Melbourne Art Trams is a creative partnership between Melbourne Festival, Creative Victoria and Public Transport Victoria, in collaboration with Yarra Trams. Now in its 6th year, Melbourne Art Trams is a revival of the Transporting Art project that ran between 1987 and 1993. From 1978 to 1993 the Transporting Art project saw local luminaries like Mirka Mora, Michael Leunig, Howard Arkley and Reg Mombassa making over Melbourne’s beloved W-Class trams with designs as distinctive as the city itself. Melbourne Festival reignited this spark in 2013 and ever since the Melbourne Art Trams have been a visible reminder of the creative energies that drive this town. Seven new tram transformations as imagined by Victorian artists will take to the tracks in October, including one that specifically responds to the artist’s interpretation of community. This year Melbourne Art Trams also tips its hat to its origins, recreating the raucous, bold and mischievous work produced by the late David Larwill for the Transporting Art project in 1986. The tram was painted as part of the commemoration of the United Nations International Year of Peace, but has been in storage for more than 20 years. The design has been photographed and designed to be wrapped on a modern tram. 2018 Melbourne Art Trams artists Hayley Millar-Baker David Larwill Stephen Baker Valerie Tang Oli Ruskidd Troy Innocent Oslo Davis Nick Howson The first Melbourne Art Tram will be launched on Thu 4 October.