Drab silos across the district could soon be transformed into wonderful works of art if the local council secures grant funding.
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Dubbo Regional Councillor Dayne Gumley said sprucing up silos could lead to tourists staying longer and spending more money in the region.
He called on Dubbo Regional Council to find funding for silo art at the June council meeting.
"If we do get our way and we can get some funds for this silo art we're likely to create extra interest in the area," Cr Gumley said.
Silos and water tower murals have popped up across Australia in recent years and proved popular with communities, he said.
"Our area needs to get on board and attract as many people as it can so they can come here and enjoy what we have to offer," Cr Gumley said.
Councillors unanimously backed the motion and agreed it was time to invest in silo art.
"Having this art on the side of these silos will be absolutely magnificent, especially if it can incorporate local aspects," Cr Greg Mohr said.
Silo art growing in popularity
Victoria has largely led the way when it comes to silo art but NSW is catching up quick.
In just over 12 months at least eight murals have become fixtures in country towns across the state.
Half of the murals were completed on water towers, which are becoming an equally popular landmark for the major artworks.
The latest of which has just been completed on the Narrandera water tower.
The street art movement had been largely confined to the inner-city but with things like the silo art, its moving into regional areas.
- Tristan Minter
The mural has two features that show off Narrandera icons, including the koala with the town's koala reserve, established in 1972, a point of pride.
Narrandera Mayor, Neville Kschenka said he was extremely happy with how the mural had turned out.
"I think it's one of the best I've seen," he said.
He said he hoped the mural would encourage visitors to stop in Narrandera, a crossroad for the Newell and Sturt highways, and they were already set up for RV tourists who are big supporters of art trails.
"We are an RV-friendly town, we have plenty of camping areas and caravan parks within walking distance of the town's centre," Mr Kschenka said.
The Narrandera water tower mural was completed by five artists from Melbourne-based outdoor advertising agency and art studio, Apparition Media.
Director of Apparition Media, Tristan Minter said their artists enjoyed their two weeks in Narrandera, a very different setting to the inner-city laneways they're used to working in.
"It was a good break away from the madness of life in Melbourne," Mr Minter said.
"The street art movement had been largely confined to the inner-city but with things like the silo art, its moving into regional areas."
Lockhart visitor numbers up by close to 37%
Narrandera's water tower artwork arrives after another Riverina town, Lockhart painted their water tower last September.
Their artwork, created by Scott Nagy and Janne Birkner (Krimsone), went viral. The Lockhart council website attracted more than 100,000 hits from across the world in the weeks following the completion of the mural.
Jennifer Connor from Lockhart Shire Council said it had had a phenomenal effect on the town with visitor numbers up by close to 37 per cent.
"We had nearly 2000 people through the door of the information centre in the last couple of months, that's almost half of last year's total number," Ms Connor said.
Mr Kschenka said he hoped now having two water tower artworks less than an hour's drive apart could increase the appeal for visitors.
But it was Bland Shire council who were the first in the state to take up the idea of silo art from Victoria with the Weethalee silo murals completed in July 2017.
Bland Shire's, Craig Sutton said the project's popularity had not waned in the two years since it was unveiled.
It was a project that the whole community was part of from the start, its representative of them and what they're about, and that's led to the project being a real source of community pride.
- Craig Sutton
"It's been amazing, there are caravans there every time you go through," Mr Sutton said.
"We saw the success the murals were having over the border and thought there was no reason it couldn't be done here."
He said the visitors' spending was now more important than ever with the drought resulting in less disposable income floating around the region.
But he said another benefit of the project was the community involvement.
"It was a project that the whole community was part of from the start, its representative of them and what they're about, and that's led to the project being a real source of community pride," Mr Sutton said.
Artist Jenny McCracken, who painted both the Gulargambone and Gunnedah water tower murals agreed their was a sense of working with the whole community to lift a town's prospects.
She said in Gulargambone members of the community even volunteered to be her "spotters" when she was working at over 11 metres.
"One of my spotters was this wonderful lady who was in her mid-70s and lived across the road from the water tower, we're still friends today," Ms McCracken said.
