That will surely be the reaction of tens of thousands of Canberrans to the news that after years touring the world under the auspices of her former owners and operators, Global Ballooning, Skywhale is back.

She was donated to the National Gallery of Australia under its Cultural Gifts Program earlier this year.

The flying artwork is the largest and most flamboyant piece to have ever emerged from the fertile imagination of internationally acclaimed sculptor, Patricia Piccinini. She was conjured into existence at the behest of Robyn Archer, the delightfully controversial creative director for the 2013 Canberra Centenary.

Skywhale's maiden ACT flight, on May 9, 2013, was the most emotionally charged moment of the year, sparking a debate about aesthetics, relevance and the value of public art that continues to this day.

To some she is ineffably beautiful and engaging in all her textured, ultra-mammalian, beatific and ungainly magnificence.

To others she is a hideous monstrosity, a waste of tax-payer's money and an affront to perceptions of this city as the highly internalised, uber uptight and oh so un-whimsical capital of the nation.

If you are one of the few who has chosen to display a "Feel The Power of Canberra" number plate it's highly probable you're not a Skywhale fan.

The irony, and the ultimate answer to the knockers and the critics, is that Skywhale delivered far more bang for the $300,000 she cost to create and fly, than anything else that came out of the $24.5 million the then Katy Gallagher-led ACT government spent on the birthday bash.

In addition to the controversy and debate she generated locally, Skywhale made Canberra a talked about city across the nation and around the world at a time when, to be fair, few people outside our borders cared much about the fact we had just turned 100.

Wowsers everywhere were shocked and appalled by the sight of her enormous breasts while the more innocent and open minded were quick to embrace the spirit of joy with which Piccinini, whose work can take a much darker turn than this, imbued her most magnificent creation.

"There were 16 breasts hanging down from this whale, which didn't even look like a whale, and it was on display for everybody to see," one Tasmanian councillor famously fumed.

And her relevance? Today it is beyond doubt. Skywhale has become just as much a symbol of our city as the lake, the Australian War Memorial, the Telstra Tower or even our raison d'etre, Parliament House. She is also a joyous reminder of the happy time when we were just 100 years young.

There are parallels to be drawn between our flying masterpiece and the NGA's Blue Poles, another artwork that emerged from controversy to become a Canberra icon.

The Whitlam government's approval of the purchase of the Jackson Pollock masterpiece for $1.3 million in 1973 was condemned by many as feckless and irresponsible. Now valued at between $100 million and $350 million, Number 11, 1952, as Pollock named it, is now rightly regarded as a national treasure.

It is entirely appropriate that Skywhale, who has also had to endure far more than her fair share of criticism, denigration and calumny, has found sanctuary at the same institution.

We hope, for the sake of her many friends and supporters, that she will be spreading her udders above the ever-changing vistas of the bush capital very soon.