Traffic Stopping Art (number 42)

This signal box, by Tracey Cranitch depicts Lady Bowen, wife of Queensland's first governor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen. She was very well respected for her work in charities and healthcare in the mid 19th century and was the very first Greek person in the colony of Queensland (of which there are now thousands). This box was part of the Q150 allocation, a group of signal boxes earmarked to celebrate of Queensland's 150th anniversary as an independent state from New South Wales.

See this box in it's old clothes here.

William Jolly Bridge Projections

The William Jolly Bridge is settling into its funky new look nicely. As part of Queensland's 150th celebrations, Brisbane city council has commissioned this permanent light installation with a variety of patterns by Ian de Gruchy, a projection artist who has projected on other public buildings like these ones.

Traffic Stopping Art (number 28 )

Later on this year in December, Queensland will have been independent from New South Wales for 150 years so there are lots of celebrations and commemorations already taking place. One of which is an allocation of traffic signal boxes to be painted with a "Q150" theme. This one on the corner of Waterworks Road and Settlement Road in The Gap was being painted yesterday. There's going to be a horse on one side and a cyclist on the other showing how we got around then and now. The colour scheme is the same for all the boxes doing the project - taken from the Q150 logo. Each one is representative of something Queensland-y so green is the tropical rainforest, red and yellow are the sand, blue is the barrier reef and black (along with red and yellow) are from the aboriginal flag. I had a bit of a chat to the artist, Kathy Sullivan, who said that there is a time limit for getting the thing painted and she had to finish it by yesterday - with 2 coats of paint! Hopefully it's all done now and you can go and admire her work next time you're in The Gap.

Brisbane's Big Draw

I was wandering around Queen Street today and outside one of the banks they have tacked up these big sheets of paper with people on hand with red and black pens. People were busy drawing and writing all over it. It turns out Brisbane City Council are running a program of activities called Big City Draw as a way of bringing people together through drawing and music (now that I think of it, I could hear some music). The initiative is part of Brisbane's 150th birthday celebrations which are going on throughout 2009. The activities also include colouring in magic carpets, designing the tree you would be and decorating totem poles with your own designed leaves and hearts. If you fancy expressing yourself, it goes from 11am-2pm daily until July 9th on Queen Street Mall.

Happy 150th Birthday!

2009 marks Queensland's 150th birthday as an independent state and also Brisbane's 150th birthday as state capital. The size of the city has grown a bit since this map was drawn.... currently it covers an area similar to the size of London but with a fifth its population.
This is a map that hangs in City Hall.