Lameroo Western Silo mural by Sam “Smug” Bates, Viterra silos, Mallee Highway, Lameroo, South Australia, Australia
Lameroo Western Silo
Sam “Smug” Bates · silo mural of a young woman holding a baby at sunset, painted in 2025, the second half of a diptych with his 2024 Eastern Silo · Viterra grain silos beside the Mallee Highway, Lameroo, South Australia
Photo: as published by Street Art Utopia, photographer not named
Lameroo, a Mallee farming town about 210 kilometres east of Adelaide, had its first silo mural painted by Sam “Smug” Bates in April 2024: an old pioneer farmer at sunrise. A year later Smug came back to paint the neighbouring western silo block. Regional paper The Murray Pioneer reported the start on 15 April 2025, and the work was timed for the town’s Enliven festival on 27 April. Where the eastern silo looks back, the western one looks forward: a young woman holding a baby at sunset, with a harvester out in the wheat behind them. The volunteer group Lameroo Forward Inc. led the project. The newest dated photos we found were taken at the silos on 17 October 2025.
5 things to know
- One half of a pairThe Australian Silo Art Trail: “The Western Silo Mural completes a diptych art piece between the two Lameroo Viterra silos.” The two murals set man against woman, past against present and sunrise against sunset. Australian Silo Art Trail · The Murray River
- About the women of the farmsCompleted by Smug, the work “celebrates the integral, evolving, and empowering role women play in Lameroo’s farming community”, according to the trail’s page. Glam Adelaide calls the woman and child “a powerful symbol of motherhood and the evolving role of women in agriculture.” Australian Silo Art Trail · Glam Adelaide
- Painted for a festivalThe Murray Pioneer reported on 15 April 2025 that painting of the Western silo “begins today”, with Smug “taking to the skies” on the 28-metre mural and plans to finish by the end of the month for the Enliven festival on 27 April. The Murray Pioneer · ARR News
- Four years of volunteer workVolunteer group Lameroo Forward Inc. spent four years on the two-silo project, according to Glam Adelaide. When the first silo was finished in 2024, the Stock Journal reported that the group had already planned a second artwork about the present, focusing on irrigation and women in agriculture. Glam Adelaide · Stock Journal
- A working silo from 1959Weekend Notes: “The western silo block was built in 1959 and is still operational today.” It is “almost 25 metres high and holds 11,900 tonnes of grain.” Weekend Notes · VK5PAS
Check-in guide
- 📍
- On the Viterra grain silos in the centre of Lameroo, beside the Mallee Highway (Australian Silo Art Trail). Weekend Notes says the mural “can be admired from Railway Terrace North / Mallee Highway in the heart of town” (Weekend Notes).
- 🌾
- The western silo stands next to Smug’s 2024 Eastern Silo, so both murals can be seen on one stop. Glam Adelaide gives the address as 90 B12, Lameroo, and notes that the silos stand on the main street, not on the edge of town (Glam Adelaide).
- 🧭
- The Maps button opens Street View facing the silos. Lameroo is about 210 kilometres east of Adelaide (Stock Journal).
Sightings
- 202515 Apr
Painting begins
- 202523 Apr
Nearly done, festival ahead
- 20258 May
Glam Adelaide: newly finished
- 202522 May
Weekend Notes listing
- 202517 Oct
Visitor photos at the silos
- 20261 Jan
Inspiring City feature
Every stamp links to the dated source. The green stamp is a set of photos taken at the silos on 17 October 2025, when Paul (VK5PAS) and Marija visited for the Silos On The Air amateur radio program; he published them on 17 November 2025. The photos show the finished western mural, the young woman and baby, the sunset and the harvester. Amber stamps are dated reports: The Murray Pioneer on the day painting began (15 April 2025), its Enliven preview republished by ARR News (23 April 2025), Glam Adelaide on the finished work (8 May 2025), Weekend Notes (22 May 2025) and a feature by the blog Inspiring City (1 January 2026), whose photos are not dated. We found no dated photo newer than October 2025, and no report of damage or overpainting.
On the record
Lameroo silo painting begins ahead of Enliven fesitval
“Painting of the Western silo art in Lameroo begins today, with artist Sam ‘Smug’ Bates taking to the skies to begin work on the 28m-tall mural”
The local paper’s report on the first day of painting. The rest of the article is for subscribers only.
Tiny Mallee town just revealed one of Australia’s most powerful public artworks
“One family who were in Lameroo when Smug started the western silo changed their plans to return in time for the final reveal,”
Nicole McMahon, volunteer chairperson of Lameroo Forward Inc. By Mikyla Gilbert.
Lameroo (Western) Silo Art
“a younger woman at sunset in contrast to the older man at sunrise”
How the listing sums up the pairing with Smug’s 2024 Eastern Silo.
The facts
- Artist
- Sam “Smug” Bates (Australian Silo Art Trail, The Murray Pioneer, Glam Adelaide, Weekend Notes) Checked. The SMUG signature is painted at the bottom right of the mural (photo at the top of this page).
