Rose Garden Mural
Image source Taj Kempe
Artist: Margaret Kous
Asset Type: Mural
Year of Work: 2000
Location: Collie Replica Rail Station, Collie Rose Garden, 86 Throssell St
Provenance: Shire of Collie
Description: This mural is a combination of images blending Collie’s current and past histories.
Because of its proximity to the site of the old Collie Railway Station, the artist has used images of rail, past and present, to highlight the continuing importance of rail to the industrial and social history of this town.
The ‘Wagyal’ (serpent) emerging from Minninup Pool, reminds the observer of the ancient culture of the Noongar people, the original occupants of this area, and of the importance of the Collie and Harris Rivers, the waters of which are used for domestic and irrigation use over a larger area of WA.
In the distance can be seen the outlines of Muja and Collie Power Stations and the Worsley Alumina Refinery.
The vanishing point in the centre of the mural focuses attention on the future of Collie and the need for the whole community to continue to work together.
The mural artist, Mrs Margaret Kous, completed the project over a number of months through the participation of Fairview and Amaroo Year 6 & 7 primary school students, Claude Hill, Carl Kous and Christie Coomer.
Financial sponsors of the project were the Community Arts Network and the Collie Shire Council. Other contributors to the project include Dr Hilda Turnbull MLA, Collie Heritage Group, Collie Railway Station Group, Mr John Feeney, Collie Agricultural Society, Taubmans Paints and Townscape Advisory Committee members. This mural was an initiative of the Shire of Collie Townscape Committee
About the artist:
Margaret Kous was born in Mildura, Victoria in December 1949. Her parents took her to Auckland, New Zealand, in a flying boat in January 1950. In 1982, Margaret moved to Collie, Western Australia, with her husband Carl, where they raised a combined family of six children.
Collie Co-operative Society
Image source Taj Kampe
Artist: Ernie Turpin, Louise Turpin, Margaret Kous
Asset Type: Mural
Year of Work: 1997
Location: 20 Johnston Street, Collie
Provenance: Shire of Collie
Description: This series of three murals tells the story of the Collie Co-operative Society, the largest co-operative store in Western Australia, in operation for over eighty years. In that time, it played an important role in the town’s development, as the principal retailer of the town and its largest commercial employer with over 100 people employed at its peak.
The building upon which this series of three murals is affixed was built by the Co-operative Society in 1936. By 1955, the Co-op has expanded to the corner diagonally opposite this site where the drapery, haberdashery and show departments were located. Further along, on the corner on Johnson and Lefroy Streets, was the Co-op Garage.
The left-hand panel depicts the original building and the 1926 flood. The Collie River proved to be a troublesome neighbour and the area was subjected to unpredictable flooding. The second picture of this inset shows the flood of 1926. Another memorable flood occurred in 1964, when the store was in undated and much stock lost to the swirling waters of the Collie River at its wildest.
The middle panel depicts ‘Divvy Day’, when shareholders were paid a percentage dividend on all purchases made and paid for in the last six months, was a twice yearly event. The Shareholders Booklet and the bread tokens were part and parcel of the old Co-op days.
The right-hand panel depicts Co-op delivery services, which were essential in the days before family cars, and woman drivers. A stable of delivery horses and wagons, followed as time went by, by bicycles, vans and finally the ‘shopper buses’ ensured that goods were delivered.
Financial sponsors of the project were the Shire of Collie, the Arts Council of WA and the Collie Heritage Group. This mural was an initiative of the Shire of Collie Townscape Committee.
About the artists:
Ernie Turpin is qualified in cartography and management and has spent a significant amount of time working and teaching in those areas. He has also had a wealth of experience in computerized mapping and art teaching.
Having resigned from the State Public Service at age fifty five to become a freelance artist, Ernie embarked upon a full time art tutoring career - whereby he travelled throughout the State of Western Australia as an ‘artist-in-residence‘ over a period of some twelve years.
In particular, Ernie worked primarily with indigenous groups in remote locations, completing mural projects and tutoring students in various forms of art. He also was regularly contracted to work with a number of mining companies, craft groups, hospitals, local authorities, prisons and metropolitan schools, etc., which required extensive travelling into some of the most scenic terrain of Western Australia.
Ernie is now in retirement, spends most of his leisure time in the Perth Metropolitan Area working in his studio or giving talks and art demonstrations to a range of different audiences.
Margaret Kous was born in Mildura, Victoria in December 1949. Her parents took her to Auckland, New Zealand, in a flying boat in January 1950. In 1982, Margaret moved to Collie, Western Australia, with her husband Carl, where they raised a combined family of six children.
Margaret studied art at Collie TAFE completing a Diploma in Art. She also studied at ECU Bunbury, completing a Bachelor of Creative Industries majoring in Visual Arts. She then completed a Diploma of Education Primary, teaching in in various schools prior to her retirement.
