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Artist paints Iowa's largest mural on side of 110-foot silo

Silos. File photo. (Photo: stevepb/Pixabay)

FORT DODGE, Iowa — An Australian artist turned the side of a 110-foot silo into what is believed to be the largest mural in Iowa.

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Guido van Helten finds a challenge in all his projects, but he especially enjoyed adding the details and accounting for the silo's curves in achieving the final product.

"This one's probably the most designed mural I've done, in terms of making it 360 degrees," van Helten told the Des Moines Register.

The city commissioned the mural for about $132,000.

"I'm interested in bringing this art form, which is already popular in big cities, to smaller places," van Helten told the Register. "Particularly to the Midwest, which isn't looked at as a creative place."

Faulkton, South Dakota USA

I’ve spent the last few months out in the Midwestern United States working on this mural in Faulkton, South Dakota USA population 736. In this work I attempted to construct a metaphor using iconography and movement, Feel free to comment your understanding of the piece; Watch in HD!

Posted by Guido van Helten on Thursday, September 20, 2018

Van Helten, who has paintings in Asia, Europe and Australia, has other silo mural projects in South Dakota, Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida.

"A lot of places in the Midwest have these, and they are already sort of monuments to that place's history or its industry," he said. "The architecture is purely functional in its design, so I think it's interesting to use them for a decorative purpose."

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Work in Progress ongoing in Fort Dodge, Iowa USA

A post shared by Guido van Helten (@guidovanhelten) on