Lake Ballard

Lake Ballard is a large ephemeral salt lake located about 51 km west of Menzies in Western Australia's Goldfields-Esperance region, within the Shire of Menzies. It is internationally renowned for 'Inside Australia', an installation of 51 black steel sculptures by British artist Antony Gormley spread across the white salt plain. Created in 2003 from casts of Menzies residents, the vast, flat lake bed creates a striking outback landscape.

Visitors can expect a vast, flat white salt plain extending to the horizon with 51 life-size black steel figures scattered over about 10 square kilometres. The lake is dry most of the year with a hard salt crust that can be walked on when dry. There are no buildings or shade on the lake itself, only a gravel car park and interpretive signage at the edge. The setting is remote, quiet and starkly beautiful, offering open skies, outback silence and clear views of the sculptures against the salt and sky.

Lake Ballard lies in the historic Goldfields region developed during the Western Australian gold rush of the 1890s. The town of Menzies was established in 1895 after gold was discovered. In 2003, the Shire of Menzies commissioned British artist Antony Gormley to create Inside Australia for the 50th Perth International Arts Festival, using laser scans of 51 residents of Menzies to cast the steel figures now installed on the lake.

The lake is culturally significant as the site of Antony Gormley's Inside Australia, one of Australia's most prominent outback art installations. The 51 sculptures represent the residents of Menzies and explore the relationship between people and landscape. The work has become an iconic cultural landmark for the Goldfields and a major attraction on Australia's Golden Outback tourism route.