Gulargambone 'Lucky Dip' stamped

Since its creation in 2018, Gulargambone’s ‘Lucky Dip’ water tower mural created by Jenny McCracken has been a popular attraction and major drawcard for the town. The mural was created as part of a larger street art project organised by Gulargambone Community Enterprise Co-operative.

Now the image will be spread across the nation as Australia Post has released its new line of commemorative stamps which feature the giant kingfisher. The stamp is part of a Water Tower Art stamp issue featuring three other Australian water tower murals.

Gulargambone local Col Ryan OAM said that he was delighted to hear that the mural had been chosen for the stamps.

“It’s pretty unreal I reckon - has Gilgandra got a stamp?” Mr Ryan joked.

“I think it’s just testimony to our stepping outside the circle and having a go at something different. It’s paid off.”

Tammy Nichols of Gulargambone Post Office and Rural Transaction Centre (RTC) said that the stamps were proving popular already.

“We’ve had the stamps here, and they’re selling really fast, they’ve been really good. They look great,” she said.

Owner of Gulargambone Caravan Park David Frazier said that it was exciting for a small place like Gulargambone to be on a nationally circulated stamp.

“It great for our town, it’s great for the community and to get a bit of publicity. For a small community like ours to have our stamp is really something.”

Mr Ryan said that before the artwork was complete, the idea to have a kingfisher on the water tower was somewhat controversial.

“There was a lot of controversy that it should have been a galah, but Coonamble beat us to the punch and got one on their water tower. But I’m really pleased that the artist chose the kingfisher and I honestly think it’s probably better than a galah.”

Mr Ryan said that during the selection process even he was sceptical about painting the water tower.

“I can recall when the committee decided to do this work I thought it was a waste of time, but I’ll eat my bloody words because it’s been a big thing for the town."

"The amount of people that have come and visited and stayed at the caravan park and things like that have been incredible. I’ve been working very close to the silo recently and the amount of people that come to see it is just incredible. Unbelievable, I could not believe how many people are going there to see it.” The stamps were issued in early September and are now available in Post Offices across Australia.

The three other towns featured in the Water Tower Art series are: Winton, Victoria (artist Guido Van Helt-en); Narrandera, NSW (artists from Apparition Media); and Snowtown, SA (artist Vans the Omega).

The Water Tower Art issue of stamps is the third to feature large-scale public art, following Street Art (2017) and Silo Art (2018).