PUBLIC Silo Art Trail (Wheatbelt)

A great road trip through the Wheatbelt, the PUBLIC Silo Art Trail takes road trippers from the town of Northam on the Avon River to the City of Albany on the South Coast. Linking up the towns of Merredin, Katanning, Pingrup, Newdegate and Ravensthorpe, the trail features spectacular large scale public art murals and a number of smaller works along the way. A world class public art experience, this is a perfect driving tour for a long weekend

Distance: 1080 km (one way from Northam to Albany, not including side trips)

Gradient: It's a road trip, it doesn't really matter!

Quality of Path: Entirely on seal roads if following the official route, and not including side trips

Quality of Signage: Information signage at some of the silos, no directional trail markers along the route

Experience Required: Country Driving Experience Recommended given the long distances

Time: 2-3 Days

Steps: None, this is a road trip
Best Time to Visit: All Year, but is at its best in late Winter through to late Spring
Date(s) Completed: 6-7th March, 2021

Entry Fee: No
Getting There: The trail starts west of Northam. From Perth, head along Great Northern Hwy and then turn right onto Route 50 and then right again onto Newcastle Rd. The first silo is 1.5 km down the road.

Prior to The Long Way's Better and our current careers in education and public transport consultancy respectively, Alissa and I were both practicing artists, with Alissa having a degree in Contemporary Performance while I completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts. While neither of us maintain an art practice today, Alissa and I remain passionate about visual arts and the important but often overlooked role it plays in Australian society (and economy), and thus a long weekend that conveniently aligned with Alissa's birthday presented itself as the perfect opportunity for us to complete an epic road trip through the Wheatbelt to complete the PUBLIC Silo Art Trail that stretches from Northam along the Avon River to Albany along Western Australia's South Coast. 

The plan was to head up from Perth through to Northam, completing the first half of the trail to Katanning on the Saturday and completing the second through to Albany on the Sunday. While the silo art would be the main focus of our journey, we would also be exploring the various towns along the way, checking out the museums, quirky local attractions and hidden gems of this lesser known part of the state. 

Heading out along Great Eastern Hwy, our first stop was the Famous Bakers Hill Pie Shop. A popular stopover on the way to Northam, the pies here are truly excellent and cater for a variety of tastes, with all the standard meat pie options supported by delicious vegetarian and gourmet flavours. I had last visited the bakery four months earlier while doing the Kep Track from Mundaring to Northam, and I was more than happy to be back enjoying Bakers Hill's quality baked goods yet again. 

Back in the car and continuing east along the highway, a slightly convoluted loop under Great Eastern Hwy leads to the CBH Northam Grain Terminal where the first two silo murals are located. A working grain site, there is no dedicated viewing platform at the time of writing however the silos can be viewed from the truck loop near the entrance or from the roadside itself. 

Painted in March/April 2015, the Northam silos were the first ones painted as part of the project and feature the striking works of two very different artists. Working with a monochromatic palette, the piece by Welsh muralist Phlegm features a series of whimsical Da Vinci-esque airships piloted by humanoids with builds and postures that recall three toed sloths, and is fairly representative of the artist's illustrative style. My general view regarding successful public art is that it should interpret, comment on or be reflexive of the place it is located. While the artwork's connection to the area may initially appear opaque, Northam was the launching point of the first solo circumnavigation of the world in a hot air balloon by Steve Fossett in 2002, and it is clear that this is the source of inspiration for Phlegm's more whimsical interpretation.

Atlanta-based artist HENCE contributed the second silo mural, and it could not provide a more contrasting juxtaposition to Phlegm's work. Working with bold, vibrant colours, and abstract shapes and patterns, HENCE's work brings to mind everything from Mondrian and the Russian Suprematists to Ken Done and contemporary Aboriginal artists. The mural is again fairly representative of HENCE's style, however there is an added granularity to the artwork's abstract shapes that reads as a kaleidoscopic interpretation of the grains housed within the silos. 

Before getting back into the car to continue into Northam, it is well worth taking in the view of the pastures across the road. One of the great qualities of the Silo Art Trail is that it encourages those on the journey to not just take in the artworks but to take in the Wheatbelt landscape as well, and hopefully see these lesser known corners of Western Australia with fresh eyes. 

