CityLink “silo” art trail appeal

The City of Melbourne has been petitioned for funds to create a Moonee Ponds Creek “silo art trail”, using the concrete pylons of CityLink as a canvas.

Cycling advocate Aaron Moon addressed the council at a special budget meeting last month to make the appeal as part of a broader argument about the value of public art.

In a brief presentation he showed photos of a small section of the trail in the City of Moonee Valley, where four pillars have been painted with arresting Indigenous waterway-themed murals by artist Tom Civil.

That project, called Under the Bridge and located under CityLink at Flemington, was completed in 2021 as a City of Moonee Valley Arts Recovery initiative with funding from a state government COVID relief grant.

Mr Moon said he wanted to see the pillars running along CityLink in the City of Melbourne similarly transformed into “a sightseeing area”.

While the council had allocated a very large amount in the budget to graffiti removal, which included the regular painting over of graffiti on the pillars with grey paint, commissioning street art would stop surfaces like these being defaced in the first place, he argued.

I’m asking for funds to be directed from the graffiti removal to put into public art projects like this, and that will reduce the graffiti.

Artist Tom Civil told North West City News it had been a big project that he was very proud of and he had always dreamt of extending it.

Mr Moon also advocated for funds from City of Melbourne's community safety officer program and expanded CCTV program to be diverted to arts and environment initiatives. •