They say a city is as strong as its public statues and sculptures are prominent. A city can get through trying times if those lifeless things that stand tall and look over its denizens remain firm and aplenty as symbols of local heritage; a reassurance of identity… a reminder to all and sundry of how they got to where they are through all sorts of crazy shit.

So we look to the statues and sculptures of the world to get through current hardships. They can offer a chance for collective poise. The thing is… they have to be done right. Not everyone’s going to like every statue, but people have got to some how be made to notice them. And if you don’t mind, they should be original.

People hanging out of late in the Botanical Gardens have been interested to see four grey native tree look-alikes made of fencing wire, erected on concrete plinths on the western bank of the Lady Norwood Rose Garden. The ‘Green Islands’ sculpture by artist Regan Gentry has recently been transferred there from a two-year stint outside Te Papa, and represents a bold statement from the trusts that chose to put it amongst the real greenery. There was a space. It had to be filled. It’s no stretch to assume most people in such a position would place more plants.But someone was thinking outside the triangle here.

Mayor Kerry Prendergast has expressed relief that one of the city’s most popular sculpture landmarks has found such a suitable home. It certainly would have been a shame to see the wire trees homeless, wandering the streets. But one must ask, do they belong in the gardens?

An informal survey on one busy early autumn morning at the rose garden revealed two key findings: that the sculpture stuck out like a sore thumb, but also that people get sick of too many green trees in a row. Participants in the survey were mainly British cruise-ship passengers, young parents walking prams, members of a theatre group and a lost Somali taxi driver. Notably, half of them thought that the sinewy sculptures were a kind of war monument.

There’s no hiding the fact that there’s been a renewed sense of interest in Anzac Day amongst young New Zealanders and, while dawn services at the Cenotaph may be as close as most people get to grafting it out in the trenches, you’ll find that the kids are going to increasingly seek out new monuments to go to for paying respects. They don’t necessarily want some stiff old shaft guarded by the rusted lions of empire.

Okay, so the Green Islands trees are grey and metal (and gave participants in the survey musings on death) but, to paraphrase the mayor, they are alive and embody movement. The council recognises the capital needs spunk if it’s to live.

These days, a visitor to Wellington drives from the airport to town past a run of vibrant, fluid statues – the whirring wind things, the columns of rotating coloured boxes and the giant needle – all before you even hit Kilbirnie. There’s a common theme that evokes wind and symbolises movement and change. And it’s no wonder that the bare bones frame of an old building by the inner-city by pass called ‘Subject to Change’ is another Gentry statue. This sculptor du jour must have a Rasputin-like hold on local arts trustees with all these key installations.

But one potential fitting, which is already turning heads, is the massive Rugby World Cup sculpture that Weta and Prendergast are pushing. They’ve unveiled their model of what can only be described as a twin-geological-wave-form-with-rugby-player-kerfuffle-culiminating-in-leap-for-ball-climax statue. It’s destined for the waterfront and intended as a focal point for tourists during the 2011 tournament and beyond.

At this early point, public opinion tends to be favourable. But is it enough, and why stop at a bronze sculpture? New Zealand tourism planted a giant rugby ball in Paris during the last world cup to showcase the country’s wares as a destination. So why not a statue of a giant rugby player for Wellington? As big as Volgograd’s Mother Russia; a giant portrayal of movement so truly humungous that it invades people’s dreams at night. And make no mistake – this is about realising dreams.

Which brings us to the film industry and the way it could save Wellington’s bacon. So much so that people are getting behind the idea of having a local version of the Hollywood sign on the hills near the studios. A spontaneous gesture, no doubt. But who would have thought so many people would support such an unoriginal idea as the “Wellywood” sign?

Mark these words, the answer lies in a statue – a sculpture – whether it be the ‘shock and awe’ Green Islands, the large Henry Moore bronze form staring back at it from Salamanca Lawn or, one day, the ultimate symbol of the capital’s Think Big thinking. So give it to your poor, your tired, your huddled masses. There’s still a chance to get it right.