Rone’s winning design for the Melbourne Art Trams program.
Local Melbourne artist Rone will be the first winner of the Melbourne Art Trams program to see his design rolled out on to the streets this month.
The competition held by Arts Victoria, Yarra Trams, and the upcoming Melbourne Festival invited participants to submit designs that went into the running to be exhibited throughout the city.
Rone’s said his winning design, a large pair of captivating eyes against graffiti, evoked his style and Melbourne’s people and culture.
“As a Melbourne-based street artist who has recently spent more time working overseas, I tend to view Melbourne’s trams as a visual signpost that I’ve arrived home,” Rone said on the Melbourne Festival website.
“So I wanted to create something that, like the tram itself, is uniquely symbolic of this city and its inhabitants.”
Rone has worked as a street artist for more than decade. He is widely known for his gigantic portraits of enigmatic women. His largest work – L’innocunnue de la Rue – is at 80 Collins St, is 35 metre high.
“L’innocunnue de la Rue” on 80 Collins St, Melbourne.
However Rone has recently expanded his reach beyond Melbourne, having spent the last 12 months invited to design streets in Hong Kong, London, Berlin, Mexico, Miami, Hawaii and New Zealand.
Minster for the Arts Heidi Victoria said Rone’s submission was chosen because it captured the spirit of Melbourne’s modern aesthetic.
“His work brings the vibrant, layered aesthetic of Melbourne’s laneway culture to the main thoroughfares of the city,” she said.
“Rone has a distinctly Melbourne flavour.”
The competition is a revival of the Transporting Arts program, which saw 36 artists redesign Melbourne trams between 1978 and 1993.
Michael Luenig, who designed a Melbourne tram himself in 1986, was one of the judges this year, alongside Minster Victoria, festival creative director Josephine Ridge and Yarra Trams chief executive officer Clement Michel.
Ms Ridge said that in the lead-up to the Melbourne Festival running from October 10-26, the trams were great way of expressing the festival’s visual arts.
“This year we look forward to the trams extending the festival’s impact right across the city and suburbs,” she said.
A further seven trams are still to be unveiled, with people able to track their location using the tramTRACKER app.
All winning tram designers are still in the running for a $5000 People’s Choice Award, open on the Melbourne Festival website until October 23.
Rone’s design will cover Tram 209, which will operate on Essendon Routes 55, 57, 59 and 82.
