Tracking Australian Silo Art - Victoria

Last September we spent the evening camped at Thallon in Queensland. We were there so that we could photograph the towns 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.

Following on from the success generated by this, five other silos in the same region have now been painted, creating the first silo art trail which covers 200 kilometres, and links the neighbouring towns of Lascelles, Patchewollock, Brim and Rupanyup. There are two other silos that are located at Rosebery and Sheep Hills.

Future art trails are now being planned which will turn these large drab silos into wonderful works of art.

Many smaller towns have now seen the economic benefit generated by having silos painted. Instead of driving through these towns, people are now spending time viewing them which in turn leads towards accommodation, food and fuel.

GrainCorp who own most of the silos has made more available to be painted throughout regional Australia. Very few of these now store grain, instead, it's now stored on the ground covered with large blue tarpaulins.

Before tackling the silo art trail we made our way south from Cobar to camp just outside Balranald. We camped overnight in the Yanga National Park beside the Murrumbidgee River. 

From here we crossed over into Victoria at Tooleybuc, before passing through Ouyen and taking a minor road through to Patchewollock. Its the most northern painted silo. From here we will continue to head 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 located in Lascelles just 59 km away, we thought we would continue onto here and spend the evening. When we arrived the local RV stop wasn't very inviting as it was located on the highway so we took our photos and continued on. 

Painted by Melbourne street artist Rone these silos depict the faces of local couple Geoff and Merrilyn Horman. They were painted in June 2017.

A possible campsite on Wiki Camps looked inviting. It was located on the banks of Lake Lascelles at Hopetoun. Its 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 at least we wouldn't be looking into the sun while taking our photos.

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

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

We were really taken with the silos at Sheep Hills. Painted by Adnate, a street artist famous for his work with aboriginal communities. The detail and colour were just unbelievable especially as we took the photos just after sunrise during the golden hour. The silos here are away from the main highway and there are just a few houses nearby and an old pub that has since closed its doors. This mural was completed in December 2016.

We ended the silo trail in Rupanyup. Here the silo was painted by Russian artist Julia Volchkova and completed in April 2017. She mainly focuses on portraits.