Historic mural and oral history project unveiled at Yanco Agricultural Institute

The institute officially unveiled two big projects that have been doing just that last week.

Artist Lee Blacker-Noble worked for many months in the institute's library to create a large mural, which depicts in fine detail a timeline of the facility's history over the years.

The mural is a sight to behold and is part of a wider plan to not only promote the institute, but showcase the stories of the past, while melding them with the present.

"I thoroughly enjoyed work on the mural," Mrs Blacker-Noble said.

"It's been a pleasure to put these stories up on the wall.

"If you count the crowd scenes, there's 86 people on this mural. All of them are part of the story out here."

The institute has had many names and purposes throughout the years since it was first established in 1908.

It has long been an experiment farm for crops and science.

It was a Prisoner of War camp, a place for rural education and research and even a welfare farm.

All of this is depicted in the mural in a bid to ensure all of these histories and stories are never lost.

Leonie Napier is the project leader of the project at the institute and she hopes to continue to preserve this history, while also bringing more visitors to the facility.

"I'm really proud of the history of this place and all of the people who have dedicated their time over the years," she said.

"There are so many stories. Staff over the years have been so passionate and dedication and it's important we recognise that.

"This story of Yanco is really representative of these people who dedicated their lives to life on the land, to agriculture, to people and to research."

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Another part of the day was the unveiling of an oral history project, which was put together by Kathy Tenison, who interviewed and spoke to employees who have worked at the institute.

"It was important to capture these stories and memories," Ms Tenison said.

"For me it was really quite an honour to hear their stories and put them together for this project.

"The stories are so interesting and I'm glad we've been able to record them."

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