RAA Newsletter - Issue 3 November 2007

Bathurst Island dancers and Sydney jazz musicians thrill at Darwin Festival. Photo: Fiona Morrison

welcome

It is going to be a super busy twelve months of planning and action until our national conference Art at the Heart kicks off in Alice Springs next October. It's therefore wonderful news that we have at our helm, Kieren Sanderson, who has agreed to take on the herculean task of conference coordinator. Kieren's career has straddled tutor at a correctional centre, exhibition curator, program manager and arts worker at a women's refuge. Until starting with Art at the Heart, Kieren was program manager for Watch this Space, an artist run gallery in Alice Springs.

this issue

Love-in pairs country artists with top city galleries
Spina bifida no barrier for Tasmanian nature-man
Country Arts WA has got your little theatre measured
Alice boss appointed for 2008 regional arts conference
Water, all water, inspires Victorian artists
Port Augusta - cultural cross roads
Hybrid didgeridoo wins inventors' prize
Tanami Desert festival special celebration for all ages
Sydney jazz and Tiwi singing - it's not so strange!
Sad farewell to loved Victorian

In other good news, the former head of Tasmanian Regional Arts and now the director of RedHOT Arts Marketing in the Northern Territory, Lucy Kenneth, is being celebrated as a global thinker. She has joined a select group of 60 similarly-minded thinkers in Austria for the Salzburg Global Seminars. The seminars began in 1947 to bring together people for 'candid and informed discussion…to pioneer practical strategies for change.' The fellowship is a big tick for Lucy who is a passionate communicator and a genuine leader in the Australian arts community.

Well done also to Arthur Frame, director of Queensland Arts Council, who has been appointed for three years to the Federal Government's Festivals Australia Committee. Arthur Frame has been as an actor, director, artistic director, and theatre manager for theatre companies both in Australia and overseas. He is currently artistic director and chief executive officer of the Queensland Arts Council and joins two other Regional Arts Australia directors on federal arts committees: Meg Larkin (NSW) is a member of Visions of Australia, while Andy Farrant (WA) is chair of Playing Australia.

Vivienne Skinner
Communications Manager
Regional Arts Australia
vivienne.skinner@countryarts.org.au

Love-in for bush artists and city dealers makes great business

Speed dating. Two strangers giving each other the briefest once-over in search of that magical, special spark. It's a new-ish fad in the dating scene but it's also a hit in the northern NSW town of Murwillumbah matching country artists and big city gallery dealers...Full Story

The natural world draws beauty from Tasmanian photographer

One of the stars of Tasmania's Living Artists' Week this year was Rod Westbrook whose remarkable photographic images of the natural world have featured in television and radio stories as well as articles in many places... Full Story

Bringing the show to town - is your theatre ready?

It's a great way of working out what you have, what you need, and what you can do with what you've got. It's called Measure Up and it's being run by Country Arts WA to help small towns across Western Australia work out how to make best use of their halls and theatres... Full Story

Remote festival brings mothers' dreaming to edge of Tanami Desert

As festivals go, it could hardly be more remote. The Milpirri Festival brings at least two hundred and fifty performers to the edge of the Tanami Desert 950 kilometres south west of Darwin. Lajamanu, although Warlpiri, is on the traditional country of the Gurindji people and Milpirri refer to the name of the rain-bearing storm cloud that forms when the hot and cold air merge over the desert, bringing with it hope and anticipation of growth and new life...Full Story

Fresh & Salty - water, water, water - the inspiration for Victorian artists

Water - and the lack of it - has become part of the national daily conversation. Like almost everywhere in Australia, the depressing, desiccating effects of the drought have been felt heavily in regional Victoria. Artists across the state are now using water, and its lack, as inspiration for a series of projects that are designed to give support to communities and highlight water issues that are relevant to each community...Full Story

The town at the cross-roads has bright cultural horizons

Port Augusta, the town at the cross-roads of Australia's east and west is to be transformed into a centre of culture. South Australian Arts Minister, John Hill, has named Port Augusta the state's first Regional Centre of Culture under a program managed by Country Arts SA called Port August Re-Imagines...Full Story

