Situated on the Dukes Highway, Coonalpyn (a small country town in South Australia’s south-east) now proudly displays SA’s largest art canvas on its 30-metre high Viterra grain silos. It was a town in decline, hit hard by recession and drought. These days, the place is buzzing.

“The impact from the silo project is phenomenal, almost indescribable, to be honest,” says Nat Traeger, Coorong District Council’s Community and Corporate Director. “We have two new businesses in the town and have learnt recently that one other was saved from closing or reducing their service level. The occupancy rate of our Caravan Park and Coonalpyn Hotel is up and all businesses are reporting an increase in visitors and sales.”

^{Guido van Helten’s murals on the Coonalpyn grain silos. Photos © Annette Herd}

The stopping rate of cars has dramatically increased since Australian mural artist Guido van Helten, whose impressive CV shows an artist in demand all over the globe, started painting the silos in February this year. What was a mere pitstop between Adelaide and Melbourne now has 40-50 cars stopping per hour, which is having an impact on the infrastructure of...