Australia So Much to See
WA Premier Mark McGowan opened the world's biggest dam mural at Wellington Dam on 19th February 2021.
The 8,000 square metre mural was painted by internationally renowned Australian artist Guido van Helten, as the centrepiece of the $1.5 million Collie Mural Trail.
Guido Van Helten has painted large murals in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. His works such as the painted silos at Brim in Victoria, Coonalpyn in South Australia and at the Portland Cement Works in New South
Wales are well known.
The Wellington Dam artwork is inspired by local stories and photographs. Van Helten
spent time in town to understand the community and created a design that reflects them.
This mural is titled "Reflections" and
demonstrates the commonality in how the waterways are culturally significant to all people, locals and visitors, both in the past
and present and symbolises the future of the Collie River Region as a place of natural beauty, recreation and solidarity.
It’s
a project that Van Helten has been working on since November 2020. Cleaners abseiled up the wall to prepare it, while builders
designed a special suspended scaffolding platform to paint it.
Wellington Dam is the largest dam in south west Australia and
the second largest in the state, being eclipsed by the huge Lake Argyle in the state’s north.
First built in 1933 it has
since been extended and developed. Twice the storage capacity has been enlarged to meet demand. In 1956 the dam wall was raised by
15 metres and a hydro power station was added.
Due to the increased salinity in the Wellington Dam, it was abandoned as a drinking
water source in 1990. Wellington Dam water is now solely provided for agriculture and industry, but less than 20% of its 185
gigalitres of water is currently utilised.
While I remember from childhood Wellington Dam overflowing seemed to be an annual
event, in more recent times overflow has not been the norm. 2013 saw the dam overflowing for the first time since 2009 and for
the third time in the last decade, previous years being in 2005, 2007, 2009. It overflowed again in 2014. Prior to that the
last time was in 1996.
The Wellington Dam wall, on which the mural is painted, stands 34 metres high and 367 metres wide. Guido
Van Helten’s mural covers an enormous 8,000 square metres.
Western Australian flora and fauna lover, photographer and mural artist Brenton See has painted many large scale outdoor and
indoor art works, including the silos at Newdegate. In 2020 he painted a mural at the visitor centre at Norseman incorporating
local flora and fauna. More recently in 2021 Brenton painted wildflowers, birds and reptiles together with a steam train from
the town’s past on the town water tank at North Dandalup. He has painted many wonderful works at schools and sporting venue,
on private dwellings, and on many public buildings. A stunning mural on the IGA store at Waroona was accomplished in 2019.
Enjoy a range of his works here at Brenton See murals.
This mural which on this street front wall features a Blue Wren has more. The main part of the picture on the wall around the
corner, which I missed photographing, features a Cowara Bird, the Purple-crested Lorikeet, from which the town of Cowaramup, Place
of the Cowara, takes its name. This painting is on the Moon Haven specialty store in Cowaramup.
From left to right there is a stylised raindrop, with abstracts representing the crops grown with the much-needed rain, and a pattern
drawn from the earthy colours of the land and the scrub.
The mallee fowl features next with a salmon gum tree in the background.
The tiny mammal, red-tailed phascogale is featured next, together with a spotted-thighed frog at the bottom of the picture.
A western bearded dragon, from which the nearby nature reserve Dragon Rocks takes its name, together with stylised cowslip orchids
which are also found in the Dragon Rocks nature reserve, along with a wealth of other wildflowers.
