Community & Business
30 May, 2024
Community to Have Input into Water Tower Mural
Dunedoo won with Jim Bowman and Winx, Warren saw itself as a skateboarder, and Lake Cargelligo tried and failed to launch a rocket – now its Nyngan’s time to choose what should be painted on our water tower.
Bogan Shire Council received NSW Government grant funding for public artwork and has decided to decorate the water tower in O’Reilly Park, Nyngan.
At last week’s council meeting, Bogan Shire General Manager Derek Francis asked councillors for direction to determine the style and subject matter of the artwork for the tower.
“Before seeking quotations from prospective artists, it is necessary to determine, broadly speaking, what images Council would like to see represented on the water tower,” Mr Francis said.
Artwork on large infrastructure such as water towers and silos has become increasingly popular since Weethalle started the trend for NSW in 2017 by having a shearer, a farmer, and a small flock of sheep painted on a bank of concrete silos in the centre of town.
It has led to many other communities following suit, creating a popular tourism trail.
Many designs reflect a community’s past, while others aim for a point of difference—although a design to have a rocket ship launching at Lake Cargelligo was a step too far for that community, which instead chose a historical scene of a wool wagon and a sunset.
At Dunedoo, local artist Peter Mortimore recreated local jockey Hugh Bowman onboard the champion racehorse, Winx.
At Gunnedah, the famous poem “My Country” by Dorothea Mackellar has been immortalised on a 29 metre high maize mill; while at Portland, five past Portland cement workers were painted.
Most of the infrastructure that has been painted around NSW is privately owned, and the artwork has been chosen and funded by the owner or a community group.
Bogan Shire Council has instead elected to use grant funding on its water tower and has no preconceived idea as to what the design will incorporate.
Council resolved at the May meeting to engage with the community for ideas, which will then be approved by councillors.