Artists statement

Whilst my main focus for the artwork design was on the Hotels on Main Road, I felt there was an opportunity to tell a broader story of Main Rd and combine/include some interesting pieces of information from many stages of the history of Main Road.
Considering that at one point in time there would have been at more than six hotels in this very short section of street….there’s no doubt Main Rd was an epicentre of communication and festivities for the Goldfields of Ballarat. “No matter what luck he had, every miner needed supplies, food and something to entertain him when he was not searching for gold.”
Described as being an overcrowded jumble of muddy streets loosely arranged around mining camps...and loud, muddy, colourful and sometimes illicit. I wanted the artwork composition to consist of overlapping images and text to reflect this sense of hustle and bustle.

Historical information

Main Road Mural tells the broader story of the history of Main Road in Ballarat. In 2018, the City of Ballarat commissioned local Ballarat artist Travis Price to create an artwork to align with the Main Road Revitalisation Project and deliver a key component of the storytelling (heritage interpretation) project that spans the length of the shopping precinct. The artwork is featured on a prominent site in the shopping precinct of main road and tells the story of Main Road through depicting key timeline events.

Main Road, as its name suggests, was one of the main entries to the mining areas of East Ballarat. It had several names: Main Street before 1858, Plank Road between 1858 and 1868 and Main Road from 1868 onwards. The centre of mining life, it was crowded, prosperous, raucous and dirty.

Physical description

Painted mural on shop wall in Main Road, Ballarat

Inscriptions & markings

Ballaarat, Gold Fever, The Royal Standard Hotel, Flood, Boxing Saloon, Plank Road, Kulin Nation, 3350, Election, East, Grog House, The Scandinavian Hotel. Images; Chinese lantern, Pick & Shovel, Miners Licence burning.