All aboard! Young Brookton artists create colourful paper train to go on display in town’s main street

Young Brookton residents had the opportunity to get creative and design their own train carriages at the weekend in honour of Children’s Week, bringing a splash of fun and colour to the town’s main street.

Local children and their families were undeterred by some wet weather last Saturday, and there was a great turnout at the Brookton Newsagency for the Brookton Onward Town Team’s children’s community train activity to celebrate Children’s Week.

Children were invited to let their imaginations run wild and design their own colourful train carriages, with their brightly coloured artworks put together to make a paper train display along the side of Robinson Road.

About 50 young artists took up the challenge, contributing a variety of artworks around the theme of belonging.

Organisers dressed as railway conductors and got into the spirit of the event, asking for tickets and blowing their whistles to create a true train-station atmosphere.

The display will be up for two weeks in the town centre, and when they are taken down, participants can collect their artworks from the Brookton Community Resource Centre to keep.

Brookton Onward Town Team co-ordinator Rosalie Pech Eva said community projects like the railway adventure and the earlier Robinson Road street art project were bringing the community together in a new way.

“We started the year painting a road together, and now we’re watching our youngest residents proudly contribute their own artwork to the town,” she said.

“That’s what Brookton Onward is all about: creating opportunities for people to connect, contribute and feel part of something special in their community.”

Children’s Week ran from October 24-November 1 this year, with the theme of cultural identity, inclusion and belonging.

Ms Pech Eva said the idea behind the train was to show while every carriage was unique, it had a place to belong, and helped make up the train.

Local creative events business Bloom’n Events Co also donated its services to help run the event.