A TROMPE l’oeil mural that brings the ‘old’ town of Urunga back to life has been named as one of the best public art experiences in the nation, as voted by the Australian Street Art Awards judges.

The enchanting Urunga mural by artist, illustrator and printmaker David Bromley has been shortlisted for the 2021 Australian Street Art Awards’ Best External Mural gong.

The essence of the awards is that the artists are using public art to enhance visitor appeal and bolster community pride.

The Australian Street Art Awards are designed to educate travellers about the magnificent array of outdoor art that can be found in every corner of Australia and encourage them to see Australia first.

David told News Of The Area, “When Urunga was bypassed by the new highway the Department of Trade and Industry made some funds available through Bellingen Council for public art.”

In August 2017, Bellingen Shire Council published an invitation to local artists to participate in two public art projects, and David applied and was commissioned.

Local history and indigenous history were included in the proposal.

This is David’s first mural.

“Most of what you see is made up.

“I have a background in architecture, and I’m told I have a good visual memory and these were assets for this project.

“I researched old photos of Urunga but the buildings as depicted relate to these photos but are not copies of them.

“The Urunga Dispensary is a complete fabrication.

“The Arnold and Co shop uses the same typeface as the original, but my typeface is set up in Photoshop and is therefore more balanced and elegant than the hand painted shopfront as shown in old photos.

“The typeface on the Post Office is close to the original and the weatherboards were measured from those on the Urunga Museum.

“I researched all the items in the shop windows.

“People recognise the antique kerosene heater hanging from the ceiling, for example.

“The first person I painted from life was Steve Allan.”

Steve is now the Mayor of Bellingen Shire.

“He was the proprietor of the Urunga Pharmacy at the time so I thought it was fitting that he held a dignified, proprietary pose.

“I hadn’t initially thought of putting locals in the image.”

Including local character Herbie as the centrepiece was a very popular gesture.

And he didn’t mind being made a villain in a ‘Wanted’ poster featured in the mural.

“I warned him that he would hear the same joke about the 500 pound reward every day.

“The faces in the post office are people who I got to know quite well.

“The young Vietnamese girl struck me as very bright, and her grandfather is on the phone behind her.

“Three generations of the Kelly family, the custodians and traditional owners of the land here, are represented in one doorway.”

The painting took far longer than David guessed.

Days could be spent on research or days spent on top of a ladder, wrestling with large sheets of paper which he used to get the lettering right.

“There were some days spent lying down painting somebody’s shoes or the detail at the bottom of the shop fronts.

“I told the onlookers that it was an effective way to reflect on one’s career path.

“Every item in the shop windows was carefully considered.

“I was having trouble fitting in an image of an antique gramophone, complete with horn, into the shop window.

“A voice over my shoulder said, ‘I’ve got one of those at home’.

“He let me photograph it and told me it was a rare Berliner, which had a horn made of wood.

“There were a lot of Michelangelo jokes.

“Everyone was enjoying what they were seeing and everyone made kind comments to me.

“One amazing encounter was with a white-haired elderly man.

“He read my biography and noticed the London suburb, Hanwell, mentioned.

“During a chat it emerged that he was my old Form Master and history teacher from Drayton Manor Grammar School, Hanwell, London.”

The finals are to be announced in an online ceremony on 4 March.

 

By Andrea FERRARI