We were lucky to escape for a road trip between Melbourne lockdowns in late June to do the Silo Art trail which stretches 200km through the northwest Wimmera Mallee region from Rupanyup to Patchewollock. You can tick off all the silos in a 2 hour journey but we zig zagged a bit to take in a few side attractions.

It is a great way to see the local ‘colour’ of these rural wheat towns, many of which have seen hard times due to drought and dwindling populations. All of the artists spent time to get to know the area surrounding the silo they were painting, and many chose to paint people to capture the character(s) of the town. You can read about each artist and their work on the website: http://siloarttrail.com/home/

We drove up to the Silo Trail via the A8 Western Freeway from Melbourne through Ballarat and on to Horsham where we stayed the night before hitting ‘the trail’ the next morning.

The Stick Shed, at Murtoa was our first stop.  Built in 1941 as an emergency grain storage facility, this sprawling, rather rickety looking structure is made from 560 poles that pin up the high corrugated iron roof. The shed is 250 metres long and shafts of light penetrate through making for marvellous photos. Read more at https://www.thestickshed.com.au/

Rupanyup was our the first silo sighting just 35 km west of Horsham. These twin silos captured the spirit of sport in the area featuring a netball and football player in black and white. 

Next stop was 25 mins up the road to Sheep Hills, a tiny hamlet with a towering 6 silos featuring indigenous elders and children against a starry Van Gough style midnight blue sky.

Brim was our next stop to see the first silo artwork to appear in Victoria, and the impetus for the establishment of the Silo Art Trai. Completed in early 2016, the mural depicts a multi-generational quartet of female and male farmers in faded browns and greys.

From Brim we headed up the highway to Roseberry’s twin silos featuring a young female sheep farmer and a man with his horse both symbolising the tough working environment

Then it was back down the highway 10 kms to take a side track out east to Nullawil -to perhaps our favourite silo art on the trip – a farmer and his dog – a black and tan kelpie.  The dog is super alert, awaiting his master’s command and highlights the importance of working dogs to the farming communities.

Next we took a run up the Calder highway to SeaLake to see the young indigenous girl, on a swing, on the silo as she looks over Lake Tyrrell at twilight. The Boorong People from this area were known to have great knowledge of astronomy, and their stories have a strong connection to the lake.

We then headed back west to Lascelles to see local farming couple Geo and Merrilyn Horman, part of a family that has lived and farmed in the area for four generations painted on the silo in soft muted tones.

Then up the Sunraysia highway to our final silo at Patchewollock where the tall portrait of local sheep and grain farmer, Nick “Noodle” Hulland stretches high into the sky.

We only missed two silos – those at Kaniva and Albacutya – but loved discovering these colourful structures that punctuate the wheat plains like colourful exclamation marks.