By Chris Thomson | posted on March 29, 2018
WORK on two silo paintings similar in scale to Albany’s giant new seadragon will soon commence at towns in and very close to the Great Southern region.
Lynda Dorrington, Executive Director of arts promotion group FORM, said one of two remaining silo projects across the State’s south would be at a town in the Great Southern, and the other at a town just outside.
Ms Dorrington asked that the towns’ names – earlier provided to The Weekender by another source – not be reported until major players in FORM’s silo trail project had approved a statement about the remaining two projects in the seven-silo trail.
What can be reported, for the first time, is that about $50,000 of public money was poured into the Albany seadragon project.
A spokesperson for State Minister for Regional Development Alannah MacTiernan confirmed Western Power kicked in $10,000.
Ms Dorrington said the Federal Government contributed $20,511 and the City of Albany $20,000 to the $80,000 mural project.
But City of Albany Executive Director Community Services Susan Kay said the $20,000 her directorate contributed was for the seadragon, paintings on transformer boxes and running local workshops combined.
“Through a successful partnership with FORM, the City has been able to attract significant cultural projects to Albany that have enriched our community with colourful, large-scale artworks and delivered engaging public participation programs,” Ms Kay said.
“We were pleased to provide $20,000 towards the recent Albany silo mural and transformer boxes projects, which included several workshops for youth and school group visits.
“FORM’s work in Albany has also generated significant promotion for Albany and the region which will encourage further visitation to our city.”
Ms Dorrington said an estimate by Federal Minister for Regional Development John McVeigh that 29 ongoing jobs would be created from the overall trails project was “incorrect” and had not been provided by FORM.
“This project has created 12 jobs during development and 29 ongoing roles after its completion, which just goes to show that investing in the arts and culture of our regions is also investing in their economic future,” Mr McVeigh had earlier said.
A statement by Ms MacTiernan that $290,000 of State funds had been spent on the Albany works was corrected following questions by The Weekender.
“The State Government provided $290,000 for the overall public silo project across seven sites (including Albany), via Western Power ($100,000) and Lotterywest ($190,000),” her spokesperson clarified.
“A further $30,000 of Western Power funds were spent on painting 10 Western Power transformer boxes in Albany, which included two … youth arts sessions with the artists.”
Ms Dorrington said it would be “impossible” to calculate the economic impact of the silo trail until at least September, which will be one year since the high profile project was announced.
“It’s about watching this space to see the value of creativity as an economic driver,” she said.
