The Mini Silo Art Trail
Many regional towns boast large scale artworks rendered on the walls of their wheat silos. Our Tourism Workstream figured that “bigger ain’t always better”.
And so was born an innovative new ‘canvas’ for community art …
One of many projects that the LCFi Tourism Workstream has been developing is the establishment of a Mini Silo Art Trail.
Local artist Jarrad Loxton was commissioned to paint seven sections of concrete pipe with stunning images of local wildlife. The concrete pipes are a collection of dis-used irrigation sumps and pipework, hence the project has been titled RE-CYCLE…RE-USE…RE-PURPOSE.
These mini silos are located in the Loxton Community Conservation and Heritage Park at the west end of Bookpurnong Terrace. Local residents and community groups have sponsored the cost of each mini silo.
The artwork includes Kookaburras (sponsored by the Community Centre), a Monarch butterfly (sponsored by Robert Fielke), a pair of cute possums (sponsored by Grenfell and Slavka Koch), a blue-face honeyeater (sponsored by Evelyn Obst), and Kangaroos (sponsored by the Senior Citizens).
The map below provides a guide to the location of the artworks.
Mini Silo Location Map
The Artworks
Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
Their orange wings measure up to 9cm and with distinct black lines and borders as well as white dots they cannot be missed. During summer, for just six weeks, the Monarch, or Wanderer, butterfly lives its short, busy life in many Australian backyards. They are not Australian natives but arrived in Australia from North America as recently as 1871.
River Yabbies (Cherax destructor)
Yabby’s are small freshwater crustaceans native to Australia. The name ‘yabby’ is from the Werriba Aboriginal language meaning ‘small crustacean.
Their colour varies depending on water clarity and their habitat. They are scavengers – feeding on algae, small animals, and anything dead or decomposing. They are also staple food for other river creatures including platypus, water birds and large fish.
The female yabby can lay from 100 to 1000 eggs at once, carrying them under her tail for up to 40 days until they hatch.
Laughing Kookaburras (Dacelo novaeguineae)
The laughing kookaburra are the largest in the Australian Kingfisher family. They are found mainly in Eastern Australia from Cape York to South Australia.
They feed on a wide range of bush reptiles and insects including snakes, lizards, frogs, bugs, beetles, worms as well as small mammals like mice.
The young birds live in the “family” group until they are old enough to hunt for themselves. The distinctive ‘laugh’ is one of the special sounds of the Australian bush.
Blue-Face Honeyeater (Entomyzon cyanotis)
The Eastern blue-face Honeyeater is a large noisy bird growing up to 25–30 cms. The adult bird has a patch of blue skin around the eyes and a small buff patch under its wings. They have a distinctive loud metallic ‘keet’ or ‘kwok’ call often calling just before dawn.
They rarely build their own nests – lining other bird’s nests with bark and grass before laying 2 to 3 eggs. Food is predominantly insects, spiders, beetles as well as nectar, pollen and berries.
Common Brushtail possum (Trichosurus Vulpecula)
It is a medium sized marsupial which is semi arboreal; moving rapidly among trees yet very common in parks and dark holes in buildings.
A nocturnal animal, the brush tail possum spends its day in cavities. Native to South Australia, it is a protected species under the Native Parks and Wildlife Act (NPW Act).
Red Kangaroo (Osphranter Rufus)
An iconic South Australian animal inhabiting the arid and semi-arid Mallee regions; it is the largest living marsupial in the world. Males tend to be orange red in colouring, while females are often blue grey.
Both males and females are a lighter whitish colour underneath. The Red Kangaroo can survive when water is scarce; hydrating from the foliage it eats.
Echidna (also known as ‘spiny anteaters’) Tachyglossus aculeatus
The Echidna ranges from 35-52 cm in length. It can weigh up to 6 kg, but the females are usually smaller than the males. Echidnas are covered with a fur that can range from reddish to dark brown colour, in South Australia they are much darker. The spines on the backs of Echidnas are modified hairs that vary in colour from cream to black, the length depending on the climate. Echidnas feed mainly on ants and termites. They have an acute sense of smell which they rely on to detect food. Once located they use their long sticky tongue to catch their prey. Echidnas have no teeth, so instead grind their food between the tongue and roof of their mouth. A baby Echidna is called a ‘puggle’.
Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps)
The Central Bearded Dragon has a low wide body shape, allowing it to hug surfaces when it is lying down. When walking however it walks with a high gate and can move with considerable speed. The elongated spinous scales around the rear of the lower jaw and lower sides of the body appear very spiky but are actually quite rubbery and only intended to make the lizard appear unappealing to predators. They can also be found in a variety of colours, including shades of red, brown and yellow. These colours normally match the colour of soil that occurs in the dragon’s habitat.