An Australian artist turned the side of a 110-foot silo into what is believed to be the largest mural in Iowa.
Guido van Helten finds a challenge in all his projects, but he especially enjoyed adding the details and accounting for the silo's curves in achieving the final product.
"This one's probably the most designed mural I've done, in terms of making it 360 degrees," van Helten told the Des Moines Register.
The city commissioned the mural for about $132,000.
"I'm interested in bringing this art form, which is already popular in big cities, to smaller places," van Helten told the Register. "Particularly to the Midwest, which isn't looked at as a creative place."
Van Helten, who has paintings in Asia, Europe and Australia, has other silo mural projects in South Dakota, Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida.
"A lot of places in the Midwest have these, and they are already sort of monuments to that place's history or its industry," he said. "The architecture is purely functional in its design, so I think it's interesting to use them for a decorative purpose."
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