Wool Bay Water Tank Mural
2023 Winner: Best Rural Art
What started as a recovery project after devastating bushfires tore across SA's Yorke Peninsula in 2019 has evolved into an eight-piece mega mural trail, with this Wool Bay Water Tank Mural being a most recent addition.
Vibrantly colourful, the Wool Bay Water Tank Mural not only showcases local flora and fauna, but also traces Wool Bay’s human habitation from the Narungga First Nations to early European settlement, to becoming an important port town through to modern day.
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Formerly known as 'Pickering', the town was founded in 1876 as a farming, grazing and lime burning port. Its name changed in 1940 to Wool Bay because it had a cutting in the cliff wide enough to roll a bale of wool down to the beach.
The mural includes the town’s iconic lime kiln. Built as one of three in 1910, it is now the sole survivor. Constructed to burn limestone and thereby create 'quicklime', an essential ingredient in high quality, long-lasting mortar, it's no fabrication to say that Adelaide's finest civic and commercial buildings owe their longevity to Wool Bay and its' historic lime kiln. There's a synergy to the placement of this kiln high on a cliff overlooking the town's jetty, from where the lime was shipped to Adelaide, with its lofty position being as high as the steeples that dot the skyline in the City of Churches.
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Most apparent though is the way that the mural tells the story about the life cycles of this eastern coastal stretch of the Yorke Peninsula and the way two cultures work side by side.
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It also showcases a brilliant piece on the back of the tank called ‘Women in the clouds’ which recognizes both the modern agricultural area’s reliance on rainfall as well as women’s contributions to Wool Bay throughout time.
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Spearheaded by Yorke Peninsula Council with assistance from Yorke Peninsula Tourism, Wool Bay Progress Association, SA Water and Narungga elders, it was painted by Sam Brooks, Harley Hall and Mark Harding, with support from two artists being mentored, Rachelle Plazeriano and Garry Nowlan.
Where? On Green Flat Road, just to the west of town with parking beyond near the entrance to the Wool Bay Golf Course.
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Best viewing times: Painted in the round with access from the north, aytime during the day.