The tiny South Australian farming town of Coonalpyn is the latest to turn to silo art as a way of putting itself on the grey nomad map and reviving its flagging local economy.
Like many rural communities, its once-bustling main streets have quietened, businesses have closed, and people have left. But, rather than sliding meekly into ‘ghost town’ status, Coonalpyn has turned to world renowned silo artist Guido van Helten to bring the good times back.
His previous silo mural in the drought-stricken Victorian country town of Brim brought tourists flocking, and he has worked similar magic in communities in everywhere from the US and, Mexico to Finland, Ukraine and Spain.
Faced with five 30-metre grains silos in Coonalpyn on the side of the Dukes Highway, about 160km from Adelaide, van Helten has already adorned one of them with the features of local schoolgirl, six-year-old Kiarah Leske.
It is hoped that her eye-catching image and those that follow will persuade many of the 5,000 people who driver past each day to stop, take a picture and perhaps spend a few dollars.
And it’s already working.
The inaugural Silo Sites RV festival has just been held and, for the first time in years, a new business has actually opened. The Coonalpyn Silo Cafe is handily located directly opposite the silo masterpiece.
Maureen Dewhurst has lived in the town for 65 years and ran a craft store until the economic downturn forced its closure 25 years ago.
“They took all the amenities out of Coonalpyn and it gradually went downhill,” she told the ABC. “It was at its worst point when the corner store closed in 2011.
Now she has a renewed sense of optimism and it why is she and her son, Brett, had the confidence to open the new cafe.
The fact that the silo art depicts its younger generation perhaps reflects this sense of a brighter future, and the spirit and pride of the town.
“It is not just about the silos,” said van Helten. “It is where they sit and the community they sit in.”
The mural, on Viterra-owned working silos, is one of six projects in the Coorong District Council’s $85,000 Creating Coonalpyn art initiative, which aims to bring back a sense of pride, hope and activity to the community.
“Coonalpyn is now having its turn in the sun,” said Coorong Mayor, Neville Jaensch. “We are right behind the community with this project.”
Will be there, we are looking for towns with silo art and murals to visit this year. Brim and others are on our list.