WORDS FROM OUR CREATIVE DIRECTOR
The sun is shining, and we got rain! What a fantabulous combination! Our wonderful community arts hub is buzzing along to the sounds of guitars, ukuleles, drums, pianos and singing. The dance floor is hopping with teeny ballerinas and gorgeous dancers. There is so much to love about the vibe at the Collective.
Every once in a while, I pinch myself to make sure it’s real. How did we even create this community arts hub? Well, it started with a conversation between two ordinary people, living ordinary lives who had a vision. Marie Williamson approached Louise House and I for ideas. Our creative brains were held to the ground with the practical, can-do attitude of Tracy Lefroy and our fearless coordinator, Rikki Smith. Together we created the idea of an arts collective. The base premise of GSAC is that we are an inclusive, intergenerational, shared arts space, housing a vibrant, affordable centre for the Arts in Moora.
I would like to take this chance to thank the wonderful local businesses, Ingleby Farms and CBH for their financial (and moral!) support. To our wonderful contributors, Moora School of Music, Roxanne’s Dance Workshop and our exhibiting artists – thank you for understanding that we are running the Collective on a shoestring, and that we are all learning together. All of these people have understood our vision and recognised the value of the arts to our community. Thank you for believing in us.
ARTS HAPPENINGS
Art comes in many different forms and this coming month we are celebrating culinary art by welcoming Sharnee Beard of Table and Taste to Moora. The Gardiner Street Arts Collective are thrilled to be showcasing Sharnee’s talents at Central Midlands High School’s incredible hospitality facility. We are offering two cooking classes with Sharnee Beard. On the morning of August 1st, join us in learning the skills of making gnocchi. Each of our guests will take home a gnocchi roller to practice their skills and share in a generous lunch following the course. The afternoon will see participants whip up a three-course dinner party menu of middle eastern delights. Be sure to jump onto our Gardiner Street Arts Collective facebook page to book your tickets – numbers are limited!
Because the Gardiner Street Arts Collective NEVER does things by halves, we also have local textile artists Peta Ellis and Shireen Manning hosting workshops this coming month. Peta and Shireen will be sharing their skills in a Slow Craft Workshop on Saturday 1 August. Join Peta in crocheting a woollen beanie, topped with a divine faux fur pom pom. Or perhaps, you’d like to join Shireen in knitting a ‘super chunky’ woollen cushion cover. Again, please jump onto our Gardiner Street Arts Collective Facebook page to book your tickets as numbers are limited.
Trois! This month our windows come alive with the stunningly vibrant works of Dean O’Callaghan. After many years as a lecturer in visual arts, Dean is now focused on creating paintings in his Moora studio. We are lucky enough to display the fruits of his labour in our third Drive-By art exhibition.
Dean has been invited to exhibit his work at The Other Art Fair in Sydney, September 2020 and was selected in the top 20 artists by the Director of The Other Art Fair, Luke Potkin. He was also acknowledged in the Autumn edition of Art Edit magazine. His work is represented in private collections throughout Australia, Western Australian Government public art collection and Greening Australia.
The works on display are influenced by his travels around the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Dean uses an abstract-aerial perspective style showing a patchwork of paddocks. On some of his paintings he uses dark, blue-black strips to symbolise roads criss-crossing the countryside. Dean’s choice of colours is often influenced by what he sees and experiences on his travels, from the yellow canola to fields of wildflowers. He does not look at one moment in time but utilizes how the colour of crops change over a growing season.
All of Dean’s works are available for purchase. Simply drive or walk-by our Collective to see them in all their glory.
