East End 90s Art Trail
Artist
Nicole Stewart
Location
Various locations around the East End
Originally illustrated by Adelaide artist Nicole Stewart in 1995, the East End 90s Trail is a collection of sixteen hand-drawn sketches capturing the people, places and everyday character of Adelaide’s East End at a pivotal moment in its history. First exhibited at The Austral Hotel in 1996 and later released as a series of postcards, the drawings have been reimagined as a self-guided public art trail, returning to the very streets where they were originally created almost three decades later.
Commissioned in 2024 by Maras Group, the East End Coordination Group and the City of Adelaide, the trail was created to preserve an important visual record of the precinct while inviting visitors to experience its evolution. Nine of Stewart’s original illustrations have been enlarged and installed throughout the East End, accompanied by QR codes linking to the complete collection, artist notes and the stories behind each location.
Created after Stewart returned to Adelaide from extensive travels through India, Iran and the Middle East, the sketches capture a distinctly analogue era of the precinct, documenting its laneways, independent businesses, heritage buildings and local identities with warmth and nostalgia. The trail offers a rare opportunity to step between past and present, celebrating the places that have endured, remembering those that have disappeared, and recognising the enduring character that continues to define the East End today.
Explore the Trail
