community, halls gap, mural

A new art piece has been installed in Halls Gap to rival the might of the Wimmera's silos. A 37-metre-long multi-coloured piece featuring 15 decorated metal panels has been installed on the corner of Grampians and School Roads, opposite the Halls Gap information centre. The project features a variety of work from local artists Barb Venn, Tracey Rees, James McMurtrie, Wayne Dickenson and Sara Bowers and reflects the six seasons of Gariwerd or Grampians. Northern Grampians Shire Council allocated $75,000 to Halls Gap Tourism for the project. "We didn't have anything tall enough to paint so we see this as our own horizontal silo of some sort," Halls Gap Tourism president Rick Heinrich said. "We have a combination of painters, a glass blower and metal sculptor working on the project. "We will have glass inserts we are planning on backlighting them which should make the piece look amazing both day and night. "It will be very textural, not just a flat piece of art." The artists are in the process of putting the finishing touches on the piece, expecting to finish it in the coming weeks. “It’s a fantastic addition to the southern entrance to Halls Gap, and the first of many exciting things to come for the town," Northern Grampians Shire South West Ward councillor Jason Hosemans said. “It’s a sensational feature put together by a group of local artists, and it’s going to be a great location for visitors to take photos of, particularly for social media given the beautiful backdrop it provides.” The project has been a long time coming and is in a different spot to originally intended. The first plans for the piece had it on the footpath outside a vacant block along Grampians Road between the general store and Coolas Ice Creamery. "We first started discussing this in 2016. Our problem has always been we have got a fantastic natural environment but the built environment isn't great," Mr Heinrich said. "As a world class tourist destination, to have that site as the main focus on the main street was outrageous. "We came up with the idea of the art wall specifically to block that site which was an eyesore, and council was on board. "Fast forward to last year and all of a sudden we were no longer allowed to put the piece at that site, we were quite anxious to have three years of work up in the air. "We compromised with council and found a new spot which is where the piece is now." Cr Hosemans said the proposed original location was not set in stone. "It was one of a few options we had," he said. "With the work that is being done developing Halls Gap, things were open to change." Cr Hosemans said while having the vacant block still open is not ideal, council is limited in what they can do. "In the end it is a private property so we are restricted in what we can do with it," he said. Pomonal-based artist Sara Bowers said she is excited to have the piece up and being worked on after years of waiting. "It has been three years, there were moments we weren't sure if it would happen so to see it up is really cool," she said. "It has had so much support from the community which has driven us, it has been great to see the positive response." While you’re with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox each Friday morning from the Stawell Times-News. To make sure you’re up-to-date with all the news from across the Northern Grampians shire, sign up here.

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