Winton Wetlands commissions Guido van Helten artwork

The restoration project has commissioned artist Guido van Helten to create a special work during the Wall to Wall Festival later this month.

A water tank will be turned into a large scale portrait that pays tribute to the Country Fire Authority volunteers that use the structure.

Winton Wetlands visitor experience co-ordinator Alison Ballard said the idea came from a wish to support the festival.

“It's a real community-driven project or offering for Benalla and we are a part of Benalla community so it was a no-brainer,” she said.

Finding a location, however, proved a little more difficult.

“We don't have a lot of blank canvases out on the site, we don't have a lot of walls,” Ms Ballard admitted. “We’ve got a CFA tank there. It's grey and old; it's just a plain old concrete tank and we want to transform that.”

Winton Wetlands chief executive Jim Grant said the portrait would be the first of many art installations to be commissioned at the wetlands.

“Benalla has some hard working and talented people putting the North East on the map for its arts and culture and the Benalla street art is just one of these products,” he said.

“We are excited to be a part of it for this year.”

The tank portrait will be similar to van Helten’s earlier works such as the Brim silos, with a CFA volunteer’s face to feature.

Ms Ballard said van Helten would meet brigade members beforehand and then complete his piece over the three days of the festival, March 18-20.

“A part of what we're trying to do in the bigger picture is build an eco-tourism product that cover arts and culture as well as environmental tourism, historical tourism,” she said.

A meet and greet event at 10.30am on Sunday, March 20, will give visitors the chance to talk to the artist.

“There's a real buzz about the Wall to Wall Festival this year, about making it bigger and better and really delivering something unique,” Ms Ballard said.