North East Victoria Silo Art Trail
The North East Victoria Silo Art Trail links together small towns around Benalla and the Winton Wetlands. Start in Benalla, home to the Wall to Wall Street Art Festival. The town's buildings provide an ever-changing canvas for artists around the country and globe.
Goorambat
Drive on to the small town of Goorambat, where you'll find two works of public art. The grain silos feature three works by Melbourne street artist Jimmy Dvate, including an endangered bird of prey from the area and a rural landscape.
Location: Devenish Road, Goorambat
'Adnate' has painted his depiction of the female aspect of the Holy Trinity on the inside wall of the Uniting Church. This traditions draws on the spirit of God as it manifested in the Old Testament times and the post Pentecostal period. 'Sophia' came into being as part of the 2017 Wall to Wall festival.
Visitors are able to experience this beautiful piece of art daily from 9:00am to 5:00pm, however if the church is not open when you arrive, please call the number of the door. One of the church's volunteers will be happy to assist.
Location: 97 Hall Road, Goorambat
Devenish
Continue along the trail to the town of Devenish, where artist Cam Scale's three towering murals pay homage to local community involvement in military service.
The artwork was unveiled on Anzac Day Eve 2018 and coincides with the 100 year centenary of the end of the First World War. The artwork is of both a First World War nurse and a modern day combat medic. Fifty young men and women from the Devenish community enlisted in military service for the First World War.
April 2019 has seen the third silo installation completed with recognition to the Lighthorse men.
Location: Devenish Road, Devenish
St James
Artist Tim Bowtell has dedicated his silo mural to Sir George Coles, a St James local who founded Coles supermarkets. The silo bunkers at St James were built in 1943, with bushels of wheat originally delivered to the site via horse and cart; a motif that is displayed in the artwork.
Location: 23 Devenish Road, St James
Tungamah
Sobrane Simcock was the first Australian female street artist to participate in the silo project, painting dancing brolgas, galah and a kookaburra onto the privately owned Tungamah Silos in 2018.
The Tungamah Railway Station goods sheds and portable building opened in 1886, which coincided with the railway opening between St James via Tungamah to Yarrawonga on the S May the same year.
It was 1889 before the main station was erected which was followed by a more substantial grain shed in 1890. At its peak, 60,000 bags of wheat were delivered to the station in a normal harvest.
In 1944, the concrete silos were erected by the railways construction branch of the Board of Land and Works, for the receival and transport of grain by the Grain Elevators Board. It was one of 58 railway stations that had been tendered for silos, at a cost of 289,497 pounds ($401m in 2016 value). This increased the holding capacity of Victorian wheat silos from 13,020,000 bushels to 18,668,000 bushels. The Tungamah concrete silo became inadequate to cope with the influx of grain in times of good crops so the steel silo was later added.
The position of Station Master in Tungamah lasted 93 years. When it was abolished in 1978, the passenger building and platform were demolished, leaving just the silos. Today the Silos are privately owned and operated by the Cooper Family. The concrete silo holds 2500 t. of wheat, the shed another 3000 t. and the steel silo another 2000 t.
Location: Cnr Station Street and Middleton Street, Tungamah
Winton Wetlands
Finish your journey along the North East Victoria Silo Art Trail in the Winton Wetlands, where Guido van Helten painted portraits of three local Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteers on a water tank in 2017. The tank can be found along the self-drive Art Trail within the wetlands, featuring works such as 'Martins Barge' and the famous 'Fish Trees'.
Location: Cnr Boggy Bridge Road and Winton North Road, Chesney Vale
Katamatite
Added to the trail in July 2023, the silos painted by Tim Bowtell depict the area's pioneering history, indigenous cultural significance and the natural beauty of the Broken-Boosey State Park.
Location: 36 Katamatite Road, Katamatite
Art Trail Summary:
Duration: 2 hours from Benalla
Total distance: Approximately 132 kilometres
Start: Benalla (around 2.5 hours from Melbourne)
See a PDF map of the Silo Art Trail
Note: Katamatite has been added since the map was created.
Note: Photos from Benalla Visitor Information Centre
Web Links
→ www.australiansiloarttrail.com
→ Shepparton Murals & Silo Art
→ North East Victoria Silo Art Trail on Facebook
→ GrainCorp Devenish Silo Art on Facebook
→ Tungamah Silo Art on Facebook
→ Katamatite Silo Art on Facebook
→ Silo Art Locations in Victoria with Map
