The Icons of Edenhope was an ambitious Public Art Project commissioned by the Western Wimmera Shire Council based in the small town of Edenhope in Victoria near the border of South Australia.
The brief was to produce a series of large captivating paintings to activate a site on the main street adjacent to the regions main bus stop. The Council approached Geoffrey Carran to consult with the residents and produce this large series of murals in response to the local environment.
Having lived up in the Western Wimmera on the farm, which his wife grew up on he an immediate feeling for the shape of this project. Geoffrey focused on the diverse bird life that this stunning region is known for. The Western Wimmera is an incredibly beautiful part of Australia; massive red gums dominate the landscape, which sprawls out between cropping and sheep properties, dotted which natural wetlands and dense bush land. The Birdlife here is full of colourful endemics and robust migratory flocks, so inspiration was everywhere for this project. Geoffrey Carran used the Icons of Edenhope Project to combine his love of nature and bold colour to full effect, producing a traffic stopping mural that sits proudly in the centre of Edenhope, a definite statement that affirms this regions pride in its location and identity, which Geoffrey Carran reflects though the body language of the birds in his paintings. A testament to the Western Wimmera Shires commitment to engage in contemporary cultural projects and keep a small rural town’s cultural identity alive and well.
