Artist Matt Adante from Melbourne has created a lasting memorial to the contribution of the people of Hay to the World Wars.

Alison McLean, Hay Shire Council's project manager for economic development, said the plan to give the water towers a face-lift had been in the works for some months, but the international pandemic threw a spanner in the works.

"As soon as he was allowed, Matt scooted up the highway to get to work," she said.

"He is a well-recognised artist, and his work is just beautiful. It only took him five days to complete the entire thing.

"It was just incredible to watch that emerge on our landscape."

Ms McLean said the artworks paid tribute to Hay's contribution in both World Wars by creating lifelike imagery of five of Hay's servicemen and women.

"As a small rural town that has always had these assets, it is moving to see these faces now on them," she said.

"The sheer enormity of them just stops you in your tracks.

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"When art starts a conversation, that is how you know it is successful and we are already seeing that here."

Ms McLean said it was also a great tourist attraction for the town, that would help foster the residents' sense of pride.

She added that with the Australian Silo Art Trail, regional towns were able to connect and

For more information on each of the paintings, click here.