SILO ART A TALL ORDER FOR VICTORIAN TOWN OF BRIM

Was it a well planned strategy or accidental success?

Sometime you grab the opportunity when it presents and that looks like what happened with the small community of Brim in the Nth West of Victoria.

Brisbane based artist Guido van Helten said he had always had an interest in painting street art on silos. “They’re quite beautiful surfaces and perfect for something like this” he said. He approached street artist management company Juddy Roller to locate silos in Victoria. They settled on Brim when Grain Corp came up with the disused silo standing tall on the west side of the Brim township. Van Helten mapped the work onto a computer knowing the visual challenge was allowing for the curved surface of the silos.

Brim wheat silos located and ready for Guido. Silos like this became obsolete as farming operations grew bigger and were unable to handle the very large haulage trucks delivering grain to rail sidings. 

 Van Helten is no stranger to this type of project with works around the world in Belarus, Ukraine, Norway, Italy, Denmark, London and Iceland. He worked up to 10 hrs a day in heat frequently reaching 40 degrees.

President of the Brim Active Community Group Shane Wardle along with the towns 100 population quickly recognised the opportunity. They put $10,000 toward the project and were backed by grants from the Yarriambiack Shire and Regional Arts  Victoria. Paint was donated from Taubmans and Loop Paints with the local publican providing the artist with meals and the town caravan park providing accommodation.

The town has been abuzz. Shane Wardle a farmer in the area for 22 years reckons it’s the biggest thing to ever happen in the town with travelers coming from all around the world to see the 30 m artwork for themselves. A makeshift car park has been quickly put in to cater for traffic stopping to admire and take photos of local identities painted onto the silo.

The work complete and impressive as the sun sets over the local legends.

Congratulations to Brim for their efforts in seeing an opportunity and taking advantage of the imagination of a wonderful artist Guido van Helton. This is leadership on display by a small town of 100 people. Brim Victoria. 

Just a One Eyed View.