Located on the banks of the Avon River, Northam is the most populace town in the Avon Region and is famous for being the starting point of the Avon Descent and for its traditional role as the gateway to the Western Australian goldfields. A major landmark of the town, an additional artwork has been added to the Northam Flour Mill in November 2020 with the completion of The Last Swans by the Dutch-born Fremantle-based artist Amok Island. I had witnessed the work in its final stages when I cycled into Northam with my friend and podcasting partner Mark Pybus, and it was great to see it in its completed form. The mural pays tribute to Northam's distinction as the only place in Australia where white swans released into the wild have successfully formed a permanent breeding group.

While in town, it is well worth seeking out the actual white swans themselves. They are likely to be found along the banks of the Avon River itself, and on the day of our visit were located on the western side of the river right near the iconic suspension bridge. 

 The suspension bridge provides an excellent vantage point from which to view the Avon Descent, and provides a direct link to the Bilya Koort Boodja.

Bilya Koort Boodja, also known as the Centre for Noongar Culture and Environmental Knowledge is an impressive cultural centre and should be an essential side trip while out on the Art Trail. At the time of our visit, the Avon River had broken its banks and flooded Northam's streets just days before with some muddiness on the ramp and steps showing how high the water levels had reached. 

Being a fairly new attraction, the display is thoroughly sophisticated and modern, and makes use of contemporary audiovisual media to create an immersive experience. The video installation that serves as a Welcome to Country is an impressive artwork in its own right, and is almost worth the cost of admission alone. 

Structured around the Noongar seasons (which any resident in Perth should immediately recognise as more accurate than the four seasons of the European calendar), the display preserves and interprets the environmental knowledge and culture of the Ballardong Noongar people who call the Avon River area home, as well as providing some confronting truths about European colonialism and the racist policies that impacted (and continue to impact) the lives of Aboriginal people in Western Australia.

Fans of architecture will be amazed by Northam's impressive municipal buildings, with the showstopper being the Northam Town Council and Library Complex. Designed by renowned Perth architect Iwan Iwanoff, the building is a masterpiece of Iwanoff's unique approach to Brutalism and is a strikingly modern building that contrasts against the gold rush era buildings found elsewhere in town. Long thought of as cold and having a Soviet hardness to it, Brutalist works like Iwanoff's are finally being reappraised and appreciated for their own distinctive beauty. 

While out supporting the arts on the Art Trail, Alissa and I decided to visit the Avon Valley Creators Collective, where local arts and craft can be purchased. Alissa particularly liked the replicas of native flowers made from felt that were found within, and we ended up buying a few to add to our country arts collection.

A characteristic of this first day of the Art Trail is some seriously long distances between artworks, and it is an almost two hour drive from the Northam silos to the next ones in Merredin. Thankfully, Great Eastern Hwy provides a wealth of other attractions to fill the day, starting with the historic town of Meckering. Meckering is home to one of Australia's Big Things - the Big Camera. Unlike many of these Big Things that are merely giant sculptures, the Big Camera also doubles as a camera museum. 

Inside is one of the largest displays of camera equipment you'll ever see, with literally thousands of cameras ranging from old Kodak Brownies, SLRs and Polaroids. Three audio presentations are provided, with the one on the history of Kodak and the life of death of George Eastman being the most fascinating.

Meckering's biggest claim to fame is that it was the site of a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in 1968 which destroyed many of the buildings in what was once a thriving Wheatbelt town. The ruins of what must have been an impressive homestead can be found 2 km north of the town centre, and provides a lasting illustration of the earthquake's destructive force. 

A marker in the house shows the location of a baby's cot within the ruins that miraculously survived the almost total collapse of the homestead structure. One thing visitors should note is that at the time of our visit, a massive bull ant nest was located right on the entrance to the homestead grounds - something we had not noticed until we had already gotten out. Getting back into the car was a challenge as we had to brush a frenzied army of ants from our boots and door frame, and I became absolutely paranoid that ants were crawling up my pants!

Being after recent heavy rains and a local flood event, it was interesting to see water flowing across the land and through the various culverts under the road infrastructure. The uncharacteristic wetness in March really added to the beauty of the landscape, as we would later encounter salt lakes filled with water that would have otherwise been bone dry after the heat of Summer. 

