Do you recognise these faces?
In 1998 the Gold Coast Bulletin ran a competition which allowed Gold Coasters to enter a picture of their child to be painted on the wall along the M1.
Many Gold Coasters drive past these faces daily along the M1 to and from work. The mural depicts 178 Gold Coast children and has been on the side of the Gold Coast Highway for 21 years. Unfortunately a number of children have passed away since the mural was created. The family of two and a half year old Christopher de Boer who passed away in 1982 has said it has been “quite wonderful to see him shining there for all this time, but we know it’s the end”.
The mural has been demolished to make way for the $218.5 million dollar expansion. Due to the age and state of decay of the large mural the Department of Main Roads and Transport indicated it was not feasible to preserve or relocate the artwork.
The children’s faces from the mural will be in a book called The Children of the Freeway, by Gold Coast photographer Maleika Halpin.
The Department has not ruled out new artwork upon completion of the upgrades.
Do you think it’s important to create a new mural along the M1?
