Australia's largest mosaic stops traffic in Charters Towers

The mosaic was the brainchild of Gold Tower Central owner Paul McIver, whose vision was to create a memorial for the town with historical significance.

Mr McIver commissioned Australian award-winning fine artist Trisha Lambi to paint the images that were later brought to life in the mosaic mural.

Ms Lambi used historical photos of real people and places, with oil on canvas, before it was transformed into mosaic form.

The artwork was inspired by the historical gold rush story, about an Aboriginal boy named Jupiter Mosman who was travelling with three prospectors.

"There was a storm and lightning sent the horses bolting...when Jupiter found the horses he found a big nugget of gold in the ground and everything grew from there...Jupiter is buried in Charters Towers," she said.

"When we did the mural we had Jupiter looking down the line at all the development that came from that moment.

Ms Lambi painted in her studio in Brisbane then visited Charters Towers where she collaborated with local archivist Michael Brumby who shared photos and stories that "brought it all to life."

"It's a beautiful town, the buildings are gorgeous...I went to the cemetery and it was quite emotional walking around and I knew had to bring it to life for them and really do these paintings well and bring life to them," she said.

"What impressed me was Paul McIver's vision for the town..I'm just really proud to be a part of it.

"The photos don't do it justice, It's a sight to behold."

The spectacular artwork is part of the #AlwaysAWinner campaign run by the Australian Street Art Awards.

Australian Street Art Award director Liz Waters said the awards were created to promote rural and regional art work all over Australia

"We manage niche excellence awards in the tourism arena nationally, our part of promoting it is purely part of our charter for the awards, which is to be able to promote things in regional, rural and remote Australia that encourages tourism," Ms Waters said.

"We showcase all the incredible art that is all over Australia...the Australian Street Art Awards was set up specifically as a national platform to help attract visitors and promote artworks all over Australia."

"The awards started in 2018, with the first announced in 2019, so this is our fifth year nationally...this year there has been a significant increase in our entries, we are into the hundreds now."

Winners of the #AlwaysAWinner campaign will be announced at the Art of Attraction Tourism Summit March 6-8 in Caloundra, Sunshine Coast.