The front page of The Canberra Times on this day 33 years ago depicted the iconic fountain in Civic Square adorned with more than a hundred original masks.
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The headline read: "Well ... it needed brightening up".
Masks were displayed on tall spikes, supported by a specially cast concrete base with the approval of Bill Mitchell, of the ACT Administration, who kept the students' secret to "maximise the element of surprise".
The masks were the works of first-year students of the Canberra College of Advanced Education's School of Environmental Design.
Made from paper, leather, cardboard and, in one case, an old fur coat, the masks were first semester projects, and were made under the guidance of artist Theo Tremblay, of the Canberra School of Art, and his artist wife, Debbie.
They were put into the fountain because lecturer Jean Pierre Favre said it "needed brightening up".
Mr Favre told The Canberra Times that the fountain was a bland, uninviting space in need of something more exciting.
See https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/102079988