The preciousness and relatively scarcity of water is most palpable when driving through Cunderdin given the heritage listed water tank located right on the main street. In the background, the chimney stack of the No. 3 Pumping Station of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme. The Pumping Station has since been converted into a museum, and apparently features an interactive earthquake simulator for anyone who wants to experience what it was like to have been around during the Meckering Earthquake. 

The museum may have been interesting, but Alissa and I were distracted by the cartoonish looking building on the other side of the street. While I failed to recognise the reference, Alissa immediately recognised the name Ettamogah Pub and thus began an internet rabbit hole that revealed it to have originated in the cartoons of Ken Maynard that were featured in the now defunct Australasian Post magazine and later spawned four real life Ettamogah Pubs scattered around the country. Given the magazine has not existed since 2002 with Ken Maynard having passed away a few years earlier, the number of people that get the reference is probably a declining audience but the distinctive appearance is enough of a draw that it is likely to pique the interest of many a passerby. 

Being around 1pm, Alissa and I decided to stop in for lunch at the pub. Given we hadn't even reached the second silo and then had a long drive to get to Katanning, stopping for a sit down meal was probably overly ambitious, and while not necessary a reflection on the pub, in hindsight Alissa and agreed stopping for a takeaway sandwich would have been a wiser given would be arriving at Katanning past sunset. It really goes to show that there is a surprising number of things to do along the way and it can be hard to try and fit it all in. 

After lunch, our next stop along the way was Kellerberrin. While I was at art school, Kellerberrin's claim to fame was being home to IASKA - the International Art Space of Kellerberrin. While IASKA no longer exists, the artistic streak seems to have left its permanent mark on the community as in 2019 they painted their replica of the Sydney Harbour Bridge pink in support of the McGrath Foundation. The vibrant colour really makes the bridge stand out, and if anything makes it even more of a tourist attraction than it was before. 

Finally, just over five hours after the silo in Northam, Alissa and I found ourselves on the outskirts of Merredin standing in front of the trail's third silo mural. Painted by Perth-born artist Kyle Hughes-Odgers, the artwork was inspired by the local community with the choice of colours taken from the natural environment. While containing figurative elements, the artist's aim was to present 'a bigger idea of community but not in an ultra-literal way [as he] wanted people to interpret their own story'. 

I've heard some of the locals in Merredin were not 100% sold on the artwork, perhaps wanting something a bit more literal and less open to interpretation. I'm a firm believer that not everyone needs to 'get' an artwork for it to be successful, and part of the role of art is to challenge perceptions rather than to be crowd pleasing. Given the work is not exactly controversial or risky to someone who is familiar with visual arts, I think it is great that FORM (the non-profit organisation who curated the trail) chose a wide variety of styles for the silo art and that paintings like this are exposed to a wider audience who maybe have never visited a gallery or been exposed to anything other than literal and figurative works.

While we were already running a bit late for our arrival in Katanning, Alissa and I had to stop by and check out the old Cummins Theatre. One of the oldest buildings in Merredin, the theatre has been the heart of the town's cultural life for over 90 years, and is still a popular venue for acts doing the regional circuit. The diverse range of acts to perform at the theatre include AC/DC and the Wiggles, both of whom are basically Australian music royalty. 

From Merredin the trail heads south to Katanning. This is the longest distance between the towns of the trail, however there is still much to see along the way. One of the most striking features of the Wheatbelt is the biodiversity of its Eucalypt species, and I have to admit seeing the pockets of remnant vegetation makes me wish more of it had been left in its natural state as the woodlands are absolutely beautiful. There are many reserves along the way, with the nature reserve at Bruce Rock being a short side trip from the main route. 

Bruce Rock Nature Reserve is also home to two pioneer wells located in the day use area, which also features information about the nearby granite formations that are an iconic but little known feature of the Wheatbelt. 

Bruce Rock is unfortunately not the most interesting of these rocks, partly because a good chunk of it is on private land. Seeing that we were so close to some of the big ticket granites, Alissa kindly agreed to take a detour so I could tackle one I've had on my bucket list for a long time. 

