New sculpture art trail puts Badgingarra on tourism map

A new art trail will give visitors another reason to stop longer at the Brand Highway town of Badgingarra.

Opened by Dandaragan Shire president Leslee Holmes last month, the 4.2km Badgingarra Art Trail features 13 robust sculptures created by Coomberdale artist Natalie Tonkin, with timber, metal, upcycled machinery and found items.

Funded by the Badgingarra Community Association, the gravel trail provides a cycling and walking track for residents and visitors and links Badgingarra to the Vern Westbrook Walk, east of the small Brand Highway townsite.

The track passes by Badgingarra Cemetery, which has ornate gates commissioned by the Badgingarra Community Association and designed and constructed by Badgingarra businessman Josh Barnes in 2017.

Badgingarra resident Anne Park said the art trail was inspired by the Dandaragan Shire 4 Arts group, which envisioned an art trail connecting the four towns in the shire: Badgingarra, Dandaragan, Jurien Bay and Cervantes.

She said the Badgingarra section of the trail was the first to open, thanks to the hard work and perseverance of local art enthusiasts, including the Badgingarra representatives of the Dandaragan Shire 4 Arts group: Robyn Brockman, Helle Rasmussen, Sara Kenny and Dahlia Richardson.

“In true Badgy style, the Badgingarra Art Trail is the first section to be completed and opened — a testament to the dogged determination of these four ladies over the past two or three years,” Ms Park said.

At the trail’s official opening, Robyn Brockman told the 80 guests artist Natalie Tonkin had dedicated many hours of work to the design, construction, delivery and installation of the artworks, and run an art workshop for community members to make clay figures to feature in some of the smaller sculptures.