Budding artists, students and community groups have been recognised for their electrifying public works, with the winners of the 2023 Artforce Brisbane Awards crowned this week.
For more than 20 years, the Artforce Brisbane Awards have celebrated the colourful community murals that transform 65 traffic signal boxes and nine Energex padmount transformers into suburban works of art.
“Brisbane is a vibrant artistic city, and our Artforce program makes our suburbs even better,” said Brisbane City Council Lord Mayor, Adrian Schrinner.
“Over the past 20 years, talented residents have transformed boring traffic infrastructure into exciting and colourful works of art.
“Each year the calibre of works gets better and better, so choosing our winners is always a difficult task,” he said.
Since the program started in 1999, the initiative has welcomed more than 5,000 volunteers who have painted more than 1,200 boxes around Brisbane.
“We are proud to offer a program that supports local artists and groups in honing their talents and making Brisbane’s lifestyle even better,” said the Lord Mayor.
At a reception at Brisbane’s City Hall yesterday, 10 category winners were announced, including the best overall winner which went to Tara Hooppell’s celebration of Queensland’s iconic agricultural fair in Our EKKA.
The People’s Choice Award went to artist Gabrielle Oliffe for Roll with it (pictured, right), winning with 2,667 votes.
The Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Award was presented to Ally Douglas for their artwork Arcade, which captured moments of significance for the artist when making memories with their father in arcades back in the 90s.
For more information on the Artforce Brisbane program, or to view the latest and previous Artforce Brisbane Award winners, visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au and www.artforcebrisbane.com.au.
