Back in 1984, something colourful happened in the middle of town. Three women—Jan Rae, Nicky Neon, and Geraldine Searles—picked up brushes and gave Byron Bay a mural that would become a local icon.

The spot? The front of the Byron Community Centre, right near the corner of Jonson and Marvel. The artwork covered the entire facade. It was bold, layered, cheeky, and full of local stories. If you visited Byron in the ’80s or ’90s, you probably stood in front of it without even realising how unusual it was.

The mural was commissioned by the Byron Community Centre committee, headed at the time by Jan Dawkins, who was leading the Centre’s revival after years of disrepair. The brief was simple: reflect the community. And OFFART delivered.

OFFART was the name Jan, Nicky, and Geraldine used for their collective. The name was as deliberate as the paint they used. OFFART meant they weren’t following rules. Not in style. Not in subject. And definitely not in who was “allowed” to paint a giant mural in the middle of town.

They painted people. Real people. Faces you’d see at the markets or in the surf. One figure was Fast Buck$—a local folk hero famous for calling out politicians and big-money developers. He was controversial. The artists painted him anyway. Because that’s what Byron was: opinionated, creative, and always a bit wild around the edges.

OFFART didn’t use lifts or scaffolding. They used ladders, buckets, and local help. Locals brought sandwiches. Others brought ideas. There was no formal funding. No slick approvals. Just the community, doing what it’s always done best—joining in.

The mural stayed on the Centre for 18 years. It was removed in 2002 when the building was renovated, and nothing like it has been painted there since.

But people still talk about it. Locals remember it. Visitors took photos in front of it without knowing the full story. And now you do.

So next time you walk past the Byron Community Centre, pause for a moment. Think of Jan, Nicky, and Geraldine—three women, three brushes, and one mural that painted Byron’s creative heart right out in the open.