Picture this: rail art for train commuters

Professions Feature

A student proposal to incorporate public art and landscape design along the Grange train line in Adelaide's western suburbs has won a major landscape architecture award.

Master of Landscape Architecture student Susie Quinton has taken out the 2011 Rodney Beames Memorial Award for her project Moving Galleries which gives train users on the Grange rail line "a changing canvas" on their journeys to and from work.

The award was presented to Susie at a ceremony in late March.
Susie's proposal integrates digital media art, sculptural land art, performance, literature, community and street art.

Her entry was one of many which explored the selected theme: landscape opportunities within the City of Charles Sturt.

The award recognises the commitment of landscape architect, the late Rodney Beames, who promoted the incorporation of art in the landscape. Rodney Beames was a Clare-born landscape architect whose major projects in South Australia include the River Torrens Linear Park, the Bicentennial Conservatory and the O-Bahn Busway.

The jury was impressed with the professionalism and innovative nature of this year's entries, which reflected the "breadth and diversity of the landscape architecture profession".

Acting Head of the School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, and President of the South Australian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA), Professor Tanya Court, praised the students for their "novel and creative solutions".

"The use of art and design in the landscape to enhance the public experience is very refreshing," Professor Court said.

The other finalists were Josie Alvaro and James Thomson, both from the University of Adelaide.

The Rodney Beames Memorial Award is jointly sponsored by the AILA South Australia and Hassell Architects and is supported by Arts SA and the School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Adelaide.