and numbered archival print of The Cormorants.

Recognition & Access

Named across digital channels and in the SbtS catalogue. Two VIP event tickets.

Executive Breakfast   as above.

Team Merchandise Kit

Five hand-printed artist merchandise packs — hoodie, cap, and t-shirt — as described

Collector $5,000 AUD

Open, Individuals only

The Collector tier is for individuals who wish to be part of the project. The benefits are

personal, lasting, and tied directly to the physical practice of the work.

Cast Cormorant Form

A small cast cormorant form, hot zinc-plated using the same metallurgical process as

The Cormorants, in a numbered edition of 20. Presented in archival packaging with a

certificate of authenticity. A collectible object produced from the same material logic as

the full-scale work — at a scale that belongs in a home or on a desk.

Signed Archival Print OR Oil study

A signed limited edition archival print of The Cormorants, or — for select Collectors at

Reynolds's discretion — an original small-format oil study of the work executed on site. 

*Exclusive to this tier.

Access

Two VIP tickets to the Sculpture by the Sea launch event.

Artist Merchandise Pack

Two hand-printed artist merchandise pack — hoodie, cap, and t-shirt from Reynolds's

personal collection.

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The Cormorants at Marks Park this October. No ticket. No gallery. No

mediation. Just the birds, the ocean, and half a million people walking past.

To discuss the partnership:

reyxreynolds.com · @reyx_rey

All figures in Australian Dollars. Packages may be tailored to specific sponsor objectives. The Presenting

Sponsor position is exclusive — once committed, no other partner receives equivalent visibility or benefits.