Hybrid beast blows sweet music and scores national prize

Cross a didgeridoo with a trombone and you create a very odd hybrid. But one with a great sound. It's been christened the Didjeribone and has just won a national prize, the Memento of Australia Award...Full Story

Fire and abandonment leave drama the winner in Victoria

It's been a period of wins for Victorian playwrights and dramas. HotHouse Theatre's commission The Glory by Melbourne playwright Ross Meuller was recently named Wal Cherry Play of the Year. Good news also for Melbourne playwright Angela Betzien who was announced at the AWGIE ceremony as the inaugural winner of the $40,000 Richard Wherrett Prize for Excellence in Playwriting and Theatre for Young Audiences...Full Story

Sydney jazz and Tiwi singing - a powerful fusion in Darwin

Fusing jazz and the traditional song of the Tiwi Islanders proved one of the outstanding hits of this year's Darwin Festival. The unlikely coupling came about after Sydney jazz musician Genevieve Campbell came in contact with some Tiwi women and noted the parallels between jazz and the traditional Tiwi songs...Full Story

Solo show in New York another step in a growing international career

Terrence Allen's career is a remarkable one and it's only heading upwards. The Tamworth-based artist from north-western NSW is right now preparing for his first solo exhibition in New York next August. He is also part of a current exhibition in Paris at Gallery Figure...Full Story

Alice Springs arts leader takes helm of 2008 regional conference - Art at the Heart

Well-known and respected Alice Springs arts leader, Kieren Sanderson, has taken the helm of Regional Arts Australia's national conference Art at the Heart, the President of Regional Arts Australia, Ms Suzie Haslehurst, has announced...Full Story

Festival gig for Queensland Arts Council head

The CEO and artistic director of the Queensland Arts Council, Arthur Frame, will bring 'a mix of experience and fresh ideas' to Festivals Australia, says the Federal Minister for Arts and Sport, Senator George Brandis...Full Story

Lucy Kenneth dons global thinking cap in Salzburg

The former head of Tasmanian Regional Arts and now director of RedHOT Arts Marketing in Alice Springs, Lucy Kenneth, has been awarded a fellowship that is taking her to Salzburg in Austria to join a group of 60 'global thinkers'...Full Story

Top prizes for Denmark arts leader and woman behind WA forest walk

Fiona Sinclair, the West Australian woman behind one of Australia's most outstanding outdoor sculpture experiences - the Southern Forest Sculpture Walk - has received top honours at Country Arts WA's recent conference in Denmark in the State's south west. Also awarded the State Regional Arts Conference prize was André Style who helped to establish Denmark's popular Arts Market... Full Story

Lucy Kenneth returns to Alice Springs after a five year absence and finds a growing town and an arts scene that's, well, junk!

I have to fess up that until quite recently I was a Wearable Arts sceptic, the over-colourful fabric collages barely draped on teens with hair so boofed up you wonder if it is the outfit or hair that is being judged. But this year's Wearable Arts Acquisition Awards held as part of the Alice Desert Festival has converted me...Full Story

Moscow to the red and dusty roads of the Queensland outback

He's tumbled across the world with shows such as the Great Moscow Circus and Cirque du Soleil and in 2008 he'll be doing it again in regional Queensland. Russian-born Ludwig Schukin is an acrobat, aerialist and clown and will be one of the stars of Queensland Arts Council's Ontour inschools program...Full Story

Massive testament in granite

When the final carved block of pink granite is lowered into place in Wudinna in South Australia's central Eyre Peninsula, the people of the district will have not just a work of art but also, it's hoped, a tourist attraction that will draw in visitors from everywhere...Full Story

Vale Simon Barley, designer, artist

Much-respected Australian artist and designer, Simon Barley, died suddenly in August. Based in the remote Wimmera town of Natimuk in regional Victoria, Simon was founder and director of Bambuco, a company famous for constructing enormous bamboo installations...Full Story

