Yelarbon recognised among Australia’s best street art drawcards

The GrainCorp silos at Yelarbon have been recognised twice as one of the best public art experiences in the nation.

When the Rain Comes, the 96-metre-long silo artwork in Yelarbon, has been shortlisted in two categories of the 2020 Australian Street Art Awards for the ‘Best Mega Mural’ and the ‘Best Rural Art’. The winners in all eight Australian Street Art Awards categories will be announced on Tuesday 2 March on the Sunshine Coast.

“The Awards showcase towns like Yelarbon that are using outdoor art to transform their infrastructure and streetscapes, while educating Australians about the magnificent array of publicly-accessible art that can be found in every corner of the country,” said Awards Director, Liz Rivers. “Securing a finalist berth in the prestigious Awards further cements the Goondiwindi region’s reputation as a bucket list destination for tourists who love to seek out art experiences,” she said.

Judging focused on the way the art has been used to attract visitors and bring the local community together safely under the challenging COVID-19 conditions. “With COVID restrictions on indoor numbers in most states and territories, street and public art is a free gift to every traveller,” Ms Rivers said.

The eight large GrainCorp silos, two large and six smaller ones, together create the 1,800-square-metre canvas for what has become one of the largest artworks in Australia. The mural was painted by The Brightsiders and depicts Yelarbonʼs freshwater lagoon spread across all eight silos as the basis for an idyllic oasis setting where a child plays with a paper sailing boat, water lilies bloom and local birdlife zooms by.

The judges were impressed with the mural’s details, and the way that Goondiwindi Regional Council has played on these to help promote other aspects of the region.

“This mural tells a lovely story. Little details like the boy’s paper boats being constructed from historical newspaper pages that he found while fossicking through the old jail building at the adjacent Yelarbon Recreation Grounds, where RV tourists can stay, reflects smart tourism decisions,” the judges said.

Mayor of the Goondiwindi region the Honourable Cr Lawrence Springborg AM said the Yelarbon silos’ double nomination proved that small country towns have lots to give on the national scale.

“Here in the Goondiwindi region, our motto is that we are ‘Regional Australia at its best,’ so I’m delighted to see the Yelarbon silos have been recognised in this instance as being some of the best in the nation. Especially as a Yelarbon local myself, I’m extremely proud of what we’ve achieved with this project and wish to thank my fellow residents for their involvement in turning a vision into reality, and I’m looking forward to seeing how this recognition will even further boost the town’s growing tourism.”

Arts tourists from within Australia are high-value visitors – they stay 42.8% longer and spend 55.9% more when travelling than domestic tourists overall, according to the Australia Council for the Arts’ Domestic Art Tourism: Connecting the Country 2020 report.

“Australia has a long history of creating sculptures, monuments and other street art that is captivating to visitors. However, until two years ago there was no way of rewarding towns and precincts that created these art-related experiences for visitors. The Australian Street Art Awards has remedied that shortcoming,” Ms Rivers said.