Tongala has been transformed by the local Lions Club into a street art gallery that highlights the history, culture and industries of the town.
“Quite a number of really fantastic little stories about the history of Tongala, what's happened in the past and specific events and so forth,” awards director Liz Rivers said.
Local volunteer artists invested hundreds of hours over the past two years to produce the street art trail, with many of the works accompanied by interpretive stories.
“Tongala specifically set up their their murals as a visitor attraction,” Ms Rivers said.
“And the community itself created the art, so you couldn't get a bigger, better community engagement than that.”
Fifty murals might not sound like a lot, but for a small town such as Tongala, it’s a huge achievement. There are probably more murals in Tongala than there are public buildings.
The Australian Street Art Awards, established in 2018, recognise destinations that are using outdoor art to attract visitors, boost their economy and engage their community.
“The awards inform travellers about the magnificent array of publicly accessible art that can be found in every corner of the country and the communities that have invested in these attractions because they’re keen to welcome visitors,” Ms Rivers said.
“You can walk around Tongala in not a terribly long time, so to fit 50 murals in they’ve done an incredible job.”
Visitors can make Tongala the base for their stay, following a trail map through the town before expanding their activities to take in nearby water tank and silo art.
Ms Rivers said smart communities promoted their street and outdoor art as a unique landmark – an attraction that visitors could see in only place – and that made their destination immediately identifiable, highly attractive and a drawcard for art-loving tourists.
“Investing in outdoor art as a visitor attraction is also clever economics, as the art is typically less expensive to create than more traditional tourism attractions — and the pay-off is handsome,” she said.
Arts tourists from within Australia are high-value visitors – they stay 42.8 per cent longer and spend 55.9 per cent more when travelling than domestic tourists overall, according to an Australia Council for the Arts Domestic Art Tourism: Connecting the Country report.
“Being shortlisted in the awards further cements Victoria’s already enviable reputation as the state to tour for everyone who loves street art experiences,” Ms Rivers said.
The winners of all 11 categories will be announced on March 4 during an online celebration.
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