Melbourne Art Trams return for 2018

The first 2018 Melbourne Art Tram has entered service, one of eight trams that will be seen on Melbourne’s tram network over the next six months.

The trams are part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival, and will serve as a travelling exhibition space for artwork by established and emerging artists.

Operating on Routes 11 and 86, the first tram is by Gunditjmara artist Hayley Millar-Baker and is a monochrome photo-media design featuring landscapes and native animals.

Another of the eight designs will be a recreation of an original artwork by the late expressionist painter David Larwill (1956-2011), which featured in the Transporting Art program that ran from 1978 to 1993 – the first iteration of the now iconic Melbourne Art Trams program.

The other tram artists for 2018 are Oslo Davis, Nick Howson, Stephen Baker, Oli Ruskidd, Troy Innocent and Valerie Tang, a Year 9 student at Huntingtower School.

Each of the eight trams will be operated from one Melbourne’s eight suburban tram depots, meaning people across the city will have the chance to see the mobile artworks.

Yarra Trams CEO, Nicolas Gindt said: “It’s important to us at Yarra Trams that we contribute to the community we serve beyond helping them get to where they want to go.

“That’s why we are proud to have once again collaborated with the Melbourne Festival and Public Transport Victoria on this much-loved project, continuing our long tradition of supporting the festival.”

See the Melbourne Art Trams for 2018 here.