New Murals Light Up Cowra

IMAGE: The new mural on the side of the Cowra Civic Centre building, based on photos taken of Cowra Dance Factory dancers.

Two impressive new murals have been painted in Cowra over the last couple of weeks, with more to come later in the year.

The murals, painted on the side of the Cowra Civic Centre building and the lane way between the Target building and the Lachlan Hotel, form part of the Cowra Open Space Legacy Public Art Mural Project.

The murals have been funded under the NSW Government’s Public Spaces Legacy Program, which aims to enhance public spaces across the shire. Other local projects funded under this program include the Lachlan River Recreation Linkage and Village Signage Project.

The talented artists responsible for painting the murals were Joel Fergie from ‘The Zookeeper’, Travis Vinson from ‘Drapl’, and Steven Falco and Jordan Bruce from ‘Brightsiders’.

They were selected by Council following an expression of interest process earlier this year.

The Civic Centre mural, the first to be completed, was based on photos taken of dancers from Cowra Dance Factory, while the second one on the side of the Target building was based on elements of the Cowra Shire, with 20 members of the public contributing ideas and assisting in the painting last weekend. The Civic Centre mural was approved and endorsed by the Cowra Public Art Advisory Panel. In a statement, the artists said they were inspired by the natural environment of Cowra and the shire.

“The design updates for the Cowra Civic Centre were informed by our recent trip to the town. As a place for artistic expression, hope and celebration, our designs are about the magic of performance,” it said.

“We were lucky enough to meet and work with Nicole and Stella from the Cowra Dance Factory. The dance teacher and student worked together beautifully, improvising on the stage of the civic centre. We had the sense that the experience of watching the two dance was, itself, indicative of the spirit that we were hoping to capture in the artwork.” The Civic Centre mural took about a week to complete, while the lane way mural took almost two weeks.

The artists will return to Cowra later in the year to complete a third mural at the water tanks located near the POW Camp.

IMAGE: The new mural on the side of the Target building, based on natural elements of the Cowra Shire.