South Gippsland Shire Council has engaged Somers‑based artist Christabel Wigley to install a new public artwork along the Great Southern Rail Trail (GSRT), between Koonwarra and Meeniyan.
Wigley has wasted no time getting on with the project, and has begun visiting the site to gather sound, material and form. She notes that the area is one of profound significance, “sitting within a rich and diverse ecosystem featuring the endangered Strzelecki Gum. It is also host to the Koonwarra Fossil Bed, a prehistoric site.”
Titled Outside In, the site‑responsive sculpture is a Victorian Government funded public art project valued at $65,000 and forms part of Council’s broader GSRT Activation Project. The activation project aims to connect the creative, cultural and tourism sectors as well as enliven the overall trail experience.
Cr Nathan Hersey, Mayor of South Gippsland Shire Council lauded the artwork as celebrating creativity and conservation, while supporting the arts and strengthening South Gippsland’s cultural identity.
“The Great Southern Rail Trail is already a much‑loved community asset, and projects like Outside In add another layer of meaning by encouraging people to slow down, engage with the landscape and reflect on the natural environment around them,” the Mayor noted.
Outside In is a sculptural listening space inspired by endangered local Strzelecki Gum. The work draws attention to the ecological significance of this woodland species through its scale, use of sound and immersive visitor experience and will incorporate fallen timber sourced from the Mirboo North storm event.
Trail users will be invited to pause and step inside a tall timber cube that reaches skyward, where a series of sound funnels carry the surrounding natural sounds into the structure, encouraging quiet reflection and deeper connection with the landscape.
Installation of the artwork is scheduled for completion by early June 2026.
