New street art mural pays homage to Great Air Race Centenary

Northern Territory Major Events Company

The pilot and crew that successfully flewfrom London to Darwin to win the Great Air Race in 1919 have been depicted in alarge-scale street art mural in the Territorys capital, as part of a newprogram of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the racethat changed the world.

Painted by Darwin Artists Jesse Bell and DavidCollins, the brand new mural located on the corner of Bennett Street andCavenagh Street features the winning team of Sergeant James Bennett, CaptainRoss Smith, Sergeant Wally Shiers and Lieutenant Keith Smith.

Also illustrated in the mural is thefamous Vickers Vimy biplane and a map of their journey from London to Darwin100 years ago.

Northern Territory Major Events Companyis working with key stakeholders to build a program of events with a strongfocus on local participation, commemoration and community engagement.

The events will take place from Septemberthrough to 10 December 2019, when the Vickers Vimy landed in Darwin. Fullprogram details will be announced soon.

Quotesfrom Northern Territory Major Events Company (NTMEC) General Manager TimWatsford:

As the first in a series of events thisyear to commemorate the Great Air Race Centenary, its very exciting to seethis fantastic street art mural unveiled in the heart of Darwin.

Local artists Jesse Bell and David Collinshave done a fantastic job in illustrating the four heroes behind the Great AirRace through this mural, which not only raises the profile of this majormilestone but also helps activate and bring the city centre to life.

This year we recognise a very special anniversaryin aviation history and we look forward to revealing the full program of eventsto the public very soon.

Quotesfrom Darwin Artist David Collins:

Its been a really fun project to workon as weve been able to do a lot of research about the Great Air Race, whichis a really important part of Darwins history.

Reading about the Great Air Race was sointeresting, and we found ourselves just marvelling at what these guys achievedwhile painting the mural.

Quotesfrom Darwin Artist Jesse Bell:

This was a great project to work onbecause I got to learn about a part of Darwins history I didnt know,hopefully this artwork will inspire others to look into it and get involved inthe celebrations around the Great Air Race Centenary.

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