Silo art started in 2015 in a country town Northam in Western Australia. It has certainly grown since then with Silo Art trails all over the country. All around the country are huge Silo Bins used for storing grain. These are always right next to train lines.

The history of the Devenish Silo Art

This artwork is a visual tribute to the 50 young men and women from the Devenish Community who enlisted in military service in the First World War, focusing on the role of nurses in service and how that role has evolved over time. More than 3,000 Australian civilian nurses volunteered for active service during the First World War. Nurses cared for injured and badly wounded servicemen, exhausting and often dangerous work exposing them to the horror of war first hand.

I have always wanted to photograph the Silo Art and at the weekend I got m chance to see and take photos of the ones in Devenish Victoria.

A few weeks ago, all 4 of us – 2 dogs 2 adults, drove to Shepparton to visit Gregs mum. With lockdown’s in Victoria and NSW and Shepparton not being in our border bubble it had been 7 long months. It was a great catch up long overdue! Gregs mum had turned 85 years young the week before!

Yesterday on the drive home – its roughly 2 hours there and back depending on which way you go. We drove through Dookie then onto Devenish a small country town around 40 mins from Shepparton. The rain was relentless and some country roads are just barely a sealed track. They were one of the first country towns to make a co op to run their pub. What that entails is everyone puts in X amount of money to help run the pub. If they hadn’t done this the town wouldn’t have had a pub/hotel. Most towns that don’t have a pub usually die as people go to other towns to shop and catch up at the local pub.

As we pulled up in Devenish the rain came down even harder. I put my coat on and got out of the warmth of the car to take some photos. My camera has a shield to help stop the rain from getting on the lens however the rain was so heavy it didn’t make a wee bit of difference. You can see the rain spots on the photos.

The Silos were painted by Cam Scale in 2018. The first two were officially unveiled on Anzac Day 2018. They depict 2 nurses one from WW1 and a modern day nurse.

On Anzac Day 2019 the third Silo was unveiled to a tribute to the Australian Light Horse.

On 6th November 2021 a memorial service for all the men and women who had served in past wars and then an unveiling of a tribute to Sally an explosive detection dog who served with a local Tom Trewin in Afghanistan 2010 – 2011.

The poppies linked over the fence are all hand made, either crocheted or knitted.

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How to get to Devenish – From Melbourne – 2.38 mins via National Highway M31

From Albury – 1.26 mins via National Highway M31

From Shepparton – 42 mins via C364

All the above are via car travel.