The floods of 2011 ravaged 80 per cent of Rochester, with 1000 homes and more than 100 shops underwater when the Campaspe River overflowed. 

Residents departed for nearby Echuca to escape the deluge.  

But just as new life rises from the ashes of a fire, receding drought waters gave the town an opportunity to rethink its reputation with passers-by. 

Presented with government funding to rejuvenate their waterlogged town, a committee of residents made the unusual move to invest in public art, starting up the Rochester Mural Festival last year.  

Artists submit miniatures of their proposed mural design before a selection panel chooses just eight entrants to complete a larger-than-life artwork at one of the town’s painting stations beside the Northern Highway. 

Inspiration for the festival came from the Tasmanian town of Sheffield, renowned for its collection of outdoor murals, and spokesperson for the Rochester event Sheila Kemp said the week-long competition was a welcome change for her sports-mad community.   

“We’re a big football-supporting town,” she said.

“People in small country towns are deprived of cultural events, unless you take them to Bendigo or to Melbourne. 

“This exposes them to something new.” 

Last year’s festival attracted 2000 visitors from places as far away as New Zealand and Poland, signalling the towns fortunes might be about to change. 

That international flavour has carried over into this year’s event, with the festival attracting its first overseas artist, Wei Luan. 

The Chinese-born Canadian, famed for his portraits of public figures like Barbara Bush, Larry King and ice hockey star Wayne Gretzky, has also painted murals for the past 25 years. 

Until now, his alfresco artworks were confined to North America and Europe, but Mr Luan’s appearance at Rochester marks his first foray into the Australian art scene.  

Despite being taken aback by the sweltering climate – “That’s something I was truly not expecting,” he said – Mr Luan was happy to be sharing his passion for public art Down Under.

“In the States, we started this kind of public art almost two decades ago,” he said. 

“There are some small towns, their economy is really going downhill, so they try to use art as a tool to attract lots of tourists to come to the town, to spend some money, to build the economy. 

“Now it’s started spreading globally.”

The ability for art to transform a community is reflected in this year’s theme for the mural competition: Times Have Changed. 

Mr Luan’s mural depicts six modes of transport that humans use at different stages of their lives, from pram to family van to mobility scooter.  

“You can’t live without them and they truly reflect our life span,” he said. 

Melbourne 3D animator Trent Denham is another muralist exhibiting his skills in Rochester this year.  He was less peturbed by the week’s weather than Mr Luan, saying working outdoors was a pleasant change from his day job in front of a computer. 

Like all the murals in the running for the festival’s $5000 first prize, his depiction of a ship circumventing a crumbling bridge will remain on show for the next 12 months. 

He hopes the symbolic work can provide peace of mind for flood-affected residents of the town. 

“It’s a story of hope,” Mr Denham explained. 

“We feel there’s this predetermined path in life, but we can do things out of ordinary.

“When the standard way forward crumbles beneath your feet, you have to think about what sort of future you’re looking for.”

What he describes is the same type of reflection Ms Kemp and her committee members undertook when they backed the festival as a way out of a tourism slump.   

But Rochester’s reach for a slice of the arts market will not stop at murals. 

Another of the town’s biennial art exhibitions will take place next month, featuring the cheekily named Rochibald Prize, a competition for locals to portray their favourite Rochester face on canvas.  

She hoped the event’s success will encourage the Campaspe Shire Council to invest in the town’s public spaces, especially the verge on which the murals are mounted, which she believed would benefit from paths winding between the paintings and park benches from which visitors can contemplate the artwork.   

Both Ms Kemp and fellow committee member Judy Alexander said proposed beautification projects had been sidelined in Rochester for decades, and the impetus now existed for their municipal government to put plans into action. 

But the community, normally besotted by sport, have been quicker than its leaders to support the murals.  

Ms Kemp said morning dog walkers were altering their routes to pass by the murals each day, while art students stopped off on their way home from school to quiz muralists about their painting techniques.

Some people had even bought into the mural market, snapping up a miniature or full-scale artwork for installation in their homes or businesses. 

The way residents had embraced the murals reminded Ms Kemp of the community spirit that emerged in the months after the 2011 floods.  

“A lot of people jumped in and did whatever they could to help,” she said. 

“I think we’ve become a stronger community because of it.” 

The Rochester Mural Festival concludes at 3pm this Sunday. The murals will be on display for an entire year.

Go to http://www.rochester.org.au/ for more information.