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Photo by: Amanda Tapscott
Video Footage by: FORM WA
Photos by: Amanda Tapcott
Pingrup is a small town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, located 381 km south east of Perth. Primarily producing wheat and other cereal crops it’s also known for its pink lakes and its famous country Pingrup Races.
What started out in 1919 as good old fashion Picnic Races and later Sports and Foot Races in 1950, over time the whole concept was changed to the Pingrup Races that we know today.
Inspired by the history of Pingrup, artist Evoca1 painted the last and final silos in FORM WA's PUBLIC Silo Trail in Western Australia, creating an artwork for a community that reflects the members of the community.
Featured on the silos are figurative depictions of the town’s iconic Pingrup races, its Merino sheep, its people, cattle dogs and even the blue tractor found in the main street of town.
Completed in September 2018, Evoca1 took 15 days to complete the murals and he used 230 litres of paint.
There is a designated parking area opposite the fully operational silo complex. It’s a quiet location in a small country town.
About FORM
FORM is a Western Australian state-based organisation. They are an independent, non-profit cultural organisation that develops and advocates for excellence in creativity and artistic practice in Western Australia.
Pingrup History
Lance Reid - Pingrup's First Mailman
A new book by Keith L Devenish
The small wheatbelt town of Pingrup has not only become prominent with its painted grain silos on WA’s Public Silo Trail, but there is also an interesting book about a local man who started delivering mail one hundred years ago by horse and cart to pioneer settlers who first started farming near Pingrup.
In 1921 Lance Reid started delivering mail each week by horse and cart through bush tracks leading from Katanning to new land settlers at Nyabing and Pingrup. To do this he had to change horses every 30 kilometres to complete his a 400 kilometre circuit. Then in 1923, he became a pioneer settler at Pingrup himself, where he continued with his mail run, until he took up contract dam sinking using a team of horses.
The book includes details about the first schools and the first stores to be built in Pingrup after it became a gazetted town in 1924 once the railway line was built to there. Pingrup is also famous for its annual Pingrup Races which have been held each year since 1932.
To read more about this great pioneer story,
For all media and order enquiries please email Keith at kdevenish@westnet.com.au
Books are also available at the Pingrup CRC