Butterflies flutter through a rich world for Louisa

Tasmanian artist Louisa Jones finds art is an excellent way of separating herself from her disability. Born with Down Syndrome, Jones is an emerging artist whose first solo exhibition in Launceston - At the end of the day I was very happy - celebrates the life of the butterfly...Full Story

Cosentino the illusionist plans fresh national assault

He's got to be the funkiest illusionist in Australia and surely, one of the busiest. Mixing dance, mime and humour with magic, Cosentino has just completed a two year tour of regional Australia, crossing Tasmania, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and - most recently - Western Australia...Full Story

Big bolt of recognition for happy deal between country arts and electricity company

A happy ten year partnership between the electricity utility ETSA and Country Arts SA has been recognised with a major award from the Australia Business Arts Foundation (ABaF)...Full Story

in brief

Desert Mob Triumph

Tjanpi Women Dancers performing at this year's Desert Mob Dance Site at Alice Springs Telegraph Station. The performance was part of the 17th annual Desert Mob celebrations which included the now famous Desert Mob MarketPlace and Desert Mob Exhibition. A total of $280,000 worth of art was sold on sale day via MarketPlace, a $30,000 rise on the same figure for last year. It attracted 1800 people. The Desert Mob Exhibition sold works totalling almost $400,000. Desert Mob is the most comprehensive national exhibition documenting and presenting the activities of Central Australian Aboriginal art centres.

Desert Mob has become a pivotal point of contact for Aboriginal artists from Central Australia, encouraging the development of individual styles and arts practices and helping to promote and develop the economic foundations of the Indigenous arts industry. The annual exhibition has been a launch pad for many artists.

South Coast Artist's Bushdance Wins Canberra Prize

Winner of the $500 People's Choice
award was NSW South Coast artist
Annabel Fox, for
"After the Bushdance"
Photo Courtesy Canberra Arts Marketing

Moruya artist Annabel Fox has won the People's Choice award for her painting After the Bushdance, in Canberra's inaugural King O'Malley Art Prize. She joins Canberra artist, Dioni Salas Hammer, whose work Chook (Hen's Teeth) took out the $5,000 top prize. King O'Malley, an American, migrated to Australia in the 1800s, became a parliamentarian, helped select the site of Canberra for the nation's capital and oversaw the selection of Walter Burley Griffin as architect in 1910.

Regional Arts NSW drafting national cultural map

Regional Arts NSW is partnering with three NSW universities and community groups to undertake a four year research project that will 'map' regional Australia's cultural assets. The $2.5 million project is funded through the Australian Research Council (ARC).

The project will look at how regional and rural Australia could revitalise their economies through creative endeavours.

The significance of the project is that it addresses a serious gap in knowledge. While there are enormous cultural opportunities in regional and rural areas, these have never been properly analysed.

Cultural Asset Mapping for Planning and Development in Regional Australia will give policy makers and planners crucial information to help in future decision making.

The project will run from 2008 until 2012 and is undertaken with the University of Technology (Sydney), the University of Wollongong, the University of New England and 10 community partners.

Sign up for creative Tasmania in January 2008

The Tasmanian Creative Arts Summer School in Launceston is taking place from 9 to 18 January 2008 and organisers hope the program will attract even more people than attended the inaugural event in January this year. The manager of the summer school, Ellissa Nolan, says there will be 15 creative arts workshops and two music schools running over the eight days. Last year, 230 people signed up to attend, half coming from outside Launceston. The summer school is a community partnership between the University of Tasmania, the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery and several other government and educational organisations.

