Budding artists, students and community groups have been recognised for their electrifying public works with the winners of the 2023 Artforce Brisbane Awards now crowned.
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.
Since the program started in 1999, the initiative has welcomed more than 5000 volunteers who have painted more than 1200 boxes around Brisbane.
At a reception held at City Hall yesterday (Wednesday May 8 2024), 10 category winners were announced for last year’s cohort, 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, winning with 2667 votes.
The 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.
People and groups of all artistic levels are encouraged to register for the free Artforce program.
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.
Quotes attributable to Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner:
“Brisbane is a vibrant artistic city, and our Artforce program makes our suburbs even better.
“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.
“We are proud to offer a program that supports local artists and groups in honing their talents and making Brisbane’s lifestyle even better.”
Artforce Brisbane Award winners 2023
| Category | Location | Artwork Name | Winner |
| Lord Mayor’s Award | Vulture Street & Leopard Street, Woolloongabba | Arcade | Ally Douglas |
| People’s Choice Award | Kingsford Smith Drive & Cooksley Street, Hamilton QLD | Roll with it | Gabrielle Oliffe |
| Best Organisation | Clarence Road & Lambert Road, Indooroopilly | Leeches Day Out | Art From The Margins, Wesley Mission |
| Best Primary School, Kindy, and Creche | Boundary Street & Gregory Terrace, Spring Hill | Under the Sea | Brisbane Grammar School |
| Best High School | Nudgee Road & Gerler Road, Hendra | Connections Underground | Mary MacKillop College |
| Best 18 & Under | Blunder Road & Reedy Road, Oxley | Paww-lice Dog | Brielle Dunkinson |
| Best 12 & Under | Old Cleveland Road & Creek Road, Carindale | Don’t Hurry, Be Happy | Stella Minotto |
| Highly Commended 12 & Under | Newnham Road (pedestrian crossing) & Colwyn Street, Upper Mt Gravatt | Ant You Hungry? | Olivia Shen |
| Best Energex Box | 291 Milton Road, Milton | Toot Toot Beep Beep Hoot Hoot Tweet Tweet | Bronte Mark |
| Best Overall Traffic Signal Box | Bowen Bridge Road & Horace Street (at Boral Concrete), Windsor | Our Ekka | Tara Hooppell |
