Iconic Footscray, an exhibition celebrating Footscray and surrounds, featuring illustrations by local graphic designer Susan Fitzgerald, is now open at Metro West.
Footscray Market, Sims supermarket, Olympic Doughnuts and Joe Squatrito barber are among the local landmarks, both past and present, included in the exhibition which opened on March 6 and runs through until March 21.
Ms Fitzgerald described Iconic Footscray as a colourful celebration of the suburb with a strong focus on signage.
“I’m a graphic designer and am very interested in type and letterforms, and the highly skilled work of sign writers,” she said.
“The exhibition also includes some hand painted signage, which I had a lot of fun making.”
Beginning as a private commission focused on landmarks chosen by a client, Ms Fitzgerald finished the initial illustrations in mid-2024 before deciding to add some depicting favourite locations of her own.
The end result is Ms Fitzgerald’s first solo exhibition.
“I’ve really enjoyed putting it all together, especially creating all the branding, posters, flyers , signage and other visuals,” she said.
“I’ve also enjoyed chatting to so many local business owners, who’ve been really supportive and allowed me to put the posters up in their shop windows – the very thing that’s featured in most of the artwork.”
Supported by Maribyrnong council, Iconic Footscray is on display at the gallery within the VU Connectivity Centre at Metro West from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
The exhibition is also open on select weekends, including Saturday, March 15 from 5pm to 11pm for the Little Africa Night Market.
Access is only available via Metro West’s Paisley Street entrance.
For more information, visit: https://www.spinspin.com/
Cade Lucas.
