West End Rainbow Footpath

I was taking a walk in West End after having breakfast with Tae when I discovered the old rainbow footpath in West End.

The corner of Vulture and Besant streets with the rainbow crossing visible across the road.
Me standing in front of the significantly faded rainbow sidewalk.

It’s worn down pretty badly. Reminds me of chalk drawings on the road after the rain. But it’s probably fair enough cos it was thrown together by volunteers and I guess they just used whatever paint they had.

I first stumbled on it when it was brand new back in 2017 with Joel, Tom and Shashi. This was just after I got back from Amsterdam for the first time, and I assume Shashi & Tom were visiting for xmas.

Myself, Joel, Tom & Shashi in front of a bright rainbow painted footpath. It's really something.

Not linking to the bad website, but here’s the description from the original Facebook message where Cr Sri got folks together to paint it:

This is partly a political statement, and partly just an excuse to bring a bit of colour to an old stretch of bitumen footpath at the corner of Besant St, O’Connell St and Vulture St.

If you have a bit of spare paint lying around that you can bring down to donate to the cause, post up in the comments with the colours and quantities, or just rock up on the day and lend a hand as you see fit.

It would be good to use paints that are designed for outdoor surfaces and will last a while. We’ll try to paint in segments, leaving one part of the footpath clear until the other painted areas have dried so as not to inconvenience any mobility-impaired pedestrians.

If anyone wants to bring down other things like baked goods or a bit of music to entertain the painters, that would be cool too.

Jonathan Sri, Councillor for The Gabba

It’s still visible four years later. But might need a fresh coat soon.

2 Replies to “West End Rainbow Footpath”

  1. Oh wow, the colours really were very bright before! Love the flashback and description for something so creative and special. Hope it can be repainted soon 😎🌈

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