Georgie Burgess
14 November 2025: Once described as dark and dingy, the Aikman Drive underpass is now a celebration of all the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»³öÆ· and surrounding region has to offer.
The transformation is an outcome of ConnectUp 2617 – a project from the Health Research Institute (HRI) under the Faculty of Health – which brought together young people from Belconnen, including University students, and street artist Edward Mowat to design the large mural.
Mr Mowat, who led the group, said he took inspiration from Keith Haring’s work to bring the students’ ideas from paper to reality.
“We had students who were born and bred Canberrans, as well as those who had just moved here, contribute to the design – so there were lots of different ideas brought together,” he said.
“We had lots of fun with classic Australian things like flora and fauna, as well as activities from around Lake Gininderra, leaning into Haring’s style of patterns and illustrations to create something special.”
Two workshop sessions were held in the run-up to paint day. For Yvette Yu it was the first time she had ever held a spray paint can.
Looking at the finished project, she had nothing but pride for the scale and size of work they were able to achieve in such a short time.
“Painting our ideas of what Belconnen is, made me feel a deeper sense of connection to the community, and also to the group that I got to do this with,” she said.
“I’m really proud.”
Another participant, Bachelor of Nursing student Gauri Lekshmi, was excited to show her parents the work she has done. She’s also looking forward to them seeing the roots she’s putting down in the community, after moving to Canberra to study at the University.
“I’m an international student, and I felt quite isolated when I moved here, but now I’ve made a lot of friends and it’s like I’ve permanently put down some of my memories here, which is a thing that we can’t erase – it’ll always be a reminder of my time spent here.”
Community Connector for ConnectUp 2617, Israel Lus, said stories like this are the reason behind the program.
“ConnectUp 2617 is all about bringing people together and helping young adults make friendships they can carry with them through life,” he said
Associate Professor Ro McFarlane said she was thrilled to see the piece come to life – changing what was once a neglected corridor into something bright and full of life.
“Here at the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»³öÆ·, we are all about making positive change and making good things happen for the ACT. This is a very physical reminder and a beautiful visual representation of the work being done to uplift everybody who lives here,” she said.
The project was also made possible through the support of the ACT Government’s City Services team, who helped keep the project team safe from footpath traffic and contributed to transforming the space.
“It has 100 per cent improved the site and we’ve turned the lights back on, which has been great to see. We’ve also supplied some graffiti protection coating to the whole thing so we’re really happy to have seen the site improved in such a great way,” said Community Engagement Officer Catherine Higgins from City Services, who is in charge of Graffiti and Street Art Coordination.
It is hoped the space will encourage more students, in particular students living on the University’s Bruce campus, to access the quick route to Lake Ginninderra.
“We really need to encourage young people, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, to get out more and socialise – fixing up this pedestrian link is something we can do to help encourage our residents to safely get out of their homes and into the community,” Associate Professor McFarlane said.