{"id":688376,"date":"2026-05-23T00:06:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T00:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/688376\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T00:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T00:06:23","slug":"albanys-abandoned-wwii-fuel-tanks-get-new-life-life-as-global-graffiti-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/688376\/","title":{"rendered":"Albany’s abandoned WWII fuel tanks get new life life as global graffiti gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tucked away in bushland on Western Australia’s south coast, a World War II relic has been brought back to life as a sprawling gallery for street artists.<\/p>\n

The towering concrete walls of seven abandoned wartime fuel tanks just outside Albany are drawing creatives from all over the world.<\/p>\n

In turn, these artists are helping to shine a spotlight on a once-vital site that was shrouded in secrecy.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The towering walls of the tanks create an echo chamber. (ABC Great Southern: Astrid Volzke)<\/p>\n

“It was somewhere that was forgotten about, left to just go to waste, and we just reclaimed it really,” local artist Chad Marwick said.<\/p>\n

“And then the history of the place itself gets talked about as well.”<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

The tanks attract admiring visitors. (ABC Great Southern: Astrid Volzke)<\/p>\n

Marwick said the tanks included work from artists from near and far.<\/p>\n

“You get people who just love to travel, you know, from all over Australia, even international artists have been in there,” he said.Art and history<\/p>\n

The decommissioned tanks were once vital wartime infrastructure in the Great Southern city.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Part of the immersive experience of the tanks is the way the art interplays with the natural light. (ABC Great Southern: Astrid Volzke)<\/p>\n

Local historian Malcolm Traill said censorship during the war meant very little information about the tanks was shared publicly, even though they loomed out of the bush.<\/p>\n

“They’re a reminder of that time more than 80 years ago during World War II,” he said.<\/p>\n

The tanks were once under threat of demolition, but local advocates fought to preserve them because of their historical significance.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The work ranges from intricate stencils to more traditionally styled pieces. (ABC Great Southern: Astrid Volzke)<\/p>\n

The street art is now also helping increase public awareness about the site, which Mr Traill says is a “good thing”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The art reflects off the surface of large pools of water inside the tanks. (ABC Great Southern: Astrid Volzke)<\/p>\n

“Street art is a modern phenomenon and I think it brightens things up,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Grey concrete is not the most exciting thing to look at.<\/p>\n

“If it brings people in and gets that story out there, then it’s got to be a good thing.”Documenting the past<\/p>\n

In addition to the street art, community organisation Veterans Assist has spent the last two years installing signs at the site.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jane Mouritz says the tanks are worth preserving. (ABC Great Southern: Astrid Volzke)<\/p>\n

Project leader Jane Mouritz said the tanks carried significant historical importance that was worth documenting and preserving.<\/p>\n

“They tell a story of some of the hardship that was felt domestically during World War II, when there was fuel rationing and there was fear of invasion,” she said.<\/p>\n

“That’s why it was very important to write the history of these tanks and have it on signage.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Veterans Assist project leader, Jane Mouritz said it was important to write the history of the tanks.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 (ABC Great Southern: Astrid Volzke)<\/p>\n

Inside the tanks, the art stretches up to 20 metres high.<\/p>\n

Layers of graffiti transform the cold concrete interiors into immersive chambers of colour and sound.<\/p>\n

Ms Mouritz described the experience as “unreal”.<\/p>\n

“This whole tank is one moving artwork,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Who would have known, in 1941 when they built tanks to hold fuel, that we would repurpose it in 2026?”<\/p>\n

Graffiti gallery<\/p>\n

Graffiti artists often work covertly, facing hefty fines and even jail terms if they are caught.<\/p>\n

But for them the risk is worth it and the tanks are evidence of their artistic evolution.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

There are some remarkable pieces at the site. (ABC Great Southern: Astrid Volzke)<\/p>\n

“We first stepped in there about 20 years ago, and there was only one, two, maybe three little pieces in there,” Marwick said.<\/p>\n

“It was hardly known. It was just left for nature to take over pretty much.”<\/p>\n

\"Graffiti<\/p>\n

Graffiti is writing or drawings marked on walls or surfaces in public view. (ABC Great Southern: Astrid Volzke)<\/p>\n

While the graffiti art is not formally identified as part of the site’s recognised cultural heritage significance, the ABC understands the City of Albany has no plans to remove it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As such, efforts are being made to make the site more accessible, with the Keep Albany Beautiful Committee and Veterans Assist working on building pathways to connect it to nearby public trails.<\/p>\n

Marwick hopes that making the site better known, however, will not damage its unique status as a living street art space.<\/p>\n

“Because there’s nowhere in town that offers any walls, at this stage,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tucked away in bushland on Western Australia’s south coast, a World War II relic has been brought back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":688377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[336125,336126,336123,449,458,459,64,63,460,134,336122,57477,336124,336121],"class_list":["post-688376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-albany-history","tag-albany-in-world-war-ii","tag-albany-street-art","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-fuel-storage-tanks-albany","tag-street-art","tag-veterans-assist","tag-wwii-tanks-albany"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=688376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}