Ochre, bark, fibre, wood

Above: Guests at the opening; Below (l to r) Elizabeth Crauford, Ian Mitchell and Ted Lovett at the opening.

Last Thursday we were was pleased to open our latest exhibition, 'Ochre, bark, fibre, wood: The art of Arnhem Land from the collection of the Art Gallery of Ballarat'. The opening was well attended and guests had the opportunity preview the exhibition as well as hear opening remarks from indigenous Elder, Mr Ted Lovett, and Director of the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Mr Gordon Morrison.

The exhibition is curated by Mr Morrison and is the first travelling survey of Ballarat's Arnhem Land collection since it was established in 2004. Mr Morrison gained a deeper appreciation of the art of Arnhem Land through a research trip funded by the Gordon Darling Foundation in May 2005, which enabled him to spend five days at Yirrkala and five days at Maningrida. Meeting artists and learning about the cultural context in which they created their work profoundly informed Mr Morrison's approach to establishing this new area of collection at Ballarat. Mr Morrison commented that, "although Arnhem Land is an integral part of Australia, travelling to this part of the Northern Territory can seem like travelling to another country. It is not just a matter of the physical remoteness of the region; this is a place where indigenous languages - and there are many of them - are still spoken and where age old customs, tribal law, ceremonies and art are still part of everyday life".

Bark paintings and fibre works rarely tour due to their fragility, so we are indeed fortunate that the Art Gallery of Ballarat has so generously shared its collection with us. The exhibition brings together exquisite bark paintings and majestic wood and fibre sculptures from 'the Top End'. It provides a rare opportunity for people to learn about the rich indigenous culture from this beautiful and remote part of Australia. The exhibition continues until Sunday 16 May.

Jukebox Paintbox Exhibition

Bernadine Streeter (centre) with members of the Jailhouse Rock committee.













Marcella Crowley and Bernadine Streeter announcing the winners.

Ararat Regional Art Gallery's staff were pleased to welcome 40 community members to the launch of the Jailhouse Rock Festival last Wednesday. The launch was an opportunity to celebrate the festival's commencement and enabled the Jailhouse Rock Festivals committee to thank its many friends and supporters. This gathering also provided a great opportunity to introduce community members to the Gallery's current Jailhouse Rock exhibition 'Jukebox Paintbox'. This community access exhibition is our contribution to the 2010 Festival program and builds on last year's successful community exhibition, 'Discard to Disc Art'.

The concept behind 'Jukebox Paintbox' was that people respond artistically to a classic rock'n'roll song from a jukebox playlist. Each entrant was provided with a small canvas as part of their challenge and artists of all abilities were encouraged to enter their work. There was no selection process as the exhibition is essentially about promoting participation in the visual arts with everyone encouraged to have a go. A few prizes were on offer to keep things interesting. Sue Kennedy of Pomonal took out the $150 open prize for her painting, 'Tutti Frutti (after Arcimboldo)'. Sue's work was selected as the winning work by local artist, Carolyn Thomas, who is also the director of Off the Beaten Track Wine and Art Gallery in Buangor.

Carolyn was especially taken by Sue's homage to the Italian Mannerist painter, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who is known for his intriguing portraits of people whose images are made entirely out of fruit and vegetables. In this case, Sue's portrait captured the likeness of Little Richard, who is famous as the singer and composer of 'Tutti Frutti'. The Jailhouse Rock Festival director's award was judged by Bernadine Streeter and presented to Rosemary Wilson for her painting, 'Blueberry Hill at the Central Hotel'. Bernadine presented her award to the painting that she felt best captured the character of the Jailhouse Rock Festival.

Both judges were full of praise for those who contributed to this fun and colourful exhibition celebrating rock'n'roll culture. The People's Choice Award is being tallied today following the receipt of many votes over the festival weekend. The winner of the award will receive a voucher from Blue Whippet Art Supplies. The exhibition continues until March 28.

Tea Party: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Embroiderers Guild, Victoria

Dr Morna Sturrock AM officially opening 'Tea Party'

Last Thursday evening a crowd of around 100 people attended the launch of Ararat Regional Art Gallery's latest exhibition, "Tea Party: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Embroiderers Guild, Victoria". The exhibition includes objects from the Gallery's own collection, historic tea cosies and aprons from the Embroiderers Guild's collection, contemporary tea cosies by guest artists and works borrowed from public and private collections.

A highlight of the exhibition is an afternoon tea table setting made by the Guild's Ararat branch members featuring knitted, crocheted, felted and embroidered cakes, sandwiches, slices and, of course, tea cosies. Many of the women who contributed to this project were in attendance at the opening to celebrate the completion and unveiling of their amazing collaborative artwork.

The opening attracted a strong contingent of Embroiderers Guild members from across Victoria, including representatives from the executive committee, its entire 50th anniversary sub-committee and members of branches in Geelong, Hamilton, Ballarat and as far as Mildura. Many people heading home from the Grampians Texture textile event at Halls Gap also stopped by to attend the opening.

We were especially honoured to welcome two distinguished guest speakers at the opening - Dr Morna Sturrock AM and Janet de Boer OAM, who are both well-known and highly respected textile art identities. Their respective opening remarks were warmly received by the large audience and provided a valuable context for appreciating 'Tea Party' and its contribution to the Guild's state-wide celebration. The exhibition continues until 4 April.