Located about 35 minutes west of Bruce Rock, Kokerbin Rock is one of the Wheatbelt's larger granite domes, and features an interesting walk up to the summit. Along the way, it passes a mini version of a Wave Rock-style formation, passes a stack of massive boulders known as the Devil's Marbles and passes another historic well.

The summit offers spectacular views of the surrounding Wheatbelt, with the summit cairn pointing out all the surrounding features.

Running late as we were, I basically had to do Kokerbin Rock at a trail running speed, however what time I did have up there was spectacular. For those thinking of adding it to their itinerary, I would suggest an earlier start to their trip or breaking up the trail into three days, particularly if the Silo Art Trail is tackled in the short daylight hours of winter. A suggestion would be to stay in Merredin, spending a bit more time exploring the town and then taking your time exploring some of the interesting granite scenery on the way to Katanning.

Following some dodgy back roads that had our car covered in mud, Alissa and I were back on track when we reached Dumbleyung past sunset. While in Dumbleyung we had to check out the replica of the Bluebird, the jet engine hydroplane operated by Donald Campbell when he broke the water speed record on Dumbleyung Lake in 1964. 

While not a part of the Silo Art Trail per se, it is great to see Dumbleyung getting in on the public art action with a sculpture in honour of Donald Campbell. The work of Gold Coast-based artist Ivan Lovatt, the sculpture is made entirely out of chook wire, and while conceptually straightforward the piece is quite an impressive technical achievement given it is a very good likeness. 

Finally at 8pm Alissa and I arrived in Katanning, pretty tired after a long day on the road. Given it was Alissa's birthday weekend and the wheat-oriented theme of the trip, we decided to stay at Premier Mill Hotel. Converted from an old mill, the Premier Mill has become a boutique destination hotel that has helped put Katanning on the map. 

The hotel has a really cool converted industrial vibe, with a hip basement cocktail bar that would not look out of place in any of Australia's capital cities, let alone a country town of less than 4000. 

The rooms keep the industrial vibe going, with exposed machinery parts still in place on the ceiling juxtaposed with thoroughly modern furnishings and amenities. Each guest is even given a series of informative books about the history of the hotel and things to see nearby that they are welcome to take home with them!

With our late arrival, Alissa and I were ready for dinner at the Dome located downstairs. Living near a Dome back home in Perth, the idea of eating at a restaurant we could eat at anytime was not quite the destination restaurant experience were would have been hoping for, but any concerns about the ordinariness of the food were quickly dispelled by a very satisfying dinner, which for me included barbecued pork ribs, coleslaw and onions rings that were definitely a cut above standard country pub fare. 

After a good night's rest at the Premier Mill, Alissa and I were ready to tackle the rest of the Silo Art Trail, with our first stop being the streets of Katanning itself. While there are no Wheat Silos within the town, five murals and seven transformer boxes have been painted by five artists, making Katanning a mural art town on top of being said to be the most multicultural town in Australia. Unfortunately Alissa and I miscounted the number of murals in town and thought we'd collected the whole set after four, completely missing one of the works by Fremantle-based artist Darren Hutchens. 

The first mural we checked out was Brenton See's mural on Carrew St, mainly because it was said to be on the wall of a local cafe that we were sad to discover had permanently closed. Another Western Australian artist, See's art draws a lot of influence from David Attenborough documentaries and thus features many animals in his work to bring attention to animals that may be endangered. This particular mural features a Red-Tailed Phascogale, Western Snake-Necked Turtle and a Hooded Plover which can all be found in the local area. This is See's only mural in Katanning, however we would see more of his work further along the trail in Newdegate. 

With our original cafe option closed, Alissa and I headed to our old favourite John's Bakery and Lunchbar for some quality Vietnamese-Australian baked goods. With the bakery located next to the Woolworths, we stumbled upon one of the Western Power transformer boxes in the car park that was painted as part of the trail. 

Painted by multi-disciplinary artist Mel McVee (AKA Melski), McVee originally graduated with a focus on sculpture, however she has become prolific as a muralist. Although working with a flatter aesthetic of bold solid colours, her piece shares a similar focus on animals endemic to the region as Brenton See's mural. With the South-West region being one of the 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world and famous for its spectacular wildflowers, McVee has chosen to highlight two of the region's important pollinators - the White-cheeked Honeyeater and the Blue-Banded Bee - and thus highlighting the interconnectivity of life in a complex ecosystem. 

