Lee Black is a sheetmetal fabricator and daily he works with metal to create products for Shearwater Marine Engineering. It's a family trade and business and the normal design briefs include high-end ballistrades, kitchens, boat fit-outs and marine fittings. His work is functional and focused on the objective of creating product to plan, but it is always someone else's plan.

In his downtime, 30-year-old Lee looks to Lump Sculpture Studio in Melbourne to inspire and fuel his passion to craft sculpture from steel. The studio is acclaimed in Australia for its design and creation of contemporary art and outdoor sculptures and it is a creative direction Lee is keen to pursue in the Manning Valley.

In a first for Lee, Graham Brown of GPB Partners and organiser of Tidy Up Taree has commissioned him to design and create an abacus sculpture for the Civic Heart project. Work will soon begin with Lee's plan approved by Graham, components ordered and now all that remains is for him to transform the stainless steel into a sculpture that gives a nod to the accounting business that is funding the project.

The abacus will stand about two metres tall and cover a span of around three metres. It is designed to be interactive as Graham and Lee want people, particularly children, to engage with the sculpture and so the stainless steel balls will move.

"The design relates to our area with the peaks representing our mountains, the smooth flowing curves the Manning River, the balls are the floats that our fisherman use and the boomerang shape represents our Aboriginal community," Lee explained.

Sandblasted images will feature on the 35 stainless steel balls and according to Lee, they will have an aquatic theme to reflect that Taree is an aquatic city. The timeline for completion is around six weeks as Graham is keen for it to be installed at the front of GPB Partners on the weekend of the next Tidy Up Taree event, Saturday November 29 and Sunday November 30.

Lee is one of a growing number of people in the Manning Valley who are working to try to revitalise the central business district of Taree.

He and his wife, Carissa and their two-year-old daughter, Jarrah call Cundletown home and he hopes that one day "people will see and value the beauty of our area and the opportunities here."

"It's a massive congo line of cars coming in and out of Taree every day," Lee said.

"We need to do something to make people want to stay. We have got to have some art and chairs to make the space inviting for people, we want them to come and sit around, enjoy the area and shop. It's heaps better than going into a shopping centre. You're out in the open, the sun's shining, happy days!

"There are heaps of empty shops, the town's gone down and it needs a pick-me-up. My sculpture is part of that and I think Graham is doing a great job and Tidy Up Taree is an awesome thing.

"It's lifting up the community, everyone's talking about it. The restaurant owners are putting their chairs and tables out and it's making the place look inviting. You want to sit down."

Lee says he is committed to staying in the Manning Valley and with that decision comes his desire and decision to contribute to the community.

"I'm staying, most of my friends are staying, you've got the beach, the river, we can go wakeboarding, skiing, fishing, but something needs to change in our main street," Lee said.

He has ideas and hopes they will one day be realised.

"Cool pubs with outdoor eating areas, night markets, art spaces, what Jack & Co has done is just awesome, we really need more stuff like that," Lee added.