When drought gripped Goondiwindi in 2018, farmers and townsfolk searched for something to lift spirits and found it in scrap metal, welding torches, and shared vision. From that dry despair emerged Lanescape, a grassroots art movement that has transformed this border town into an open-air gallery. Rusty ploughs became ibises, old trucks morphed into monumental sculptures, and a once-silent riverbank now hums with creativity. What began as a survival tactic has become a cultural heartbeat.
Angus Wilson, a cattle and grain farmer with a degree in architecture, never planned to be an artist until the drought left his fields fallow and his hands restless. In his workshop, surrounded by old harrows and tractor parts, he began welding. His Tree Of Life a four-metre steel-and-stone sculpture weighing nearly two tonnes now stands permanently near the Macintyre River, its silhouette glowing at sunset. Recently returned from the Swell Sculpture Festival on the Gold Coast, it will help raise funds for local men’s mental health initiatives.
Lanescape wasn’t born from one vision but many. Tracey Jensen recalls how several locals independently pitched the idea of public art to council only to discover they’d all been thinking the same thing. United, they launched a sculpture trail along highways and riverbanks, painted murals in Bowen Lane, and lit the town’s water tower with projections of fish and waves. “It’s all about creating spaces people can enjoy and participate in,” Jensen said. The result? A town where art isn’t confined to galleries it greets you at the petrol station.
This year, Goondiwindi’s artistic reach extended beyond the border. Both Wilson and fellow sculptor Tom Pall exhibited at the prestigious Swell Sculpture Festival. Pall’s intricate piece a fusion of “brain, beast, and machine” emerged from decades of welding in his shed. His advice to hesitant creators echoes Lanescape’s ethos: create for joy, not judgment. “If you do things for that purpose alone,” he said, “you can’t lose.” Their success has inspired plans to install Pall’s work permanently along the riverbank.
The annual Goondiwindi Art Festival returns this Friday, October 10, from 5 to 9pm, turning Bowen Lane into a hub of live painting, music, and community connection. Organizers emphasize inclusivity no experience required. “We want people who wouldn’t call themselves artists to have a go,” Jensen said. Children paint beside retirees; farmers trade welding tips with teens. In this town, art isn’t elite it’s oxygen.
Goondiwindi’s transformation proves that beauty can bloom in barren times if people choose to build together. Lanescape isn’t just about sculptures; it’s about stitching a community back together after years of isolation, economic strain, and environmental hardship. The steel birds on the highway don’t just mark a town they signal resilience. When The Land Cracks, The People Create.
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