Heading back to the Premier Mill, Alissa and I realised two of the murals would have been a short walking distance from the hotel at the Shire Office Building on Austral Terrace. The lighter work on the building itself is by Perth-based illustrator, designer and creative director Chris Nixon, whose resume includes Merchandise designs for Tame Impala's 2014 Americas Tour! His offering for the Art Trail is an abstract piece, though tellingly drawing heavily from a design-oriented approach rather than the kind of High Modernism one associates with Abstract Expressionism. The patterns of the work are said by the artist to represent the various cultures of the town, with the loose line work forming the letters 'K' and 'A', the short form form Katanning. 

The second mural at the Shire Office Building is by Tunisian artist Karim Jabbari. With Islamic art often being abstract and ornate by default, the work uses the beautiful shapes and calligraphic lines of Arabic letters to create pattern and texture, while containing the message 'Katanning, the heart of the Great Southern'. While the use of Arabic lettering reflects Jabbari's North African background, the fact around a tenth of the town's population is Islamic (well above the national average) makes the work a perfect reflection of Katanning's multiculturalism. 

One simply cannot leave Katanning without visiting its famous All Ages Playground. Long famous for its crazily tall slides, the park recent underwent a $5 million revitalisation that has really made it one of the best free parks in the country, and thankfully none of the upgrades have dumbed down the thrilling experience. 

The park's centrepiece remains the 11 metre tall long slide, which other than a safer covered design and a yellow colour scheme offers the same level of thrills as it has since the 1980s. Joining the slides and other playground equipment is a skate park and Katanning's miniature railway, making this a playground that really appeals to people of all ages. 

Back on the road, the recent unseasonal rains in March had beautified the parched landscape. The stark beauty of a salt lake filled with dead trees was one of many lake highlights along the way to Pingrup, and made all the more moody by the rain clouds rolling in. The distances between silos is much less over this second day, however it is still just over an hour from Katanning to Pingrup. 

As we passed through the multitudinous lakes on the approach to Pingrup itself, the rain had grown more and more intense, and we were beginning to wonder if we would be able to get out to see the third silo of the trail. As luck would have it, the rains slowed to a light drizzle and then completely stopped as we pulled into the street overlooking the silo. The work of Dominican-born, Miami-based multi-disciplinary artist Evoca1, the work is the most realistic and literal of all the silos, and is probably what the folks in Merredin were hoping for. Evoca1 is quoted as saying "creating an artwork for a community that reflects that community, so that they really connect with the artwork is really rewarding for me", and his choice of representing the Pingrup Races, the merino sheep, a farmer, a working sheep dog and a tractor definitely seems to hit his own self-defined brief. It is an exquisite work of social realism that celebrates the hard working people of regional WA. 

The next silo is less than an hour away in Newdegate and sees the return of Brenton See's animal paintings - in fact, with the Red-Tailed Phascogale making  return appearance while flanked by a Malleefowl and a Western Bearded Dragon. The final silo on the left with its blue and white water droplet symbolises the freshwater and saltwater lakes of the region. The result is a work that strikes a balance between the realism of Evoca1's work in Pingrup and the more graphical quality of Kyle Hughes-Odgers' Merredin silo.

From Newdegate the trail heads south towards Ravensthorpe in the internationally recognised Fitzgerald Biosphere. On the way, the Art Trail follows more roads through a mix of farmland, salt lakes and the spectacular Eucalypts of the Wheatbelt. 

Heading through Lake Grace, the trail passes the Bush Engineers Tractor Museum. Opened in 2017, the roadside display shows off a collection of home made tractors that were built by farmers of the region in the 1960s and 1970s. Being a fairly small museum, it is worth the quick stop to stretch the legs and learn about the area's heritage. 

About 90 minutes after Newdegate, Alissa and I arrived at Ravenshorpe's Silo. Painted by Amok Island (who also painted The Last Swans in Northam), the work focuses on the life cycle of Banksia Baxteri, which is only found between Albany and Esperance. This botanical choice is highly suitable given the biodiversity of the Fitzgerald Biosphere; while the nearby Fitzgerald River National Park covers 0.2% of the Western Australian landmass, a staggering 20% of species found in Western Australia can be found within the park. The work is typical of Amok Island's style, though with a greater narrative element thanks to its life cycle focus. 

