The Tongala Lions Club has transformed a vacant block of land into an outdoor art gallery complete with murals, an information board and other art creations relating to the Goulburn River.
Tongala Street Artists’ Murray Ross, Jill Conway and Teena Savage have spent the past six months painting the seven murals that make up the latest art project.
These depict horse riding in the High Country, Eildon Dam, trout fishing in one of the Goulburn’s tributaries, yabbying in the lower reaches of the river, camping and canoeing at Yambuna and a farmer irrigating.
The murals will be officially opened to the public at 10.30am on Friday, March 4, adding to the more than 50 existing murals for which the town is famous.
“We hope it becomes a bit of a town square where people can gather and enjoy some art while learning a bit about the Goulburn River,” Mr Ross said.
“It’s all about making a sustainable future for Tongala and the surrounding region. We need to get visitors and tourists here. Keeping the shops open is the biggest problem in our town.”
Mr Ross, who is the brains behind the award-winning Tongala Street Art Discovery Trail, said the Goulburn River was probably more important to Tongala than the Murray.
“The Goulburn River and the network of tributaries are the lifeblood of the north-central Victorian agricultural industry,” he said.
“Irrigation is the sustainable future of regional produce including dairy, livestock, horticulture and broadacre, which not only provides farm employment and boosts local economies, but supports extensive infrastructure investment."