JUL – OCT 2020
Blue Mountains City Art Gallery, Into the Blue, InSight Membership, What’s On, Gallery Café and Shop.
Welcome The City of the Blue Mountains is located within the Country of the Darug and Gundungurra peoples. Blue Mountains Cultural Centre pays respect to Elders past and present while recognising the strength, capacity and resilience of past and present Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Blue Mountains region.
CONTENTS
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Just Below the Clouds
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A Place for Artists and Art Lovers
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InSight Membership
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Into the Blue
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Blue Mountains City Art Gallery
12 Exhibition Feature: Imagined Spaces 14 Exhibition Feature: Visual Cultures for Planetary Consciousness 16 The Collection: New Acquisitions by Cath Barcan and Julie Harris 20 Inspired by Art: Clare Delaney 22 Virtual InSight 23 Volunteer Profile 24 Gallery CafĂŠ 26 Gallery Shop 28 Braemar House & Gallery
Cover image: JULIE HARRIS The Dark Stations (detail) 2011, ink on paper, 70 x 50 cm each. Purchased through the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Collection Acquisition Fund 2020.
Just Below the Clouds
Paul Brinkman – Manager, Arts & Cultural Services As I write this forward for our newly designed InSight Magazine the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre and Blue Mountains Theatre are still in lockdown, our exhibition walls are empty and our theatre stage is silent. The COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings have dramatically and indefinitely upended the Arts in all its forms across Australia, and our cherished creatives, so vital to our dynamic and healthy community, struggle to maintain their art practice in these precarious times. It will be a collaborative effort to recover from the unprecedented cascade of closures, cancellations and shutdowns in the Arts industry. In the face of this new reality, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre has reinvented its services and moved to a much more online format. Our VIRTUAL INSIGHT program has attracted a fantastic amount of engagement as we upload artist talks, studio visits, creative activities, kids’ activities, recipes and a wide and varied range of other arts and cultural content unique to the Blue Mountains. I thank everyone who has participated in our online initiatives, both those providing ideas and content and our online audience that has given great positive feedback and support. I hope that as you read this InSight Magazine the signs of recovery are starting to appear, the lights of our cultural institutions are once again on and artists are filling us with wonder, challenging our imaginations and striving to re-build a thriving Arts ecology. Now more than ever our artistic community needs your support.
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A Place for Artists and Art Lovers
Public Art Leading the Way to the Cultural Centre The Cultural Centre will roll out a new artwork on the main entrance staircase, adding to the collection of public art that shapes the character of the Cultural Centre and, more broadly, the Katoomba streetscape. Expressions of interest from female identifying artists were sought in May through an open call process. We are extremely proud to announce the new work will be installed later this year. Displayed on the step fronts as visitors enter the Cultural Centre, the work will have a strong local reference.
City of the Arts Quick Response Small Grant Program In May this year, the Blue Mountains City of the Arts Trust developed a Quick Response Small Grant Program to support the City’s arts and creative sectors by providing financial assistance to Blue Mountains artists and arts organisations impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The program will provide $20,000 in funding to support digital content and the creative development of new work that can be presented once restrictions are lifted. Successful applicants will receive up to $2,000 each. Applications closed on 18 June and the the first recipient is performing artist and performance devisor WeiZen Ho, who will create sound recordings for a new podcast that presents the artists’ unique relationship with land, its energies and the human cultural relationship.
