Seven wind turbines provide unique canvas for Indigenous artist Sara Riches
Sara Riches created digital designs for wind turbines, inspired by the artworks of about 200 school children. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)
In short:
Seven wind turbines are being built at the St Ives gold mine near Kambalda in WA's Goldfields.
The 130-metre-high turbines are being decorated with artworks inspired by school children.
What's next?
The wind turbines are set to be completed by the middle of next year.
Indigenous artist Sara Riches this year embarked on the biggest project of her career, in a figurative and literal sense.
The Ngadju, Wongatha, Mirning and Esperance Noongar woman was given the challenge of interpreting wind-inspired artwork by more than 200 schoolchildren from across regional Western Australia.
Her creations have been digitally enhanced and are being printed onto a unique canvas — the nacelles of seven large wind turbines to be installed at one of WA's biggest gold mines.
The wind farm is part of a $296 million renewable energy project for the St Ives mine near Kambalda, about 630 kilometres east of Perth, which also includes about 60,000 solar panels and large-scale battery storage.
Sara Riches speaks at the unveiling of the artwork at the WA Museum of the Goldfields in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)
Ms Riches, who grew up in Kalgoorlie-Boulder but now lives in Perth, said it was a unique challenge.
"This region is my home, so it's an amazing opportunity to be back on country and be a part of this project,"she said.
"It was a really exciting opportunity to tell the story about wind energy, the flora and the fauna."
Loading...Once built, the wind turbines will stand 130 metres high, with each of the blades measuring 80 metres in length.
Six of the designs are inspired by the students, while Ms Riches created her own individual artwork based on her Ngadju heritage — the same country on which the St Ives mine is located.
"With this project I was able to create it digitally at home, and then scale it up to a huge size to fit on a wind turbine," she said.
"I love all the colours and it will be a sight to see how amazing and how huge the canvas will be."
Foundation works for a wind turbine at the St Ives gold mine. (Supplied: Gold Fields)
Earlier this year, fellow Perth artist Anne Gee led creative workshops at six regional schools, from Yalgoo in WA's Midwest to Leonora in the northern Goldfields.
The schools selected for the sessions were on the 1,000-kilometre transport route for the wind turbine components, which were initially shipped to Geraldton Port.
Ms Gee said the workshops taught children about the use of renewable energy in the resources sector.
Year 3 student India Gapes with artist Anne Gee during creative workshops at South Kalgoorlie Primary School. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)
"I think what really strikes me is that kids are very aware of looking after their planet," she said.
"We've worked with kids from kindergarten to year 12. They were very imaginative, coming up with lots of different ideas.
"It will certainly be an incredible geographic installation."
South Kalgoorlie Primary School students Taylor Lola and Syanna Rogers with some of the artwork produced by their year 3 classmates. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)
The St Ives mine is owned by South Africa's Gold Fields, which in 2020 became the first resources company in Australia to commission large-scale wind turbines, at its Agnew gold mine in the northern Goldfields.
Gold Fields Australia vice-president Craig Bradshaw, who was previously general manager of the Agnew mine, said the mining industry needed to embrace renewable energy and show it could produce sustainably.
He said the project at St Ives was expected to generate more than 70 per cent of the mine's electricity from renewable sources.
"It's a gauntlet we're throwing down to the rest of the mining industry, particularly the gold industry," he said.
The wind turbines are set to be completed by mid-2026.