Trevor Dickinson’s Beautiful Bus Shelters get their own book
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Our quirky old bus shelters—they’re an iconic symbol of Canberra.
And all the love they receive could be contributed to one man—Newcastle-based artist and bus shelter enthusiast Trevor Dickinson.
This humble bus shelter, originally designed by Clem Cummings, has been placed on stubby holders, art prints and puzzles by Trevor across the years. But for Christmas 2o20, Trevor deemed that these iconic structures deserved something more—a beautiful coffee table book.
The idea for Beautiful Bus Shelters been rumbling in Trevor’s creative brain for a few years now, but between working on other projects and being asked to hold an exhibition on said shelters at Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG), he’s been a little busy.
“The book was always going to be the end result of the bus shelter project,” explains Trevor. “I’ve always loved books and would often make zines. These were little handmade booklets of local street drawings that I sold through shops and zine fairs.”
“When CMAG agreed to a bus shelter exhibition (Beautiful Bus Shelters of Canberra, CMAG Oct 2018) the brakes were off. I initially made a quick pack of bus shelter playing cards as the catalogue to the show because I wanted to give the book the time and attention it deserved.”
But after a year that has heavily impacted the arts scene, Trevor finally had the time to finish this labour of bus shelter love.
“I have close relatives in England and a daughter in New York so I know how lucky we are to be in Australia,” says Trevor. “Commissions have been a little quiet but I have an online shop which hasn’t been affected too much, I do miss the face to face contact of the Canberra markets, but the Handmade market has gone virtual for now and it works really well.”
“I learned a lot in the process [of 2020]…And it led to me finally completing Beautiful Bus Shelters of Canberra.”
The luxe coffee table book delves deeply into this unique aspect of Canberra’s design history.
Following the transitions and growth of Canberra suburbs through both illustrations and photographs spanning 2012–2018, it’s one big celebration of a place that many Canberrans have sat at one time or another.
“I chose a wide section of suburbs, in all seasons and times of day because although I think the bus shelters are amazing, I also wanted to make each image say something about Canberra.”
The book is divided into two parts. The first is an extensive yet curated collection of Trevor’s bus shelter illustrations, while part two is a collection of images of every bus shelter in Canberra.
The book also contains the original design process and blueprints by Clem Cummings himself—not to mention the 1975 complaint letter to The Canberra Times regarding the designs.
As for Trevor’s favourite shelter, there are some obvious choices.
“In real life, the shelter I was most excited to find was the Big Fat Poo shelter in Tallara Parkway, Narrabundah. Bus Shelter Hunting gets a bit repetitive, and I couldn’t believe my luck when I found this, it was screaming to be drawn!”
“My favourite drawing is a shelter by a field in Symonston on a gorgeous summer morning in December. I’ve always liked how Canberra suddenly stops at the edges and gives way to nature, and this drawing reminds me of that.”
Canberra’s bus shelters may have started as a fascination of Trevor’s—one that has seen him travel to every part of the city to capture every single concrete bus shelter that still remains—however, the wild success of his drawings is proof that he isn’t the only one partial to these special places.
Just in time for Christmas, Beautiful Bus Shelters is the perfect present for any passionate Canberran. The 166-page hardback book is available online for purchase or at selected Canberra boutique stores.
All purchases made online will also receive a signed copy—making that gift all the more special.
As for what’s next, Canberrans can keep their eyes peeled for the future release of Trevor’s The Book of Canberra—a collection of all of Trevor’s Canberran drawings.
See newcastleproductions.bigcartel.com/product/beautiful-bus-shelters-of-canberra-book-signed for more information.