The director of the summer school, the University of Tasmania's Professor Vincent McGrath says: "Several of the experts who will teach these workshops enjoy national and international reputations for their arts practices and teaching. Many of the workshops reflect a distinctly Tasmanian experience - food, natural environment, heritage and natural science."
Anyone interested in knowing more should go to www.acadarts.utas.edu.au/
summer_school/

Golden girl is a living breathing work of art

Merryn Spencer's double life
Photo: Melissa Ryan Orana Arts

It is the ultimate work of art. Yourself. In Merryn Spencer's case there's the addition of a bit of bling in the form of gold face, gold hands and gold garb. She calls herself the Golden Girl and stands statuesquely for hours on end at openings, shows, launches. She's even been hired next year to stand - in a poetic kind of way - at the Dunedoo Poetry Festival.

By day, Merryn Spencer is an arts officer for the Orana Regional Arts Board based in Gilgandra in central western NSW. Her territory covers 25,000 square thousand kms and includes the shires of Dubbo, Gilgandra, Narromine and Warrumbungle. By night and weekend, Spencer is a sculptor - at the moment she's doing big works out of barbed wire. And - of course - she's also a 'living work of art'.

"I did a lot of performance work when I was studying then working in Canberra," says Spencer.

"When I moved to regional NSW I realised there was a demand for live statue performers at festivals and other events. Communities are often looking for that 'something different' in the program planning for festivals - theatrical statues are a great way to engage an audience."

"It's also a low cost option for towns who can't afford to pay a professional artist to travel from a metropolitan centre. I'd like to train others to do this work so there's a wider selection of performers," Spencer says.

OK - so how do you stay still for hours on end? "It's a meditative process and I learn to zone out. If there are children trying to interact with me, I'll remain still for only three or four minutes until I move. But sometimes, I'll stay motionless for up to 20 minutes at a stretch," she says.

The faces, the people behind Regional Arts Australia

Who runs Regional Arts Australia? Who makes the decisions? This time we introduce four members of our managing board, the directors and chairs of Regional Arts Victoria and Tasmanian Regional Arts...Full Story

Many of the projects in this newsletter have been supported by the Regional Arts Fund, an Australian Government initiative supporting the arts in regional, remote and very remote/isolated Australia.

Regional Arts Australia promotes the development of the arts for the one-in-three Australians who live in regional, rural and remote parts of the country. Our members give country Australians access to outstanding cultural experiences that are either home grown or tour from other towns and cities. In this way, Regional Arts Australia gives a voice to artists and puts culture at the heart of community life across country Australia.

www.regionalarts.com.au

Regional Arts Australia logo



welcome It is going to be a super busy twelve months of planning and action until our national conference Art at the Heart kicks off in Alice Springs next October. It's therefore wonderful news that we have at our helm, Kieren Sanderson, who has agreed to take on the herculean task of conference coordinator. Kieren's career has straddled tutor at a correctional centre, exhibition curator, program manager and arts worker at a women's refuge. Until starting with Art at the Heart, Kieren was program manager for Watch this Space, an artist run gallery in Alice Springs.	this issue Love-in pairs country artists with top city galleries Spina bifida no barrier for Tasmanian nature-man Country Arts WA has got your little theatre measured Alice boss appointed for 2008 regional arts conference Water, all water, inspires Victorian artists Port Augusta - cultural cross roads Hybrid didgeridoo wins inventors' prize Tanami Desert festival special celebration for all ages Sydney jazz and Tiwi singing - it's not so strange! Sad farewell to loved Victorian