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Get to know your Cultural Centre with annual InSight Membership BENEFITS:
• UNLIMITED FREE entry to Blue Mountains City Art Gallery and Into the Blue • DISCOUNTS on Cultural Centre public programs • 10% DISCOUNT at the Gallery Shop and Gallery Café • INVITATIONS to Blue Mountains City Art Gallery exhibition openings and InSight events
• SUBSCRIPTION to InSight Magazine, delivered three O Cash times a year O Cheque (payable to Blue Mountains City Council) O Credit card • SUBSCRIPTION to the We accept Visa and Mastercard. A merchant fee of 0.78% Cultural Centre’s monthly applies to credit card transactions. e-newsletter Card number: • ACCESS to InSight Name: Members Lounge Expiry: / CCV: (Wednesday – Friday, subject to availability) PAYMENT:
Signature: Completed applications can be brought to the Cultural Centre reception or posted to: Blue Mountains Cultural Centre InSight Membership Application Locked Bag 1005, Katoomba NSW 2780 4
• DISCOUNTS on selected Blue Mountains Theatre shows • NO BOOKING FEE for tickets purchased at Blue Mountains Theatre
Into the Blue In 2000, the Greater Blue Mountains area was added to the World Heritage List in recognition of the exceptional diversity and integrity of its eucalypt forest communities.
The Blue Mountains Cultural Centre features Into the Blue (the Blue Mountains World Heritage Interpretive Centre). A high-tech, interactive exhibition which explores the natural as well as the social landscapes of this unique area. Audiences are invited to navigate their way through these stories through an immersive exhibition experience, introducing them to the richness and wonders of the Blue Mountains World Heritage area.
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Blue Mountains City Art Gallery Kayo Yokoyama: My Story 13 Jun – 26 Jul
In this exhibition Kayo Yokoyama explores her Japanese cultural heritage, focusing on aspects of Zen philosophy which played a significant part in her upbringing. Initially struggling with her Japanese heritage and strict cultural values, Yokoyama moved to the United States to embrace contemporary Western society before moving to Australia, where she started to re-connect with her cultural identity and Zen philosophy. Now based in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, her work often results in physical manifestations of her search for a sense of home and belonging across the different countries and cultures she has lived in. Delicately etched trees are a recurring motif which hint at the universal comfort of nature even in unfamiliar places. The moon and waterfalls are recent additions to her artistic language representing nature’s beauty and companionship. A Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Exposé Program exhibition
KAYO YOKOYAMA Show me the Way 2019, glass, rosewood, aluminium, 60 x 63 cm. Photo: Neil Stevenson
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STILL IN MY MIND: Gurindji experience, location and visuality 11 Jul – 23 Aug
Inspired by the words of revered Indigenous leader Vincent Lingiari, ‘that land ... I still got it in my mind’, this exhibition considers the ongoing impact of the Gurindji Walk-Off, a seminal event in Australian history that continues to resonate powerfully today. The Walk-Off, a nine-year act of self-determination that began in 1966 and sparked the national land rights movement, was led by Lingiari and ngumpit (Aboriginal people) working at Wave Hill Station (Jinparrak) in the Northern Territory. Honouring last year’s 50th anniversary, curator and participating artist Brenda L. Croft has developed this exhibition through long-standing, practice-led research with her patrilineal community with the assistance of Karungkarni Art and Culture Aboriginal Corporation. Still in my Mind incorporates photographs, an experimental video installation, newly commissioned history paintings, contemporary and historical prints and drawings, textiles and found objects, digital platforms and archives, in a richly diverse exhibition that reveals the way Gurindji community members maintain cultural practices and kinship connections to keep this history present. Curated by Brenda L. Croft, in partnership with National Institute for Experimental Arts, UNSW Art & Design PAULINE RYAN Kilingarri Namija, Miker Yard 2015, acrylic on Belgian linen, 99 x 99 cm. Image courtesy the artist and Roxana Sherry.
Developed in partnership between Karungkarni Art and Culture Aboriginal Corporation, UNSW Galleries, UNSW Art & Design, UQ Art Museum, with support from the Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous Award, and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, UQ.
