A SCHOOL bus driver made the “world’s biggest motors graveyard” after an ex-pupil left him a touching message in graffiti.
AlamyThe school bus graveyard has become a unique attraction[/caption]
AlamyThe idea was forged from a former passenger graffiti-ing one of Walter’s buses[/caption]
AlamyArtists from all over the US visit the site[/caption]
Walter Wade owns an unusual five-acre urban art gallery filled with decommissioned school buses, tractor trailers and RVs.
The site, which Walter also calls home with his wife Deb, contains more than 120 buses.
A school bus driver by day, he also had a side-hustle business selling junked cars and used vehicles – but became targeted by thieves keen to get their hands on expensive scrap metal.
In order to thwart would-be thieves, Walter constructed a large fence around the decommissioned vehicles.
But one day he noticed one of the buses had been victim to graffiti with the outline of a ghost spray-painted on it, Curbed Atlanta reports.
Also written was the abrupt message: “Sorry about the bus.”
The person responsible for the graffiti turned out to be one of Walter’s passengers.
But rather than become furious over the spray painting, the message instead acted as inspiration.
Walter asked his former passenger if he wanted to return to “do some more”, before the murals caught the attention of a local artist in 2010.
Walter agreed to let the artist use the buses to paint large-scale pieces on the basis they were “family-friendly” and there was no climbing on anything.
The same artist, who did not want to be named, helped organise a festival to attract others to come and createtheir own murals.
As word spread, the site soon became affectionately known as “School Bus Graveyard” and was more notorious for its artwork than being home to Walter’s business.
The site, in Atlanta, now attracts artists from all over the United States.
Walter said: “There’s nothing dirty about it, nothing illegal about it—it’s just unique.
“It’s a never-ending story because there’s always something different. It’s always evolving.”
AlamyArtists are told to stay avoid climbing on the buses[/caption]
AlamyWalter describes the site as a never-ending story[/caption]