In other good news, the former head of Tasmanian Regional Arts and now the director of RedHOT Arts Marketing in the Northern Territory, Lucy Kenneth, is being celebrated as a global thinker. She has joined a select group of 60 similarly-minded thinkers in Austria for the Salzburg Global Seminars. The seminars began in 1947 to bring together people for 'candid and informed discussion…to pioneer practical strategies for change.' The fellowship is a big tick for Lucy who is a passionate communicator and a genuine leader in the Australian arts community. Well done also to Arthur Frame, director of Queensland Arts Council, who has been appointed for three years to the Federal Government's Festivals Australia Committee. Arthur Frame has been as an actor, director, artistic director, and theatre manager for theatre companies both in Australia and overseas. He is currently artistic director and chief executive officer of the Queensland Arts Council and joins two other Regional Arts Australia directors on federal arts committees: Meg Larkin (NSW) is a member of Visions of Australia, while Andy Farrant (WA) is chair of Playing Australia. Vivienne Skinner Communications Manager Regional Arts Australia vivienne.skinner@countryarts.org.au Love-in for bush artists and city dealers makes great business Speed dating. Two strangers giving each other the briefest once-over in search of that magical, special spark. It's a new-ish fad in the dating scene but it's also a hit in the northern NSW town of Murwillumbah matching country artists and big city gallery dealers...Full Story The natural world draws beauty from Tasmanian photographer One of the stars of Tasmania's Living Artists' Week this year was Rod Westbrook whose remarkable photographic images of the natural world have featured in television and radio stories as well as articles in many places... Full Story Bringing the show to town - is your theatre ready? It's a great way of working out what you have, what you need, and what you can do with what you've got. It's called Measure Up and it's being run by Country Arts WA to help small towns across Western Australia work out how to make best use of their halls and theatres... Full Story Remote festival brings mothers' dreaming to edge of Tanami Desert As festivals go, it could hardly be more remote. The Milpirri Festival brings at least two hundred and fifty performers to the edge of the Tanami Desert 950 kilometres south west of Darwin. Lajamanu, although Warlpiri, is on the traditional country of the Gurindji people and Milpirri refer to the name of the rain-bearing storm cloud that forms when the hot and cold air merge over the desert, bringing with it hope and anticipation of growth and new life...Full Story Fresh & Salty - water, water, water - the inspiration for Victorian artists Water - and the lack of it - has become part of the national daily conversation. Like almost everywhere in Australia, the depressing, desiccating effects of the drought have been felt heavily in regional Victoria. Artists across the state are now using water, and its lack, as inspiration for a series of projects that are designed to give support to communities and highlight water issues that are relevant to each community...Full Story The town at the cross-roads has bright cultural horizons Port Augusta, the town at the cross-roads of Australia's east and west is to be transformed into a centre of culture. South Australian Arts Minister, John Hill, has named Port Augusta the state's first Regional Centre of Culture under a program managed by Country Arts SA called Port August Re-Imagines...Full Story Hybrid beast blows sweet music and scores national prize Cross a didgeridoo with a trombone and you create a very odd hybrid. But one with a great sound. It's been christened the Didjeribone and has just won a national prize, the Memento of Australia Award...Full Story Fire and abandonment leave drama the winner in Victoria It's been a period of wins for Victorian playwrights and dramas. HotHouse Theatre's commission The Glory by Melbourne playwright Ross Meuller was recently named Wal Cherry Play of the Year. Good news also for Melbourne playwright Angela Betzien who was announced at the AWGIE ceremony as the inaugural winner of the $40,000 Richard Wherrett Prize for Excellence in Playwriting and Theatre for Young Audiences...Full Story Sydney jazz and Tiwi singing - a powerful fusion in Darwin Fusing jazz and the traditional song of the Tiwi Islanders proved one of the outstanding hits of this year's Darwin Festival. The unlikely coupling came about after Sydney jazz musician Genevieve Campbell came in contact with some Tiwi women and noted the parallels between jazz and the traditional Tiwi songs...Full Story Solo show in New York another step in a growing international career Terrence Allen's career is a remarkable one and it's only heading upwards. The Tamworth-based artist from north-western NSW is right now preparing for his first solo exhibition in New York next August. He is also part of a current exhibition in Paris at Gallery Figure...Full