Goorambat Silo Art - Northern Victoria

Goorambat is a town in Northern Victoria, 227 km north east of Melbourne and 16 km north of the small city of Benalla.

At the Goorambat silo complex there are three painted silos, two short ones sitting back to back and one tall concrete one standing on its own. The three silos were painted in two stages one year apart.

Stage one 2018

Renowned Australian artist Jimmy Dvate was chosen to paint the Goorambat silos beginning with the tall concrete silo in 2018. Jimmy has once again chosen to feature an endemic threatened species, this time choosing Milli a Barking Owl who lives at the Healesville Sanctuary in Badger Creek, Victoria.

The Barking Owl is now considered to be an endangered species and there is said to be only 50 breeding pairs currently living in the wild. A mural such as this and on such a grand scale will now hopefully bring to light the current peril of this magnificent bird.

Jimmy is said to have had a friend take over 300 photos of Milli in a bid to get the right image for the silo. They were looking for a dynamic pose and once you see this silo, you will agree that they achieved just that.

Also in 2018 Jimmy painted a farming scene on one of the short silos.

Stage two 2019

In 2019 Jimmy returned to paint another short silo that trilled the residents of Goorambat and all those that have visited since.  It is a magnificent tribute to three Clydesdale horses Clem, Sam and Banjo. Jimmy has captured the motion of these horses in gallop, feathers flying on their feet as they travel side by side in harness, from an image taken by Bob Britcher AFIAP AAPS PSQA in 2018 at the 100th Anniversary of the Clydesdale Horse Association in Australia in Prenzlau. Original Photograph at bottom of this page.

Banjo began his life at the Lavereen Stud in Goorambat where he was raised by Graeme, Bev and Matt Trewin. He is from a family of horses that date back over 100 years. He moved from Goorambat to Toowoomba to live with the Martins where he was a Queensland Ploughing Champion and even did well in the show ring.

The Martins were chasing a working pair, so Banjo's brother Clem went to Toowoomba to join him there. He was a bit difficult to break in, but once he got the hang of it, the pair turned out to be highly trusted work horses and would work displays at the local museum. They won hundreds of ribbons from the local shows too.

Sam was bred by Dave and Nicola Martin at Coolibah Ridge in Toowoomba. They gave him to their son, who broke him in and worked him at just age four. Sam is the grandson of Banjo.

For more information - Head on over to the North East Arts Trail HERE