Move over rainbow roundabout, there's a new selfie hotspot in Canberra.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bus shelter artist Trevor Dickinson has painted his first mural in Canberra, an "interactive" classic national capital bus shelter that's just begging for some Insta-action.
The Newcastle-based artist was commissioned by Westfield Woden to fill a wall on the corner of the new pub The Barvarian with some charm and whimsy.
It's in a new section of the shopping and restaurant precinct, opposite the Hoyts entry where a former car park has been redeveloped.
He spent a week painting the bus shelter with the words "The best looking couple in Canberra" above it, complete with carnival-atmosphere party lights.
The seat in the bus shelter has a 3D effect, meaning people can "sit" on it for a pic.
It's similar to a mural he did near a museum in Newcastle, which was adorned with the tag "Most attractive couple in Newcastle".
They were designed by a Canberra architect and it's like Canberra's equivalent of a red phone box in London.
- Artist Trevor Dickinson
"It was really popular so I thought 'Oh, well. Why change it?'," he said.
"You don't have to be a married couple, it could be friends, two kids. Anyone. The idea was just to get people interacting with it.
"It's a really good spot for people coming out of the cinema or restaurants to stand here and pose with it."
And for those not feeling their best or just up for a laugh, the mural also includes a sign and an arrow cheekily pointing to "the worst looking person in Canberra".
"Again, in Newcastle, I've got 'The worst looking person in Newcastlet. It's used all the time," he said.
Dickinson has brought to the fore the essential Canberra-ness of the humble concrete bus shelter through his art, now emblazoned on everything from coffee cups to stubby holders to playing cards.
He spent six years photographing every bus shelter in Canberra, of which the first were designed in 1974.
"More and more people are starting to appreciate them and realise they are so Canberran," he said.
"They were designed by a Canberra architect [Clem Cummings] and it's like Canberra's equivalent of a red phone box in London.
"To actually find something that sums up a city that's not a grand piece of architecture, but it's something on the street that everyone knows, is great. And you can find it in any suburb as well.
"It's not like, 'This is our important building in the centre'. It's on the streets. Everywhere.
"And anywhere you go in Canberra, you know you're in Canberra because you see these."
Dickinson exhibited digital prints of his bus shelter drawings at the Canberra Museum and Gallery over last summer.
Transport Canberra celebrated the event by wrapping an ACTION bus in his drawings.
He was also commissioned by the ACT government to draw the light rail to decorate the tickets given to those who rode on its inaugural trip in April.
The Woden mural, meanwhile, is now complete, ready for inspection, interaction and adoration on social media.
"It's got a really good reaction, people really like it, definitely," Dickinson said. "I'd love it if they tagged me in the photos so I got to see them."
His Instagram handle is simply @trevordickinson.
But for all his contributions to the artistic life of Canberra, not all of Dickinson's projects get the green light.
He did propose to paint a bus shelter on an actual bus shelter, to make a real-life shelter look more like one of his drawings with shading and lines.
But that was knocked back by the government.
"They thought old people would be confused and not know what it was," Dickinson said, with a bemused laugh. "But, in my experience, older people in Canberra are really switched on."
His artwork from Canberra is also on display at the Newcastle Library until July 20.