Cosy bus shelter makeover inspires Stroud artists

Artist Eleanor Harper decorated the first bus stop in this project

A group of artists is transforming 10 bus stops after being inspired by a mysterious designer who made a shelter into a cosy room a year ago.

Commissioned by Brimscombe and Thrupp Parish Council, Studio 18 is converting all the shelters on London Road, in Stroud, into art installations.

Each bus stop has a theme inspired by the locality or global issues.

The council said the project came about after the undercover makeover of a shelter near Brewery Lane.

Nathan Morgan, from Studio 18, said: "It's important people realise that art and creativity exists everywhere."

Damian Sung wrote poetry in golden ink for his bus stop

Artist Damian Sung said: "Before we started this project this bus stop was in a desperate state.

"This glass was opaque. It was very dark in here, it was very scratched, graffiti on it.

"If you're waiting for a bus every day to go to work it felt like you were doomed.

"You couldn't even see a bus coming, it was a nasty place to be."

Gavin McClafferty named his bus stop 'La Cathedrale'

He said people spend a lot of time waiting at bus stops "so why not make it a joyous occasion".

Artist Cazz Hollick said everything in her bus shelter is going to be "gold and shiny" with "mirrors everywhere".

"There's going to be a kaleidoscope lenses so you can look through and everything will be different," she said.

"There will be clouds, a glow in the dark moon, the bench will glow up at night and the most important thing is there will be rainbow film on the windows, so there will be rainbows everywhere."

Mr Sung said he wanted to make waiting for a bus a "joyous occasion"

A spokesman for the parish council said the undercover makeover of a shelter last August made them think "about these public spaces and their importance to our parishioners and the opportunity to make them landmarks".

"It's been almost a year in the making but now we have these wonderfully creative and immersive installations in what were once dreary bus stops."

The Art Shelter project is due to be launched on 5 September.