BENALLA, population 14,000, is a pleasant country town, indistinguishable from many other pleasant country towns across Australia. At least it was.
In mid-March the town, where names like Anderson, Cooper and King dominate, welcomed people with the more unusual monikers of Smug, Dvate, Kaff-eine, Sirum, Buttons and Choq.
For three days, 14 street artists brush-painted and spray-painted the town’s most nondescript walls, including car park walls and the back of a toilet block, transforming the drab exteriors into lively works of art.
Local businesses provided the huge scissor lifts, some as high as three storeys. Benalla’s Wall to Wall Street Art Festival was a huge success, drawing locals and visitors to the normally quiet town.
This year was the second year for the event. The first event began somewhat tentatively with the Benalla Street Art Committee uncertain about how it would be perceived and received by the town.
The response was overwhelmingly supportive, particularly from the town’s seniors who the committee feared may not be won over by the unorthodox paintings.
Chairperson Jim Myconos said the artists had not been required to submit their proposed drawings. They had been free to paint whatever they liked.
“The arrangement was that we would supply the canvases – in this case the walls – and we would trust them.”
In fact, Myconos and committee members had every reason to be trusting of the calibre and quality of the art work. The festival was curated by former hometown boy, now hometown hero, Shaun Hossack, who runs successful Melbourne urban art studio Juddy Roller.
Hossack, who freely admits he wasn’t much of a scholar in his Benalla school days, brought together the 14 street artists, three of them from overseas, for this year’s festival.
The people of Benalla are thrilled with the town’s makeover – even those who admitted to once looking askance at anyone with an aerosol can.
Thanks to the two festivals, there are now 29 large-scale works of art across the city’s streets, laneways and car parks. Organisers created a festival hub with live music and comfortable seating, including a couple of couches, where people could relax and watch photo realist artist Smug at work on his enormous painting of a young woman, her head resting on her tattooed arms.
There was also a Meet the Makers community hub and a community painting everyone was invited to help complete. “The numbers of people who came to town were fabulous,” Myconos said. “We printed 1500 brochures and had to photocopy several hundred more.”
Tours were conducted of the artworks each morning and afternoon with locals and visitors keen to learn more from the artists about their work.
“The artists had a wonderful time,” Myconos said. “They said the reception they got from the people was wonderful.” It was a learning curve for many people who had previously regarded street art as “that graffiti stuff”. It was also interesting for them to learn about the artists, their backgrounds and their motivations.
Putting the finishing touches to her painting of heavily stylised creatures with human and animal features, Kaff-eine downed her brushes for a few minutes to tell curious onlookers a little bit about her life. “I’ve had an interesting working career trajectory,” she said. “I was a tree lopper, then a lawyer in the public sector working in social justice. As for my painting, well it is not real. It is neither animal nor human. It has no race, no gender, no age. It is up to people to make up their own stories from these images.”
Elsewhere, Phibs and George Rose were collaborating on a painting of a cockatoo with the wording Benalla emblazoned on it. “It’s no longer just kids from the wrong side of the track (doing graffiti),” Phibs said. “We are passionate about what we do.”
Sirum’s long-time interest in Ned Kelly was the reason he chose the local bushranger and folk hero for his subject. His unusual painting shows Kelly in a reflective pose, lost in contemplation. In his hand Kelly cradles the green sash he was given in his youth for saving a child from drowning.
The artist Dvate chose a more domestic subject – his dog Tessa “a kelpie cross with a bit of bluey and a bit of corgi”.
“She’d be disappointed she’s not here,” Dvate’s partner Carmen said. “She’d love the attention.”
Guido van Helten, who famously created the Brim Art Silo, was also at Benalla but 10km away at the Winton Wetlands, which at 3800 hectares is the largest wetlands restoration project in the southern hemisphere. Here in this vast and isolated area Guido painted three faces on a water tank, each representing a local volunteer firefighter.
Every day festival-goers were ferried out to the wetlands by shuttle bus to watch in admiration as the work progressed.
Recognition of the quality of Benalla’s street art is already spreading. Adnate’s painting last year of a young Burmese girl on one of the walls of the old SEC buildings was recently named the eighth best mural in the world in a world-wide competition.
However, events like this come at a cost. There were some small grants but local businesses chipped in most of the money, while the Benalla Street Art project team raised more than $8000 through a crowdfunding campaign.
Council also provided some funding and a band of volunteers worked furiously up to and during the event, doing everything from assisting visitors to delivering much-appreciated sustenance to the artists.
Myconos is adamant it was all worthwhile and is already thinking ahead to next year. He even has his eye on a 30-metre high water tower a few kilometres out of town.
“This year’s event ticked all the boxes,” he said. “It exceeded all our expectations. It engaged everyone. Young and old – they all enjoyed it.
“The real joy from the committee’s perspective was the large family groups. There were children, parents, grandparents.
“The artists, too, loved the collegiate atmosphere. There is really no other event like this which gives artists the opportunity to get together with their peers and collaborate on a project.
“People have been coming into my shop and saying this is the best thing that’s happened to Benalla in 20 or 30 years. It’s done a wonderful thing for the town’s confidence and for its sense of self.
“Benalla really hasn’t had an identity but we have a great art gallery here so we can build on this to make it a really great place for art in this country.”
IF YOU GO
Benalla is 212km north-east of Melbourne – www.benalla.vic.gov.au
STAY: The North Eastern Hotel, or The Northo as it is more affectionately known, has four guest rooms with ensuite accommodation. Owners Geoff and Philippa Thomas invite guests to take a seat in the comfortable lounge which, with its flickering fireplace, is a great place to bunk down with a drink during the cooler months. The hotel’s restaurant serves better than average pub meals – (03) 5762-7333.
