Graffiti News
Albany’s wartime fuel tanks become a graffiti gallery
Seven former fuel tanks hold a growing body of street art
Seven concrete fuel tanks in bushland outside Albany, on Western Australia’s south coast, have become a place where street art draws attention to wartime history. In a report published on 23 May 2026, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) described a former World War II facility attracting artists from across Australia and overseas. Their work gives visitors another reason to encounter structures that once served a very different purpose.
Local artist Chad Marwick told ABC that only a handful of pieces were present when he first entered the tanks about 20 years earlier. He recalled a place largely left to nature. As artists began using the walls, the site’s history also became a subject of conversation. His account describes an accumulation of work over time, with successive contributions changing how the interiors are experienced.
For people who follow street art, that relationship between artwork and setting is central to the visit. A painted wall can be read as an individual surface, while the tank around it keeps the building’s earlier function in view. Here, the size and original purpose of the structures are part of the encounter.
Historical signs explain why the tanks were built
Local preservation efforts and historical signs help explain the tanks beyond their painted surfaces. According to ABC, the structures once faced demolition, but local advocates argued for their retention because of their historical importance. Historian Malcolm Traill said wartime censorship had limited the information shared publicly about the facility, despite its substantial physical presence.
Community organisation Veterans Assist had spent the two years preceding the report installing signs. Project leader Jane Mouritz linked the tanks to fuel rationing and fears of invasion during World War II. She argued that documenting this history on site was an important part of preserving the structures. Referring to their construction in 1941, she also reflected on their different use in 2026.
Traill welcomed street art’s ability to bring visitors in and help the history reach a wider public. The signs and the paintings offer complementary ways into the place: one supplies historical explanation, while the other can prompt someone to stop and look. Reading both gives a fuller understanding of why these concrete walls matter.
The interiors make scale part of the artwork
The artwork reaches up to 20 metres high inside the tanks, according to ABC. Layers of graffiti have turned the concrete interiors into spaces experienced through colour and sound. Mouritz’s response focused on the whole tank as a changing artwork, rather than treating each painted section as a separate attraction.
That distinction matters when looking at a place shaped by many contributors. Visitors can pay attention to individual images and then step back to consider how the surrounding walls bring them together. The interest lies both in what has been painted and in the way a former storage structure now contains an evolving collection of work.
The graffiti’s cultural role also differs from its formal heritage status. ABC reported that the artwork was not formally identified as part of the site’s recognised cultural heritage significance. The broadcaster understood that the City of Albany had no plans to remove it. That reported position should not be read as permission for visitors to add new paintings.
Trail connections are being developed as visibility grows
Connections to nearby public trails were still being worked on when ABC published its report. The Keep Albany Beautiful Committee and Veterans Assist were developing pathways to improve access. Anyone planning a visit should treat these as works in progress as of 23 May 2026, rather than assuming a completed walking route.
Marwick also expressed concern that greater attention could alter the tanks’ character as a living street art space. He told ABC that the town did not then offer walls for artists to use. His comments place a practical issue alongside the access improvements: attracting more viewers and retaining room for artistic activity are related questions.
A visit can therefore bring together looking at the paintings, reading the historical signs and checking the available access information. Albany’s tanks offer a way to consider how preservation and continuing artistic use can share a setting. Explore other places to see street art on the Wallscape map.