Renowned artist leads Lockington mural

Mr Dvate is no stranger to the region, having designed and painted the Rochester silo art as well as a mural for the Gunbower Family Hotel.

In Lockington, he will take on a 3m high, 15m wide mural on the south-facing wall of the Lockington District Business Centre.

The location has been strategically chosen to face visitors to the Lockington Hotel’s beer garden and travellers entering town from Bendigo.

The project is being funded by Lockmore Financial Services, which operates the Lockington Community Bank within the business centre precinct.

The new mural is part of a broader initiative to add artwork to each of Lockmore’s three Community Bank branches in Lockington, Elmore and Rochester.

Chair Jo Holloway said Lockmore Financial Services was excited to have confirmed Mr Dvate’s involvement in the project.

“We are very excited to have Jimmy onboard and looking forward to working with him to create something beautiful that accurately portrays life in Lockington,” he said.

“We undertook an expression of interest process to reach this point, and I’m grateful to the community members who put their hand up to be involved, contributed excellent feedback and have helped to guide our decision-making.

“The initial concepts Jimmy provided were great and create an excellent foundation upon which to develop a striking image that, we hope, will become iconic to Lockington.”

Lockington Neighbourhood House is overseeing the development of the mural in partnership with a working group comprising interested community members.

The group will aim to finalise the design early next year and hope to have the mural completed before winter 2026.