Waikerie Silo Art - SA

About the Waikerie Silo Art Project

The Waikerie Silo Art project was funded through the South Australian government’s Fund My Neighbourhood (FMN) program in 2017. I personally applied for the funding in 2017 to paint a mural on the Waikerie silos, owned by Viterra, and then partnered with Nature Foundation South Australia (NFSA) as Sponsor of the project, and to assist in the development of concepts and co-manage the silo art project, with the theme of Healthy River Healthy Community.

Under the FMN program, a community individual had to nominate the project (me) and partner with an incorporated group (NFSA). Various projects where voted for across SA, from within their own communities. We had an outstanding amount of support from within our community, who strongly voted for the project, and Waikerie subsequently received $150K in funding from the South Australian Department of Premier and Cabinet to complete the project.

We formed a small working group and set about creating a document that could provide as much information about our region, eg river ecology, history, industry reliance, the Murray Darling Basin Plan etc, so that the potential artist/s could make their own determination about what ‘Healthy River Healthy Community’ means. We did not want to be prescriptive about what was to be painted on the silo, but to allow the artist/s to make their own interpretation of the theme. The information we collated then formed part of our Artist Expression of Interest (EOI) document, which was released as a broad, public tender document. We then reviewed the artist’s EOI’s and chose a short list of the best submissions.

Then we engaged Juddy Roller, Australia’s leading street art network, based in Melbourne, to assist us to choose the artist/s from the short list of best submissions, and those we felt best met the project brief.

We decided to engage two artists because we had a large space to paint and had a relatively generous budget. We decided to paint the entire silo, all around, so it was basically two silo projects in one, making our project quite unique when compared to what else had been painted on silos elsewhere in Australia. To our knowledge it is the only silo art project that has involved more than one artist.

The two artists were subsequently chosen, and we were fortunate to be able to engage two exceptional, world class artists, in Jimmy Dvate from Melbourne, Victoria, and Garry Duncan from Kanmantoo, South Australia.

We then asked the artists to submit an Artist Impression (AI) of their intended art work, and our working group then reviewed, provided feedback and subsequently approved the AI’s before the artists commenced painting.

Jimmy has painted local native river flora and fauna, including a giant Yabbie and the endangered Regent Parrot. He has also included other endangered species like the Murry Hardyhead and the Spiny Daisy.

Garry has painted giant, semi abstract river landscapes and has included many quirky, local, native river creatures, like assorted birds, frogs, fish and turtles. He has also included the Rainmoth which is where the town of Waikerie got its name. The name Waikerie is said to mean 'many wings', after the giant swift moth 'Wei kari', the name given to the moth by the indigenous first peoples of the area.

Both artists have painted their own pair of silo towers, all the way around. The two unique artworks are very different compositions, but both fit the theme of Healthy River Healthy Community very well.

The Waikerie silo now has two stunning artworks, sitting side by side, as they would in a traditional art gallery, but these artworks are on a gigantic scale.

Jimmy worked predominantly with aerosol spray cans and also with some exterior enamel paints that he either painted on with a brush or roller.

Garry used all exterior enamel paints, which he applied with a brush or roller.

The artwork was completed by the end of March 2019.

Our community is so grateful to have had brilliant artworks created by such talented artists. It is already bringing a significant number of visitors to Waikerie to view the stunning artworks.

The artists were on site to install the art for a combined 16 weeks in total. They together used nearly 500L of paint to complete the Waikerie Silo Art project, which covers 360 degrees around the entire Waikerie silos and is nearly 30 metres tall.

The next step will be to carry out onsite improvements at the Waikerie silo site which will open up the site, so that people can stop and walk around the silos. The onsite improvements will include new roads, vehicle parking areas, walking tracks (including linkage to the Waikerie Rotary Cliff top walk) viewing areas, seating, shelter areas, fence installation and removal, along with general landscaping and the planting of native gardens. We will also install interpretative signage that will provide more details about the artists, and specific elements of their art work, and further educate the broader public about the need for a healthy, living river.

We hope to have the onsite works completed by the end of June 2019. Once the onsite works are done, people will be able to walk around designated walking tracks and view the entire silos, all the way around while viewing continuous artwork 360 degrees.
The Waikerie silo site also sits perched adjacent to the magnificent cliff top view over the Murray River, so visitors will be able to take a short stroll to enjoy magnificent 180 degree river view.

By the time we finish the onsite works this project will have been in the making for over 2 years. It has been a lot of work for our small band of volunteers.

There has been incredible support for the project from within our community. The District Council of Loxton Waikerie provided an extra $30K for car parking improvements on site. The Waikerie Hotel donated over $15K in accommodation for the artists. Many other local businesses and service clubs offered and provided their services and products to enhance the project. The project has not only created two beautiful artworks that sit on a once vacant and unused silo, but it has also created a real buzz in our town and feeling of unity and pride.

It has also prompted discussion from individuals within the broader community to look at ways we might be able to introduce more art, in the same theme, throughout our town.

Special thanks need to go to fellow members of our Waikerie Silo Art working group Natalie Stalenberg Gretta Koch and Penny Smith. Natalie has worked alongside me as a significant driver of the project, while Gretta provided her expertise in marketing and promotions. Penny has assisted in many areas including the administration of our Waikerie Silo Art Facebook page which has nearly 2.5K followers, and the Time Lapse video of the art installation has had over 10K views. Thanks to my husband, Clint Frankel, for compiling the data to produce the time lapse film.

Thanks also to Megan Frankel-Vaughan for administration of the Waikerie Silo Art Instagram page.

The Waikerie Silo Art project could not have been realised without the support from the following:
South Australian Government for funding the project
Waikerie Community, including various businesses, service clubs and broader community individuals
Nature Foundation SA and Juddy Roller for assisting with the management of the project
Viterra
District Council of Loxton Waikerie
The Waikerie Hotel
Taubmans Australia
McMahons Services
Onsite Rental
Jumaluk
Paschke Electrical
Waikerie Toyota Matschoss Motors
Wills & Co Waikerie Mitre 10
David Sickerdick films
Megan Frankel-Vaughan for administration of the @WaikerieSiloArt Instagram page

You can follow the project on Facebook @Waikerie Silo Art or Instagram @WaikerieSiloArt

View the short Time Lapse film of the art installation on our Facebook page.

We have also had two professional films made by David Sickerdick, (which are soon to be released as YouTube films) for online promotion of the project. David has created a beautiful short film about the artists, their work and their connection to the river, and another about the overall Waikerie Silo Art project, highlighting what the project might mean to our community, and the project theme of Healthy River Healthy Community. The films include interviews with the artists and local people, and stunning vision of the Waikerie Silo Art and also stunning vision of the beauty of our magnificent river environment.

Compiled by Liz Frankel 25.3.19

Member of the Waikerie Silo Art Working Group.