While in Ravensthorpe, Alissa and I continued along Route 1 for a little bit to enjoy some of the lovely woodlands just east of town as we remembered them fondly from previous road trips. 

It is just as well that we drove through town as we had not realised that the Silo is the only one that is double-sided, and makes sense of the title of Six Stages of Banksia baxteri given with its two sides the piece is a hexaptych rather than the triptych it had appeared to be on the one side. 

Heading south, it is a long 3+ hour long drive along Route 1 to the trail's finale in Albany. For those with a day up their sleeve, a visit to Fitzgerald River National Park is a worthy side trip to one of the most botanically magnificent national parks anywhere in the country, with an excellent overnight hike on each side of the park. Not having time on our side, Alissa and I were really just shooting through on this occasion, however stopped over at Wellstead on the way through. While not part of the trail per se, it is nice to see that the trend for public art has been taken up by even these smaller communities, with local school kids having helped Perth based artist George Domahidy paint a mural on an old water tank in the recently completed Community Hub.

After a deviation that took us off the highway and onto Chester Pass Rd, Alissa and I finally got into Albany. With the silo right at the port, Alissa and I had seen the mural multiple times however there is no obvious optimum viewing location. After a less than satisfactory attempt at a photo through the fence on Princess Royal Dr, Alissa and I took the winding Bolt Terrace uphill to a grassy park just above the silos that provides a much better vantage point. The parked is marked by a distinctive granite formation known as Mass Rock, so named due to the fact it was the place mass was celebrated for the first time in the settlement of Western Australia in January 1838.

Heading down the grassy slope, Alissa and I were able to take in this grand finale of the PUBLIC Silo Art Trail. The work of Brooklyn-based duo Yok and Seryo, their piece of a ruby sea dragon (endemic to the Albany area) is unusual in that it is the only piece that is a single, continuous work painted across four silos rather than being in a multi-panelled form. With the duo living an itinerant life apparently following an Endless Summer of surfing and painting, their interest in '80s and '90s skateboarding and surfing culture informs the style of the work, which looks like it could easily have been a brand logo right next to Billabong, Rip Curl, Bad Boy and Mambo back in the day. As with the painting in Merredin, I've heard mixed responses about the work with some locals not being fans of its style, however given that Albany is a sleepy city that still does not open on Sundays well into the 21st Century, a piece with a '90s style is probably rather apropos. 

With the trail complete, art fans can check out more public art through the streets of the city. For those who have never been to Albany, the National Anzac Centre on Mt Clarence is a must given it is one of the best museums anywhere in the country. While I'm critical of Albany's lack of Sunday trading, it is the gateway to some of the best coastal scenery in Torndirrup National Park, the mountains of the Porongurups and Stirling Range, and is the Southern Terminus of both the Bibbulmun Track and Munda Biddi Trail. There is so much to do and it is a city with so much potential that it is well worth lingering and spending the time to see it all. 

Overall, the PUBLIC Silo Art Trail was a fantastic road trip that took Alissa and I to parts of the state we probably would have never visited otherwise, and featured some really fantastic public art in a myriad of styles. It was great to see how public art has become increasingly embraced by the communities of the Wheatbelt, with towns that are not necessarily part of the trail getting in on the action as well. Additionally, being able to see the beauty of the Wheatbelt with its dramatic grassy fields, remnant Eucalypt woodlands and its starkly beautiful salt lakes makes it a complete experience rather than just a joining of far away dots on a map. 

If anything could be improved, it would be great if there were more artworks between Merredin and Katanning as it is a bit of a dead spot at the moment, which is what led to us taking the side trip to Kokerbin Rock. Additionally, while it is called a trail, the lack of markers made it feel less like a trail than it could be, and it would be a great if the trail featured some kind of iconic trail marker along the way, not dissimilar to other great WA road trips like the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail and the Kingsford Smith Mail Run. Even as it currently stands, the trail was a thoroughly enjoyable experience that should be commended for the way it brings art to rural communities, and brings art lovers to those communities as well.