Story Alice Springs arts leader takes helm of 2008 regional conference - Art at the Heart Well-known and respected Alice Springs arts leader, Kieren Sanderson, has taken the helm of Regional Arts Australia's national conference Art at the Heart, the President of Regional Arts Australia, Ms Suzie Haslehurst, has announced...Full Story Festival gig for Queensland Arts Council head The CEO and artistic director of the Queensland Arts Council, Arthur Frame, will bring 'a mix of experience and fresh ideas' to Festivals Australia, says the Federal Minister for Arts and Sport, Senator George Brandis...Full Story Lucy Kenneth dons global thinking cap in Salzburg The former head of Tasmanian Regional Arts and now director of RedHOT Arts Marketing in Alice Springs, Lucy Kenneth, has been awarded a fellowship that is taking her to Salzburg in Austria to join a group of 60 'global thinkers'...Full Story Top prizes for Denmark arts leader and woman behind WA forest walk Fiona Sinclair, the West Australian woman behind one of Australia's most outstanding outdoor sculpture experiences - the Southern Forest Sculpture Walk - has received top honours at Country Arts WA's recent conference in Denmark in the State's south west. Also awarded the State Regional Arts Conference prize was André Style who helped to establish Denmark's popular Arts Market... Full Story Lucy Kenneth returns to Alice Springs after a five year absence and finds a growing town and an arts scene that's, well, junk! I have to fess up that until quite recently I was a Wearable Arts sceptic, the over-colourful fabric collages barely draped on teens with hair so boofed up you wonder if it is the outfit or hair that is being judged. But this year's Wearable Arts Acquisition Awards held as part of the Alice Desert Festival has converted me...Full Story Moscow to the red and dusty roads of the Queensland outback He's tumbled across the world with shows such as the Great Moscow Circus and Cirque du Soleil and in 2008 he'll be doing it again in regional Queensland. Russian-born Ludwig Schukin is an acrobat, aerialist and clown and will be one of the stars of Queensland Arts Council's Ontour inschools program...Full Story Massive testament in granite When the final carved block of pink granite is lowered into place in Wudinna in South Australia's central Eyre Peninsula, the people of the district will have not just a work of art but also, it's hoped, a tourist attraction that will draw in visitors from everywhere...Full Story Vale Simon Barley, designer, artist Much-respected Australian artist and designer, Simon Barley, died suddenly in August. Based in the remote Wimmera town of Natimuk in regional Victoria, Simon was founder and director of Bambuco, a company famous for constructing enormous bamboo installations...Full Story Butterflies flutter through a rich world for Louisa Tasmanian artist Louisa Jones finds art is an excellent way of separating herself from her disability. Born with Down Syndrome, Jones is an emerging artist whose first solo exhibition in Launceston - At the end of the day I was very happy - celebrates the life of the butterfly...Full Story Cosentino the illusionist plans fresh national assault He's got to be the funkiest illusionist in Australia and surely, one of the busiest. Mixing dance, mime and humour with magic, Cosentino has just completed a two year tour of regional Australia, crossing Tasmania, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and - most recently - Western Australia...Full Story Big bolt of recognition for happy deal between country arts and electricity company A happy ten year partnership between the electricity utility ETSA and Country Arts SA has been recognised with a major award from the Australia Business Arts Foundation (ABaF)...Full Story	in brief Desert Mob Triumph Tjanpi Women Dancers performing at this year's Desert Mob Dance Site at Alice Springs Telegraph Station. The performance was part of the 17th annual Desert Mob celebrations which included the now famous Desert Mob MarketPlace and Desert Mob Exhibition. A total of $280,000 worth of art was sold on sale day via MarketPlace, a $30,000 rise on the same figure for last year. It attracted 1800 people. The Desert Mob Exhibition sold works totalling almost $400,000. Desert Mob is the most comprehensive national exhibition documenting and presenting the activities of Central Australian Aboriginal art centres. Desert Mob has become a pivotal point of contact for Aboriginal artists from Central Australia, encouraging the development of individual styles and arts practices and helping to promote and develop the economic foundations of the Indigenous arts industry. The annual exhibition has been a launch pad for many artists. South Coast Artist's Bushdance Wins Canberra Prize Winner of the $500 People's Choice award was NSW South Coast artist Annabel Fox, for "After the Bushdance" Photo Courtesy Canberra Arts Marketing Moruya artist Annabel Fox has won the People's Choice award for her painting After the Bushdance, in Canberra's inaugural King O'Malley Art