King of the Mountain

Artist:
Kyle Torney

Client:
Buloke Shire Council

Location:
Wycheproof

Budget:
Large

Services:
Curation
Community consultation & engagement
Mural delivery

Mount Wycheproof, at 43m above the surrounding flat countryside, is said to be the smallest registered mountain in the world. It used to host to the Wycheproof King of the Mountain race, which saw men carrying 70kg bags of wheat racing each other up the hill. Wowsers! 

This great video captures the story behind the race,

We also found heaps of great historic photographs on Flickr.
Visit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/10683003@N05/albums/72157603104831531

This project included a lot of pre-planning aspects, including engaging the community to develop ideas around identity. We used online and printed forms to ensure we captured as many opinions as possible from locals.

With a condensed report outlining themes of identity, we interpreted feedback and pitched to focus on King of the Mountain. 

The local community were invited to several artist talks during the delivery phase.

We learnt lots of the back stories from locals as they shared fond memories between themselves and also educating the artist team.

Initially, the idea that emerged from the steering committee was to focus on a train image, all parties now see the value of community consultation to achieve the best result for all.