![Mural artist Damien Mitchell with Uranquinty Progress Association president Deb Bewick at the town's water tower. Picture by Madeline Begley Mural artist Damien Mitchell with Uranquinty Progress Association president Deb Bewick at the town's water tower. Picture by Madeline Begley](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/JEQDf2CFmqVGDcvEsZPwEY/dcbbc505-4bb8-407a-87b3-146c5697860f.jpg/r0_0_4426_3541_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Excitement is building among Uranquinty locals as the completion of the town's Water Tower Project nears.
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Wagga-born mural artist Damien Mitchell has been tasked with the challenge of completing the town's water tower mural funded by grants and donations sourced by the Uranquinty Progress Association.
The mural is representative of the town's rich history, showcasing the air force training base that was set up at Uranquinty during World War II.
On one side of the water tower features Wirraway planes, which are the planes that were used for the training of the pilots during World War II at the air force base at Uranquinty.
On the other side is Leo Waters, the only Aboriginal fighter pilot from World War II who trained at Uranquinty.
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"The barracks are on the other side, which is where the air-force base was set up and then there is a couple of representations of Uranquinty with our silos, and a lot of the groundwork was done by the women of the times so we have two women representatives, they were the mechanics who were working on the planes," Uranquinty Progress Association president Deb Bewick said.
Ironically, Mr Mitchell's great aunt was one of the female mechanics.
Mr Mitchell was one of several artists who submitted a design to be voted on by the public, and it was his design that captured the hearts of the town.
"Being from here I always enjoy being back in Wagga painting," Mr Mitchell said.
"It's good to be able to learn the history and then reflect it back onto a mural.
"There's been a fair few people passing by having a look and so far it's been positive- people are excited."
The project will take Mr Mitchell 12 days to complete, with work likely to finish mid-next week.
"I've been lucky with the weather it's made a pretty steady progression," he said.
The water tower is situated near the town's Eco-Cultural Garden on Best Street and Uranquintry Street, and the vision is to make it an area that attracts tourists.
"I'm very excited. We will be part of the Australian Art Society Tour and because we have a military bearing on the art there's a military art trail as well, so it will really open up the area to have people come and visit Uranqunity and see what we've got," Ms Bewick said.
"The idea will be to have a lovely garden to walk in see the tower and learn about the history of Uranquinty."
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