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February 2015

The Urban Environment Enhanced

The ACTION/Montone Bus Shelter Painting Competition


1993: the end of an era, celebrated with pizza

David Lamont MLA launched the 1993 ACTION/Montone Bus Shelter Painting Competition in August 1993. This ultimately became the final shelter painting competition when the major sponsor Montone Paints was taken over by Amazing Paints in late 1993.

Once again, Ken Thornton from the NGA was the competition judge and was very impressed by the high standard of the entries. He said, "The designs were varied and covered topics as diverse as Mawson's expedition to the South Pole, indigenous art, a cartoon design and a Central American motif."


The 1993 winning murals

Hawker College 1993
'Untitled' by Hawker College (Design by Anita Smart) (1993 Overall Winner) - Fullagar Crescent, Higgins.
Click here to view a larger version.

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Antarctica, Mawson
'Antarctica, Mawson' by Mawson Primary (1993 Winner Primary Schools) - Ainsworth Street, Mawson.
Click here to view a larger version.

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A Seascape at Dusk
'A Seascape at Dusk' by Daramalan College (1993 Winner Secondary Schools) - Cowper Street, Dickson. 
Click here to view a larger version.

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The Butterfly That Sneezed
The Butterfly That Sneezed by St Paul's B.K.s (1993 Winner Community Groups) - Captain Cook Crescent, Manuka.
Click here to view larger version.

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Minister for Urban Services, Terry Connolly, presented prizes to the winners at the Albert Hall on the 6th December 1993. The file 'A93/0357: Community Relations - Events - 1993 Bus Shelter Painting Competition' includes the catering details for this event:

"We require approximately 200 pizzas comprising a combination of Supreme, Hawaiian and six Vegetarian pizzas. Fruit boxes should be available for the guests to drink."


Decorated bus shelters remembered

Prior to the 1993 competition, ACTION compiled a list of all the decorated shelters. The list included the location, title and artists for most of the shelters. With another thirty-six entries received in 1993, Canberra now had over 200 colourful bus shelters decorating its suburbs.

You can download the bus shelter list (amended to include the 1993 entries) here: (PDF Icon PDF 1.98Mb)


Archives, a communal memory

In recent years, aluminium and glass structures have replaced many of Canberra's "bunker" bus shelters. Those shelters that do remain have long since had their colourful murals covered with plain cream paint. This leaves a few newspaper articles and these images as our only visual reminders of these murals.

You can view all our scans of the painted bus shelters at ArchivesACT's Flickr account: ACTION/Montone Bus Shelter Painting Competitions.

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Files used:

  • A92/0347: COMMUNITY RELATIONS - Events - BUS SHELTER PAINTING COMPETITION 1992
  • A93/0106: COMMUNITY RELATIONS - Events - BUS SHELTER PAINTING COMPETITION
  • A93/0357: COMMUNITY RELATIONS - Events - 1993 BUS SHELTER PAINTING COMPETITION

Links to Canberra Times articles:


Additional Links:

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