Art comes to bus shelters

The humble, unadorned bus-stop: A thing of the past?

Waiting for a bus in Bradford will take on a whole new cultural significance thanks to a new arts scheme.

Three bus shelters are being into turned heated mini-art galleries as the West Yorkshire city bids to become European capital of culture in 2008.

The shelters are being designed by international artists in an attempt to make "waiting for a bus more interesting and engaging".

The Royal Society of Art have pledged £10,000 to the £194,000 cost.

Paul Brookes, who is heading the city's bid for European recognition in culture, said the scheme is an ideal way to show Bradford off.

He said: "We need to show that the district can stand alongside other European cities in creating innovative projects."

Digital display

Huddersfield-based cultural development agency, The Culture Company, has been commissioned to create the shelters.

One of the designs will have hidden colour-recognition cameras which will play music triggered by passengers' clothes.

Another will have a 24-hour digital display which will change every minute to show the time and a line of text describing events and images in the city.

The Culture Company's artistic director, Nicola Stephenson, is confident that the designs will go down well with locals.

She said: "Our aim is to make waiting for the bus more interesting and engaging by commissioning art works with an element of fun, surprise and anticipation."

Bradford council leader Margaret Eaton is also backing the scheme.

She said: "If we are to put in a serious bid to be European capital of culture, we have to develop schemes which are different and capture the imagination."

Another three heated shelters are being turned into "Super Stops" which will offer better protection against the weather, with real-time timetables.

The shelters will be launched on 30 January.