Victoria's Silo Art Trail has a brand new addition. A new giant silo artwork titled 'Hope' has been unveiled in the old gold mining town of St Arnaud, in the Northern Grampians.
The new mural is so large it spans two silos, and was created by local St Arnaud artist Kyle Torney. 'Hope' illustrates St Arnaud's gold mining history, and the design was chosen in collaboration with residents of the town. It took Torney around 800 hours to complete the work, the process for which included cleaning, priming and placing a huge grid on the silos to ensure correct proportions (meaning Torney was up and down the silo 30 to 40 times a day).
Like many of Torney's murals (which can be seen throughout St Arnaud, as well as in Ballarat, Melbourne and Adelaide), 'Hope' uses images of people to tell a story – a concept he calls "narrative portraiture". On the title of the mural, Torney says: "I called the silo art ‘Hope’ which is reflective of the gold mining period but also resonates with the current climate. It’s great to be able to create something that will help to increase tourism to the region, St Arnaud is a great place to visit and like all of Victoria has been hit hard by Covid-19 restrictions.”
'Hope' will now serve as the new start point for the 200km long Silo Art Trail – effectively the largest outdoor gallery in the world. The trail now stretches from St Arnaud to Patchewollock.
Once restrictions permit, intrepid art lovers can find the new silo art on McMahon Street, St Arnaud (roughly 2.5 hours drive from Melbourne).