Y Now - VCE Exhibition Opening

Participating Artists at the Exhibition Opening

Last Saturday we were pleased to host the opening of our new exhibition Y Now. The exhibition features 2009 VCE visual art graduates from the Ararat and Pyrenees region. It was a great opportunity for the young people of our community to see their work exhibited in a professional environment. Gallery Director Mr Anthony Camm offered words of encouragement for the young artists in his opening speech. The exhibition was attended by around 70 people including family and friends of the artists, members of the Gallery, VCE art teacher, Mr John Eagle, and principal of Marian college, Mr John Crowley.

The exhibition features works from the students of Ararat Community College, Stawell Secondary College and Marian College Ararat. The young artists have used a range of methods and materials including, oil paint, canvas, textiles, paper mache, photography, Raku pottery and drawing. The subject of the artworks include local issues such as the impact of bushfires, whimsical themes like fairies, as well as exploring the more serious issues of relationships and drug addiction.

The VCE exhibition forms a major part of our community arts programming for the year, launched for the first time in 2009, and the success of this show will ensure its place on the Gallery calendar in future years. An important initiative for our young people. The exhibition will be open until February 21, 2010.

58th Blake Prize Touring Exhibition

Above: (l to r) Mrs Penny Hawker, Hon David Hawker MP, exhibiting artist Dianne Coulter and Gallery Director Anthony Camm; Mr Hawker addressing the audience at the opening.

We were very pleased to welcome Member for Wannon, the Hon David Hawker MP, to officially open the 58th Blake Prize Touring Exhibition last Saturday afternoon. The exhibition comes to Ararat direct from its unveiling in Sydney. We also welcomed Blake Prize Finalist and Winner of the inaugural Human Justice Award, Dianne Coulter, who provided closing remarks.

Presented by the Blake Society, named after the visionary artist and poet William Blake, the Blake Prize was established in 1951 to encourage artists to create significant works of art with religious content. Today the Blake Prize attracts fresh, contemporary expressions of spirituality, with artists extending the envelope to encompass a wide diversity of religious expression that make up the landscape of belief in Australia.

The touring exhibition features the work of 30 finalists including the winning work 'Rapture (silent anthem)' – a silent video created by Angelica Mesiti. Filmed from a concealed position under the stage at the Big Day Out music festival, Mesiti’s video captures the ecstatic faces of young music fans and intriguingly connects a contemporary cultural moment with art historical references and Christian iconography.

The Gallery is pleased to be the exclusive Victorian presenter of this exhibition and anticipates strong attendances due to the Blake Prize’s high profile as one of Australia’s leading art prizes. The exhibition continues until 16 January 2010.

Raku Pottery Workshop

Above: Raku workshop photos by Lee Albert

On Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd November eight dedicated participants joined in an intensive two-day Raku pottery workshop hosted by Ararat Regional Art Gallery. The workshop was presented by accomplished local potter John Eagle and offered a hands-on introduction to the ancient Raku pottery process – an area of ceramics production actively pursued by John for almost 40 years.

Following a demonstration about how to construct a kiln, participants were quickly immersed in the fascinating process of waxing and glazing ceramics. Beginners had the opportunity to glaze a range of pots and tiles that John had prepared earlier. More experienced participants brought their own pots and sculptures with them ready for glazing and firing. The participants had an opportunity to experiment with a range of glazes made from John’s recipes containing different metal oxides.

The pieces created over the weekend were all incredibly varied and it was especially fascinating to observe how seemingly random occurrences in the firing process led to amazing effects and colour variations. The weekend concluded with workshop participants selecting their favourite pieces for inclusion in a group exhibition at the Gallery, which will continue until 20 December 2009.

John’s recent Raku exhibition and workshop, together with the current resulting workshop group exhibition, have been presented as part of the state-wide celebration of Ceramics Victoria’s 40th anniversary. Thank you to John for sharing his expertise and enthusiasm for pottery and also for generously donating proceeds from artwork sales from his recent Raku exhibition to support future Gallery acquisitions.

Focus on Pottery

Visitors enjoying the 'Excellence of Ware' exhibition











Raku ceramics by John Eagle

The Gallery is presently filled with pots, old and new. Our key exhibition is 'Excellence of Ware: Bendigo Pottery Majolica 1879–1911' from Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, which brings together historic majolica ware from public and private collections, including some extremely rare pieces. The exhibition features a range of objects including elaborate water filters and garden urns, through to common household wares and decorative objects that were found on 19th century dressing tables.

'Excellence of Ware' is the third major exhibition curated by ceramics expert Gregory Hill, focusing on Victorian potteries. It is the culmination of 30 years of research by Gregory into the history of Bendigo Pottery - Australia’s oldest working pottery. We were pleased to welcome Dr Jacqueline Healy, Director of the Bundoora Homestead Art Centre to officially open the exhibition on Friday 24 November 2009 at 6pm. Dr Healy’s opening remarks gave the appreciative audience a greater understanding of the featured objects and the circumstances in which they were created. The following day Dr Healy presented a more extensive floor talk as a part of our 'Get Into Art' program.

Fifteen children who had chosen a Gallery visit as their Golden Gateway Festival Children's Week activity also had an opportunity to experience the exhibition. Local artist Amelia Kingston encouraged the children to draw their favourite pieces in the exhibition and this was followed by an opportunity to try their hand at making their own ceramic pots and sculptures.

The Gallery will soon host another workshop - this time for adults - to be conducted by renowned Ararat-based potter John Eagle. John will present a special Raku workshop on the weekend of 21 and 22 November 2009. Places are limited, so now is the time to let us know if you would like to be involved. The workshop complements John's current exhibition of Raku ceramics presented in our front gallery until 22 November 2009.