The Newest addition to the Silo Art Trail
The newest addition to the Silo Art Trail in South Australia are the silos in the town of Eudunda. The work on them was completed in September 2021 and the artist was Sam Brooks.
Eudunda was established when the local area was opened up to pastoral activities, with sheep being introduced and it's now a large grain producing part of the state. Australia author Colin Thiele was born in the town and there are a number of commemorations to him. The highway that leads to the town is called the 'Thiele Highway', it does have a number as well but Australians really don't use highway numbers but rather their names.
The entrance to Eudunda has a silhouette of a man and a dog, this refers to one of Colin Thiele's books called 'Uncle Gustav's Ghosts'. It's uncle Gustav and his dog, this image is used throughout the town.
With Colin Thiele being such a prominent character from Eudunda's past it was natural then that he would feature in the town's silo art.
Sun on the Stubble is the book Colin Thiele wrote about growing up in the local area, it's the book that directly relates to Eudunda. The artist included images of those early farming communities.
This set of silos shows a Ngadjuri child stepping from a representation the stories from the local Ngadjuri people. The collection of stars represents one of their stories. The artist worked with a local Elder so created an image with the two silos of the two cultures in Eudunda, side by side.
The art is wonderful and I loved how colourful it is. The silos can be seen as soon as you drive into the town, as well as signs saying 'Silo Art Parking' (it's free) However the town is small so it doesn't matter where you park, I ended up parking in the main street and then just walking over to the art. The silos are fenced off as they are working silos, and an elevated lawn viewing area has been created just opposite them.
These gardens were originally created in 1936 for the Centenary of European settlement in South Australia. They've been redeveloped and added to, the various bench and shelter areas have tiles that show the history of transport in the local area. Around lunchtime it was nice to see a few different groups of workers using the shelters and seating under the trees to have their lunch.
A statue (and a nearby information board) are of Eudunda's most famous son. The statue has him sitting down writing next to Mr Percival the pelican from probably his most famous book 'Stormboy'. Two movies have been made, the most recent is only a few years old. Colin himself came back to Eudunda in 1995 to unveil his statue.
The town has a strong German heritage and this is reflected in the names I saw on some of the business around the gardens.
The town is still quite active, there's a large supermarket, a newsagent, a fabric store, an Indian restaurant, two pubs and a large bakery. There was a Visitor's Information office where you could get copies of some of the walks you can do around the town. I had lunch at the bakery, there's outdoor seating and you can watch the locals stroll by. It was nice to see the Silo Art, walk around the town and then have some lunch.
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