Country art

Grenfell is a small town in the Central West of NSW. It came into existence as a result of a major goldrush in 1866. Among the prospectors who poured into the district was a Norwegian migrant, Niels Hertzberg Larsen, who arrived with his wife in 1866. The following year Larsen's son, the famous Australian poet and short story writer, Henry Lawson was born on the goldfields at Emu Creek. 

Grenfell is host to an annual Henry Lawson Festival but apart from that has to compete with other struggling towns for the tourist dollar. In 2018 the partners of local grain trading business, Grenfell Commodities, commissioned Melbourne based artist Heesco Khosnaran to transform four silos into a canvas for Grenfell’s largest artwork installation. The silos were built in 1925, with later additions to the northern end of the silos in 1961 and a bulkhead built in 1968 bought the capacity of the facility to over 23, 700 tonnes. Grenfell Commodities purchased the large storage facility, including the silos in 2015 from Graincorp. The silos had been dormant since 2007, though resumed operation once procured and continue to operate as a functional work site.

The silos are heavily promoted to tourists and many, like us, include Grenfell in their intineraries to see them. They certainly are impressive.