Shelter Brewing Co now home to the region’s biggest indoor mural in aid of Margaret River Open Studios

Busselton is now not only the home of the longest timber piled jetty in the southern hemisphere, but the biggest indoor mural in the South West.

The walls of popular South West establishment Shelter Brewing Co have a fresh coat of paint this winter, after the brewery commissioned a larger-than-life mural for its interior.

Renowned local artist Ian Daniell is the creative mind behind the 200sqm humpback whale mural, an ode to the gigantic sea creatures which migrate past the seaside city every year.

The mural, fittingly titled Breach, will be completed during the ninth annual Margaret River Region Open Studios, held from September 10 to 25.

Known for his life-sized artworks of sea-life, Mr Daniell said he was thrilled to collaborate with Shelter and pay homage to the species. “Fun fact — the humpback whale has the largest appendage — as in arms and legs, and in their case, flippers — in the animal kingdom, so it’s great to have a wall big enough to paint a life-sized version,” he said.

Every year, tens of thousands of tourists flock from all over the country — and pre-covid, the world — to watch the surprisingly acrobatic mammals breach and slap their tails and flippers as they travel along the coast from September to November.

Geographe Bay provides a resting area for the animals and their calves on their way back to Antarctica after calving in the warm waters of Ningaloo.

“With humpback whales being protected, we’re seeing more of them during migrations, you could say the humpback is making a comeback, and this mural is a colourful celebration of that.” Shelter is a proud sponsor of Margaret River Region Open Studios, the biggest event of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

The free events aims to increase accessibility to local art with artists opening their home studios inviting art lovers in to chat, see their work, and/or watch them create pieces.

Shelter general manager Paul Maley said the company was excited to be involved this year.

“Our partnership with Margaret River Region Open Studios is Shelter’s biggest collaboration to date in terms of investment,” he said. “We’ve increased the space of the office and brew lab wall to accommodate Ian’s mural and we love what he’s doing — it’ll be a talking point, as all good art is, and add colour to an otherwise white wall.”