It could be any other autumn day in the Mallee township of Lameroo, but a steady stream of curious travellers are stopping to gaze at the town's large silos situated along the main street.
Located on the Pinnaroo railway line 210 kilometres east of Adelaide and on the well-traversed Mallee Highway that takes people to Ouyen, Hay, Wagga, Sydney and beyond, the town's silos are having the last touches of paint applied to them by internationally renowned street artist Sam 'Smug' Bates.
Adorned with recognisable Mallee colours of ochres, yellows and deep blues, the silos are already becoming quite the tourist attraction.
Gazing over a Mallee landscape is a pensive farmer that represents the early settlers in the area. It is not based on any particular person, but his weathered hands, face and bushy beard are representative of the toil needed to survive and thrive.
A windmill symbolises the transformative impact the region's underground water has had.
Lameroo and surrounds is renowned for its industries supported by irrigation - potatoes, carrots, onion.
Sheep are a centrepiece on the artwork and also in the region, which is also a big broadacre cropping hub and grows the grain stored in the silos.
The sight of the silos, but also the inquisitive travellers, brings a smile to the face of local farmer Lynton Barrett.
He is one of five members of a silo art subcommittee from Lameroo Forward that have been guiding the silo art project in a bid to drum up community enthusiasm and get more travellers stopping in the town.
"We've achieved the first goal and that was to get some enthusiasm in the community," Mr Barrett says.
"The silo art is just the start as far as we're concerned. We want other groups to jump on board and think about what they can add so that travellers can stop to look at the silo art then look at other projects around town."
Like the settlers that came to the area, the project has required persistence from the five-person group that includes a 14-year-old student and a retiree among its ranks.
After being unsuccessful on four grant applications for the project, the group went to the community for help.
In an amazing show of community spirit, more than $150,000 was raised. Farming families and agribusinesses from Geranium to Pinnaroo contributed more than $10,000 apiece.
"This is not just a project for Lameroo, but the whole Mallee line. We've had great support from other towns in the area," Mr Barrett said.
Mr Barrett said silo owners Viterra and the Southern Mallee District Council had also been supportive of the idea.
The fifth grant attempt was successful and made the idea a reality.
Over the past three weeks, Glasgow-based artist Smug has been carefully applying touches of paint atop a 125-foot boom.
"It represents our past and what the people that came here saw," Mr Barrett said.
"They initially looked across a landscape of scrub with no water and thought 'what can we do here'.
"People had to be very resilient when they came to the Mallee. There was lots of sandhill, lots of scrub, and a lot of hard work."
This is the seventh silo artwork in Smug's portfolio.
"It's definitely one of my most ambitious murals and it had its had its fair share of challenges," he said.
"Everything seemed to take twice as long on this job, but I think it's just a silo thing.
"Silos are deceptively huge and working from dawn til dusk definitely takes it's toll on my aging body.
"I specially challenged myself with my colour theory of this one, having never used this scheme before, so it's exciting to find new colour combinations and finding a way to make them contrast and compliment simultaneously."
While the town is already seeing the benefit of getting more of the thousands of travellers that pass through each day to stop, Mr Barrett says there are plans to further capitalise by installing more cabins in the caravan park to encourage overnight stays.
There are also plans to paint the town's second set of silos.
"The first silo is about our past and the second silo will be about our present," Mr Barrett said.
"It's going to represent our underground water and irrigation which is vital for our horticultural enterprises - potatoes, carrots and onions.
"We also want to show the contribution of women in agriculture. Our area, and I'm sure it's not alone, has got a lot of females thriving in the ag circle and driving farm businesses and doing an amazing job."
One of those women is Nicole McMahon, local farmer and Lameroo Forward chair. She is blown away by the impact the artwork has had on the community already.
"There has been a steady stream of visitors stopping in our town to view the artwork in progress and locals have loved the novelty of popping down to see the days progress," she said.
"It certainly feels like there is a different vibe in the community. I really feel it's had a positive effect on people's mindset and sense of place, even more so than we had anticipated."
