Old Concordian Llewellyn ‘Llew’ Schilling (1950), who grew up in the rural town of Rainbow, Victoria, left Concordia full of confidence and began a career with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Melbourne City, where he served for over 33 years. Since that time, he has travelled Australia with his three boys and has also had many trips to other countries. Eventually Llew settled back in Rainbow where he owned a large block of land, which included a disused concrete silo that had been built next to an operating flour mill when Llew was growing up.
Using his passion for landscape design, Llew developed a large garden around the silo and streetscape. He then fenced off the silo side of the block with the intention of donating it to the town for future development incorporating silo art. Llew’s sons encouraged him to begin the project right away, so he could enjoy watching the progress in his lifetime. Four years on, after successfully receiving a Tourism Grant of almost $2.1 million to paint a mural on the inside and install a lift to take people to a viewing platform at the top, the wonderful silo project began.
Llew worked together with the Hindmarsh Shire Council, Tourism Victoria, some interested locals and an artistic director on the project. An article on the Hindmarsh Shire Council website about the now completed project describes the artwork as mesmerising, and the views of the artwork and the surrounding area as breathtaking.
“The mesmerising internal silo art by Collide Public Art (lead artist James Voller) incorporates lighting and imagery inspired by the flowers in Llew's garden hanging in the immense silo space. This can be viewed from 2 viewpoints. The lower walking platform at 8m gives access to the artwork before continuing to the 2nd silo bin giving a unique view of the inside of a grain silo unimpacted by artwork installation. At the 28m level the stair and elevator exit to a large viewing platform giving expansive views across Rainbow and the southern Wimmera Mallee before leading into a top viewing point of the internal silo art. The artwork and lookout views will leave you breathless!” – Visit the Hindmarsh Shire Council website for more information
The silo also now features a beautiful external artwork by Geoffrey Carran and is certainly a sight to behold, both inside and out. If you are ever travelling that way, stop by at the Rainbow Silo. You might even see Llew there!
