50 YEARS OF THE OAKEY ART GROUP

The group wants the studio to be treated as a gallery space and have people from Toowoomba and nearby towns come visit for morning tea or lunch. The group self-funded the studio mostly through annual seminars, which would feature guest artists. The seminars ran for a period of twenty years and during this time the Group had forty members from across the region. “We had students from Alice Springs, New Zealand and Western Australia come to the Seminars”, Ms Mason said. “And the Flying Arts schools would come and give us classes once every few months,” she said. “This club is life changing,” member Sheila Greet said. “Just being around likeminded people,” The Group members reminisced about their day trips to Brisbane galleries and how they travelled to Canberra one year. The group has implemented modern technology in the age of Covid. “We have a camera and a television set up because of Covid and it films what they’re doing on the table and projects it onto the screen, so we don’t have to move from our desks,” Ms Greet said. “We are probably one of the only art groups that has this state-of-the art method of teaching,” she said. The Group has its own published book, which was released in commemoration of its 40th anniversary, detailing the history of the club and some of its prolific members. You can get involved with the Oakey Art Group by attending an upcoming pastel workshop in April. Members will also be holding their annual art exhibition in October, where they will be drawing the winner for their raffle. Raffle tickets are available for purchase raffle tickets now at the Oakey Art Group. More details about the exhibition will be shared closer to the date.

PCYC receives proceeds from Bernborough raffle

PCYC Oakey Connect was given $425 from the proceeds of Bernborough Tavern’s Community Chest Program.

Oakey Connect youth support worker, Kat Medland, said all of the money will go towards youth development in Oakey. “It will be for helping kids out here,” Ms Medland said. She said lots of their youth programs have started this week and she encourages young people to come along. The Oakey Box Out program started on Monday 14th February. The Dragonfly girls program, Transition from primary to high school program and Team Up are also set to start back up. Sergeant Cam Crisp, who is the youth club manager of Toowoomba PCYC, said the youth programs are good for building relationships and fostering social interaction. “These activities build trust and self-esteem and also teach kids that there’s winners and losers,” Sergeant Crisp said. “We are very keen to be out here.. “Oakey is screaming for a service that the PCYC can offer, and I’m proud to have the PCYC flag flying out at Oakey and I want to keep it that way. “I’m working towards making it a long-term thing. “We are lucky that the schools have our youth programs as part of their core business. “It is just a normal part of their curriculum, which is great for us.” Raffle coordinator John Webster said the raffle is drawn at the Tavern every Saturday at approximately 1.30pm, when people who have bought tickets will get the chance to win prizes. The Community Chest ABOVE: Sergeant Cam Crisp (left) and Youth Support Program has been running Worker Kat Medland (right). for seven months and has BELOW: Bernborough Tavern Owner Michael Carpenter raised a total of $3,486. (right) and Raffle Coordinator John Webster (left). The next two recipients of the raffle funds will be Oakey State High School for February, and the Junior Soccer club will receive the funds for March. It will be announced at a later date the next local organisations who will be receiving a donation.

Oakey Art Group turns 50

Continued from page 1 The Art Group’s studio is open for the public to visit and view the members’ artwork displayed on the wall.

The inside of the library at the Oakey Art Group.

7490

(07) 4632 1700 1A Goggs Street Toowoomba