Where Lies Beauty charts the history of Wentworth Street, Port Kembla, and its sites of architectural beauty through the words of the people who have lived, loved and worked among its bricks and mortar.

Project creator Anne-Louise Rentell’s own love of the street began when she started The Vault Cabaret at the Vault Venue in 2004; recognising the unique nature of the street’s representation of 20^th century Australian architecture and its role in Australia’s industrial history, she decided to dig deeper to find out more about the place and its people. It didn’t disappoint.

For the past two years, she has been gathering the stories of people connected to Wentworth Street during its different eras of boom, neglect and current revitalization.  These are now gathered in narrative form here providing an opportunity to experience  both the fascinating history and community spirit of one of our region’s most iconic high streets.

The website will develop and grow over time as stories and images are uploaded to this website and dedicated Facebook and Instagram pages (see links below).

Images have been sourced from the interviewees themselves, from Wollongong Library’s Illawarra Images collection or have been taken by local artist Nina Kourea.

For supporters of the project, visit this page.