This central-west NSW can-do town is revitalising its public places with art works to attract both visitors and residents.
Story John Dunn Photos Jenet Stewart
The sign is arresting on the Castlereagh Highway, which stretches north from Gilgandra to the Queensland border. “Gulargambone is Flying Ahead,” it shouts. And if that doesn’t capture attention, an avenue of corrugated-iron galahs does as it leads the way to this tiny (population 495) central-west New South Wales town.
Energetic and innovative locals are trying everything they can, even painting the town red, to attract visitors. “Art in all its forms can be a very successful promotional tool,” says Alison Dent, a local artist who helped organise a successful festival weekend last year in which 10 nationwide artists produced murals and three-dimensional paintings on walls and the town’s water tower. It drew a crowd of several thousand people. That event will be staged again next year, but in the meantime the town is focusing on another promotion – Windows 2828 – using empty shops in the main street.
This story excerpt is from Issue #125
Outback Magazine: June/July 2019
