Tracking Australian Silo Art - Victoria

Last September, we spent the evening camping at Thallon in Queensland to photograph the town's beautifully painted silos.

In 2015, the first silo ever painted in Australia was in the small town of Brim, located in the Wimmera-Mallee region of western Victoria.
 
Building on the success of this project, five other silos in the same region have since been painted, creating the first silo art trail that covers 200 kilometres and connects the neighbouring towns of Lascelles, Patchewollock, Brim, and Rupanyup. Additionally, two silos are situated at Rosebery and Sheep Hills.
 
Plans are now underway for further art trails, which will transform these large, dull silos into impressive works of art.
 
Many smaller towns have now experienced the economic benefits of having silos painted. Instead of merely passing through, visitors now spend time viewing them, which boosts local sales of accommodation, food, and fuel.
 
GrainCorp, which owns most of the silos, has made more available for painting across regional Australia. Very few of these silos now store grain; instead, the grain is stored on the ground, covered with large blue tarpaulins.
 
Before starting the silo art trail, we headed south from Cobar to camp just outside Balranald. We spent the night in Yanga National Park, beside the Murrumbidgee River. 

From here, we crossed into Victoria at Tooleybuc, then passed through Ouyen and took a minor road to Patchewollock. It's the most northern painted silo. From this point, we will continue heading south over the next two days, photographing each silo.

 

A local sheep and wheat farmer, Noodle Hulland, from the district, is depicted on this silo. Painted by Fintan Magee, a Brisbane-based street artist, this silo was completed in October 2016.

With the next silo in Lascelles, just 59 km away, we decided to go there and spend the evening. When we arrived, the local RV stop wasn't very welcoming since it was located on the highway, so we took our photos and moved on. Painted by Melbourne street artist Rone, these silos feature the faces of local couple Geoff and Merrilyn Horman. They were painted in June 2017.

A potential campsite on Wiki Camps looked inviting. It was located on the banks of Lake Lascelles at Hopetoun. It costs a gold coin donation to stay here and is quite popular.

Knowing that the silos at Rosebery and Brim faced west, we left just before lunch so we wouldn't be looking into the sun while taking our photos.

The Rosebery silo was painted by artist Kaff-eine. She helped Rone, who painted the Lascelles silo. This silo was finished in October 2017.

The Brim silos were the first to be completed in 2015 by Guido van Helten. This encouraged other artists to paint the remaining five silos that make up this trail.

We were truly impressed by the silos at Sheep Hills. Painted by Adnate, a street artist renowned for his work with Aboriginal communities. The detail and colour were absolutely stunning, especially as we took the photos just after sunrise during the golden hour. 

The silos here are situated away from the main highway, with only a few houses nearby and an old pub that has since closed its doors. This mural was completed in December 2016.

We finished the Silo Trail in Rupanyup. The silo was painted by Russian artist Julia Volchkova and completed in April 2017. She primarily specialises in portraits.