Street Swell is a new addition to the festival, being trialled for the first time this year.

Swell Sculpture Festival organisers asked the Sculptors' Society Gold Coast to create works of art that complimented and reflected the local business in and around Tugun Village.

President of Sculptors' Society Gold Coast, Ian Haggerty, says he and his members saw it as a great opportunity.

"We were asked by Swell to participate and try to bring some artistic element into the local community in Tugun and to involve some of the local businesses as well."

Ian's sculpture sits outside the tiles shop, and was created using mosaic tiles donated by the store.

"It's a full-sized mannequin lady, covered in exquisite shell mosaics and I've also stripped her back and sprayed her with enamel paint," he says.

Ian has named the piece 'Gen Y - A Night On The Tiles.'

"It's a play on words, a reaction to that most people go into shops and see mannequins and try to aspire to what they're wearing etc, but I liked the idea of the mannequin aspiring to being human, so that was the reverse process."

Ian says most of the sculptures made for Street Swell follow the theme of the local business they are exhibited in.

"That was one of the requests - is if we could try to tie in with the shop keepers - you'll see that there are a number of other sculptures that show a relationship to the area or shop."

He says Street Swell is a great way for sculptors to have their work included in the festival, who wouldn't be able to create the large-scale sculptures featured in the main exhibition.

"A number of our sculptors do, and I have as well, exhibited over the years in Swell, but those are very large sculptures, and as you can appreciate they take a lot of time and effort and cost, so unless you actually have a buyer it's very difficult to fabricate those. So this gives a great outlet to a lot of sculptors who wouldn't normally be in that vein to actually promote their art and get it out there."

Debut success:
It may be only in its first year, and has some teething problems to be worked out, but the majority of Tugun shop owners say Street Swell has already proved a huge success for them.

Carolyn Wilson, owner of Project Direct Tile Studio, says it may help to shake the bad reputation attached to the area.

"Unfortunately Tugun has a bit of a stigma about it that harks back to the days when we had big trucks racing through the traffic lights," she says.

"We've been here for the last three years and we've seen the transition of the community, no longer are we worried about the traffic, the streetscape has been revamped in the last six months, and there's quite a few little hidden treasures here.

"I think bringing Swell into the Tugun community is a fantastic idea because hopefully people will get behind it, come down and look at the sculptures, and while they're down here, they'll actually start to realise what is on their doorstep, and it's quite a creative little community."

Down the road at the Captain Hooks fish and chip shop, Lynelle and Nick say their business has done some great trade due to Street Swell.

"It's brought a lot more people through the streets for sure, and it's created a really nice buzz," says Lynelle.

Nick adds that "lots more people are coming in, checking out the sculptures, and buying some fish and chips while they're here."

A few doors down and the local cafe had its busiest day over the weekend since it opened 16 months ago.

Owner of Groove Cafe, James Park, says "I'd have to say that just because of that one day Street Swell has been a resounding success as far as I'm concerned and I think it can only grow from here.

"Having the sculptures here adds another dimension to the cafe, people come in and have a look and vote on their favorite ,and the feedback has been good. So yeah, it's been great."