Prize. She joins Canberra artist, Dioni Salas Hammer, whose work Chook (Hen's Teeth) took out the $5,000 top prize. King O'Malley, an American, migrated to Australia in the 1800s, became a parliamentarian, helped select the site of Canberra for the nation's capital and oversaw the selection of Walter Burley Griffin as architect in 1910. Regional Arts NSW drafting national cultural map Regional Arts NSW is partnering with three NSW universities and community groups to undertake a four year research project that will 'map' regional Australia's cultural assets. The $2.5 million project is funded through the Australian Research Council (ARC). The project will look at how regional and rural Australia could revitalise their economies through creative endeavours. The significance of the project is that it addresses a serious gap in knowledge. While there are enormous cultural opportunities in regional and rural areas, these have never been properly analysed. Cultural Asset Mapping for Planning and Development in Regional Australia will give policy makers and planners crucial information to help in future decision making. The project will run from 2008 until 2012 and is undertaken with the University of Technology (Sydney), the University of Wollongong, the University of New England and 10 community partners. Sign up for creative Tasmania in January 2008 The Tasmanian Creative Arts Summer School in Launceston is taking place from 9 to 18 January 2008 and organisers hope the program will attract even more people than attended the inaugural event in January this year. The manager of the summer school, Ellissa Nolan, says there will be 15 creative arts workshops and two music schools running over the eight days. Last year, 230 people signed up to attend, half coming from outside Launceston. The summer school is a community partnership between the University of Tasmania, the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery and several other government and educational organisations. The director of the summer school, the University of Tasmania's Professor Vincent McGrath says: "Several of the experts who will teach these workshops enjoy national and international reputations for their arts practices and teaching. Many of the workshops reflect a distinctly Tasmanian experience - food, natural environment, heritage and natural science." Anyone interested in knowing more should go to www.acadarts.utas.edu.au/ summer_school/ Golden girl is a living breathing work of art Merryn Spencer's double life Photo: Melissa Ryan Orana Arts It is the ultimate work of art. Yourself. In Merryn Spencer's case there's the addition of a bit of bling in the form of gold face, gold hands and gold garb. She calls herself the Golden Girl and stands statuesquely for hours on end at openings, shows, launches. She's even been hired next year to stand - in a poetic kind of way - at the Dunedoo Poetry Festival. By day, Merryn Spencer is an arts officer for the Orana Regional Arts Board based in Gilgandra in central western NSW. Her territory covers 25,000 square thousand kms and includes the shires of Dubbo, Gilgandra, Narromine and Warrumbungle. By night and weekend, Spencer is a sculptor - at the moment she's doing big works out of barbed wire. And - of course - she's also a 'living work of art'. "I did a lot of performance work when I was studying then working in Canberra," says Spencer. "When I moved to regional NSW I realised there was a demand for live statue performers at festivals and other events. Communities are often looking for that 'something different' in the program planning for festivals - theatrical statues are a great way to engage an audience." "It's also a low cost option for towns who can't afford to pay a professional artist to travel from a metropolitan centre. I'd like to train others to do this work so there's a wider selection of performers," Spencer says. OK - so how do you stay still for hours on end? "It's a meditative process and I learn to zone out. If there are children trying to interact with me, I'll remain still for only three or four minutes until I move. But sometimes, I'll stay motionless for up to 20 minutes at a stretch," she says. The faces, the people behind Regional Arts Australia Who runs Regional Arts Australia? Who makes the decisions? This time we introduce four members of our managing board, the directors and chairs of Regional Arts Victoria and Tasmanian Regional Arts...Full Story
Many of the projects in this newsletter have been supported by the Regional Arts Fund, an Australian Government initiative supporting the arts in regional, remote and very remote/isolated Australia. Regional Arts Australia promotes the development of the arts for the one-in-three Australians who live in regional, rural and remote parts of the country. Our members give country Australians access to outstanding cultural experiences that are either home grown or tour from other towns and cities. In this way, Regional Arts Australia gives a voice to artists and puts culture at the heart of community life across country Australia.