It is time for a day trip out to Ulupna Island to see the latest addition to the new Murray River Bird Trail — a joint project from Shepparton’s Tank Art and Longwood’s Steve Tobin.
During the past six months, the pair has turned scrap metal into three cockatoo sculptures named Ned, Rosie, and Mathilde.
The latest edition, a kookaburra named Kenny, joined them on Sunday.
“We’ve been working together for a while on a few projects. Steve has an engineering background and does metal sculptures whereas I’m more of a visual artist,” Tank Art’s Tank said.
“They’re created out of mostly recycled metal — we’re trying to use scraps that are around the place so they can be recycled.”
The sculptures are about four metres tall.
Tank said he would like to see the Murray River Bird Trail expand to more towns along the river.
“We’ve possibly got some birds coming to Cobram and I’d like to have some other towns get on board.”
He said he hoped the sculptures would encourage people to visit the area.
“It’s a bit of a refurbishment of the art along the Murray, and this could spark some local artists to get involved in the bird trail.
“It will bring something different to the region aside from silo art.”
The sculptures are located on private property but have been positioned so they can be viewed by the public.
A North Vic Trails spokesperson said the new artwork was a fantastic extension of the North East Art Trail.
“It’s had a huge response from the public,” the spokesperson said.
“Birds are Aussie favourites and appeal to all sorts of people, and people love to look at the big things on a road trip.
“It’s really creative work from the guys and is one of the good things that has been able to continue during the pandemic.”
The Ulupna Island bird sculptures can be found at 610 Ulupna Bridge Rd.
To get in touch with Tank about the sculptures, phone 0407 043 913 or email tank@tankart.com.au