The Construction of the Festival Centre (1973)

Mervyn Smith is best known for his watercolour landscapes and expressive botanical paintings. Smith trained as an architect and worked as a town planner in Newcastle before marrying notable South Australian artist and art teacher, Ruth Tuck and moving to Adelaide in 1943.

Capitalising on his architectural draughting skills Smith has charmingly captured the build of the Festival Centre busy with workers, its new modernist silhouette redefining the Adelaide skyline.

Smith designed post offices, telephones exchanges and the Adelaide Airport terminal buildings. He was honoured with a Merit Award in 1984 from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. After his retirement from architecture, he devoted all his time to his art and was president of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts from 1967 to 1970.