Yorke Peninsula Council’s latest addition to the Southern Yorke Peninsula Water Tower/Tank Mural Trail was officially unveiled at Wool Bay on Thursday, June 8.

Painted and designed by Sam Brooks and Harley Hall, with the assistance of Mark Harding, Rachelle Plazeriano and Gary Nowlan, the art – which adorns a tank and shed on Green Flat Road – follows the story of Wool Bay from Narungga First Nations to European settlement.

It features the original town port through to modern day, including local flora and fauna as well as the town’s lime kiln.

Mr Brooks offered his gratitude to the many people who contributed to the project, and said he was simply the one who gets to illustrate everyone’s passion on the wall.

“It always makes me slightly uncomfortable when people really celebrate the artist because there are so many other people who assisted in the process of getting the mural done who need to be celebrated as well,” he said.

“It’s like at the Olympics; one person wins the gold medal and everyone thinks they’re the hero, but the truth is there’s the coach and people who train them.

“Art is important because it reflects the values of a culture, and this is a real reflection of where you are.

“I think we’ve all done a great job together putting many meaningful things into one painting.”

The work joins established pieces at Port Vincent, Stansbury, Minlacowie, Yorketown, Edithburgh and Coobowie.

Member for Grey Rowan Ramsey was at the unveiling and acknowledged the project would not have been possible without $130,000 in funding from the federal government through the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, and $20,000 from SA Water.

“This explosion of art we’ve seen across country areas has been a great drawcard,” Mr Ramsey said.

“We had Covid-19, and now there are so many more caravans on the roads and a lot of people are taking more time to discover South Australia than perhaps we’ve ever seen before.

“These are new points of interest for people now.”

YPC mayor Darren Braund said the latest murals were a perfect representation of the aspects of Yorke Peninsula life.

“It is great to see the SYP Water Tower/Tank Mural Trail grow and we now have eight around the peninsula,” he said.

“They’re all very different, done by different artists.

“We see lots of tourists travel around and they get an idea of what’s important for the region through installations like this and that’s valuable in our region.”

This article appeared in the Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 14 June 2023.