Why didn't the chicken cross the road and what is that drop bear doing in Taralga's main street?
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These questions and more are confronting travellers through the town and adding a touch of whimsy to the village's growing stock of public art.
Local artists Jan Green and Dianna Bisset have collaborated to design the 10 fabricated sculptures perched on either side of Orchard Street.
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The chicken and bear are in good company with a sheep, the cow that just wants to reach the 'udder side,' Benjamin' the thylacine, a bunyip, wombat, koala, quoll and kangaroo.
All carry salient messages to motorists, urging them to slow down and take time to look around. 'Maybe ewe were driving too fast,' the sheep and lamb said. 'Don't leaf it to chance to go slow,' urges the koala. Otherwise, just 'stop, rock and quoll.'
"It just looks terrific and adds a lot of colour to the town," Taralga Progress Association member Prue Burfitt said.
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The art was an initiative of Southern Tablelands Arts (STARTS) and Upper Lachlan Shire Council using a Steers R Shared Spaces grant. While the artists did the design, STARTS fabricated them from metal.
Mrs Green said it had added interest since being installed a month ago.
"I like any art that people do. It's interesting for travellers but Dianna's sculpture of the bunyip is aimed at getting children to have photographs taken with it," she said.
They have sparked questions, including 'where was the horse?'
Each animal carries a QR code that people can scan and read a story about.
Originally, they were pegged for the outskirts of town but it was feared that people slowing down to look could cause an accident. Now they're a happy addition to Orchard Street.
The artists chose the theme in part due to a shared love of animals. Both have been longtime WIRES volunteers. Mrs Bisset and husband Warwick also run Rocklily Wombats, an animal sanctuary near Wombeyan Caves.
Mrs Green has been an artist all her life. The Myrtleville woman studied at art school upon completing her secondary education and also worked in animation in the film industry. She has taught ceramics and has run a pottery on the Laggan Road property where her mother grew up. Mrs Green has lived in the district for 35 years.
Mrs Bisset is also an accomplished artist and draws inspiration from her natural surroundings across a range of mediums. She has lived near Wombeyan Caves for 10 years.
The duo also used the grant to conduct workshops at Taralga Public School. The students painted murals depicting themes such as the annual show and rodeo and the surrounding bushland and waterway.
The village has had something of a public art resurgence in recent time with Thomas Jackson's mural on the Taralga Sports Club wall and Heidi McGeoch's steel cube sculpture, titled 'Taralga' at the town's southern entry. The latter was inspired by Taralga Public School students.
At the northern end, Yass sculptor Alf Phemister has completed an eye catching sculpture of five dandelions, also under the Streets R Shared Spaces grant.
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