- Name
- “Lameroo Western Silo” or Western Silo Mural, as the Australian Silo Art Trail lists it (Australian Silo Art Trail) Checked. We found no other title.
- Shows
- A young woman holding a baby against a sunset, with a harvester working a field of grain behind them (Glam Adelaide, Weekend Notes, VK5PAS) Checked
- Painted
- 2025 (Australian Silo Art Trail, The Murray Pioneer, Glam Adelaide) Checked. Painting began on 15 April 2025, according to The Murray Pioneer. The finishing month is given as April 2025 by the trail, Weekend Notes and the South Australian tourism listing, as May 2025 by VK5PAS, and as November 2024 by Inspiring City (Weekend Notes, South Australia, VK5PAS, Inspiring City) Conflicting. We lean towards late April 2025: November 2024 cannot be right if painting only began in April 2025, and Glam Adelaide reported the work as newly finished on 8 May.
- Commissioned by
- Volunteer group Lameroo Forward Inc. (Glam Adelaide, Australian Silo Art Trail, Inspiring City) Checked, with Viterra Operations Pty Ltd and the Southern Mallee District Council, according to Inspiring City Reported
- Curated by
- Juddy Roller, according to the South Australian tourism listing (South Australia, The Murray River) Reported. The trail page thanks Juddy Roller among the project’s supporters (Australian Silo Art Trail).
- Silo owner
- Viterra (Australian Silo Art Trail, South Australia) Checked
- Size
- “28m-tall” according to The Murray Pioneer, “almost 25 metres high” and about 33 metres long according to Weekend Notes (The Murray Pioneer, Weekend Notes) Conflicting. Neither source says how it was measured.
- Place
- Viterra silos on Railway Terrace North / Mallee Highway, Lameroo, Southern Mallee, South Australia (Weekend Notes, Australian Silo Art Trail) Checked
- Our photo
- The photo at the top is the one used in the Street Art Utopia post. The post does not name the photographer, and we could not trace it to its source. It matches the woman, baby, sunset, harvester and signature in the dated VK5PAS photos (VK5PAS) Checked
- Status
- Seen October 2025: photos taken at the silos on 17 October 2025 and published on 17 November 2025 (VK5PAS) Checked. Featured by Inspiring City in January 2026, with photos that are not dated (Inspiring City) Reported
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: Worth Another Look (16 Photos) (12 October 2026), where this photo appears as work no. 8, and 24 Times SMUG Made Walls Look More Real Than Life, which includes his Eastern Silo in Lameroo.
- The other half of the diptych: Smug’s Eastern Silo, an early settler at sunrise, finished in April 2024. Stock Journal
- Smug’s own photos and videos of his walls and silos. Smug on Instagram
All sources (11)
This work
- Australian Silo Art Trail: “Lameroo Western Silo”. Artist Smug, completed April 2025, Mallee Hwy, owned by Viterra, the diptych with the Eastern Silo, the theme of women in farming, Lameroo Forward Inc.
- The Murray Pioneer: “Lameroo silo painting begins ahead of Enliven fesitval”, Staff Contributors, 15 April 2025. Painting of the Western silo begins; 28-metre mural; to finish for the Enliven festival on 27 April.
- ARR News: “Sunday festival to mark latest addition to silo art trail”, from The Murray Pioneer, 23 April 2025. Enliven Lameroo on 27 April; Smug completing the western silo after painting the eastern one in 2024.
- Glam Adelaide: “Tiny Mallee town just revealed one of Australia’s most powerful public artworks”, by Mikyla Gilbert, 8 May 2025. The newly finished western silo, the woman and child, Lameroo Forward Inc., quotes from Nicole McMahon.
- Weekend Notes: “Lameroo (Western) Silo Art”, by Audrey, 22 May 2025. Smug returned in April 2025; silo built 1959, almost 25 metres high, 11,900 tonnes; Railway Terrace North / Mallee Highway.
- South Australia (South Australian Tourism Commission): “Lameroo Silo Art”, attraction listing. Western Silo painted in April 2025; Smug under curators Juddy Roller. The same listing text appears on The Murray River, so we count it once.
- Inspiring City: “Giant Silo Art from SMUG in Lameroo”, 1 January 2026. Both silos by Smug; commissioners; gives November 2024 for the western silo.
Dated photos
- VK5PAS: “Lameroo silo VK-LMO5”, Paul (VK5PAS), visit on 17 October 2025, posted 17 November 2025. Photos of both silos; describes the second silo as completed in May 2025.
Context
- Stock Journal: “Lameroo’s new silo art unveiled”, by Quinton McCallum, 26 April 2024. Smug’s Eastern Silo finished; a second artwork on the present, women in agriculture, already planned.
- Viterra: “Lameroo landscape transformed with second silo art project”, 2025 press release, as cited by VK5PAS; the original page now redirects to Bunge and we found no archived copy.
- Smug on Instagram, the artist’s account.
Artwork File · Last checked 12 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files