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Blue Mountains City Art Gallery
MAPBM: BLUE
1 Aug – 20 Sep Blue is the most popular colour in contemporary Western societies, a colour with profound social and historical associations and symbolism that resonates throughout art, language, history, religion, gender, science, psychology and more. The exhibition BLUE presents the works of MAPBM artists exploring the notions of blue through a variety of media – painting, video, photography sculpture, installation and performance art. Exhibiting artists are: Susan Andrews, M Bozzec, Kris Peta Deray, Tom Isaacs, Beata Geyer, Tom Loveday, Naomi Oliver, Katya Petetskaya, Rebecca Waterstone, Miriam Williamson and Brad Allen-Waters. A Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Exposé Program exhibition curated by Beata Geyer
M BOZZEC Blue Notes 2 2020, coloured pencil on paper, 63 x 59.6 cm. Image courtesy the artist.
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Black & Blue II
29 Aug – 27 Sep Six years after its first edition in 2014, Black & Blue returns to continue the creative exploration of dark and mysterious stories from the Blue Mountains. Artist and curator Faye Wilson has paired visual artists, writers and historians to respond to tales – tall and true – collected from the region’s folklore and history. The creative responses include artist prints, installations and multi-media work, shining a light on curious events, fascinating figures, and crime or misdemeanours uncovered from a range of historical archives, and are complemented by a selection of historical objects from the surprising collection of the Mount Victoria Museum. The original prints from the first Back & Blue exhibition, which were acquired for the Cultural Centre’s Collection will also be on display.
FAYE WILSON Front and Back 2018 – 2019, digital montage from hand drawn and collected elements including a map of the 1957 bushfires in Leura and Katoomba, 59.4 x 84.1 cm. Image courtesy the artist.
Participating artists and writers are: Craig Billingham, Emma Brazil, Stuart Clarke, Brendan Doyle, Kate Fagan, James Gordon, Kathy Hale, Vanessa Kirkpatrick, John Low, Judith Martinez Estrada, Peter Minter, Beth Norling, Mark O’Flynn, Annabel Pettit, Michelle Rickerby, Tohby Riddle, Michael Robinson (aka STRANO), Nancy Sarno, Mandy Schöne-Salter, Michel Streich, Marty Walker and Faye Wilson. A Blue Mountains City Art Gallery exhibition. Developed and curated by Faye Wilson
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Blue Mountains City Art Gallery
critical mass: the art of planetary health 3 Oct – 6 Dec
The health of humanity is intrinsically linked to the health of the environment, but by our own actions we now threaten to destabilise the Earth’s key lifesupport systems. The threats that our species faces are not just abstract physical risks, but lie within ourselves and the societies we have created. Based on the principles of Planetary Health, critical mass examines the relationships between ecological, economic and social change, and explores new modes of living needed to restore and stabilize our planet and to ensure the health and wellbeing of future generations. The exhibition encompasses works by Australia’s most significant 20th century and contemporary artists alongside collaborations by artist-activists and social change leaders, who are driving the conversation around new and more sustainable practices relating to our environment, food, energy, and resource sharing. Featuring Russel Drysdale, Simryn Gill, Fiona Hall, Hans Heysen, Janet Laurence, Sydney Nolan, Daniel O’Shane and Louis Pratt alongside Blue Mountains and regional NSW artists Locust Jones, Heidi Axelsen & Hugo Moline, Ona Janzen, Andy Merry, Alexander Boynes & Mandy Martin, Rachel Peachey & Paul Mosig, Joan Ross and Dean Sewell. The artists provide reflections on anxiety yet also hope for the state of the world and its future: concerns about destruction of natural environments and eco-systems, resource depletion, climate change, waste production and over-population are examined with view to the roles that technology, science and human ingenuity can, and must play in stabilising our environment. A Blue Mountains City Art Gallery exhibition curated by Sabrina Roesner DEAN SEWELL In the Line of Fire 2019, digital print on Hahnemuehle photo rag, 80 x 102 cm
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Jacqueline Spedding: Biome 26 Sep – 29 Nov
Clay, found objects and locally collected organic material form the basis of Blue Mountains artist Jacqueline Spedding’s sculpture and installations. Her new body of work is based on the concept of a biome – a finely tuned, self-sustaining environment of flora, fauna, soil and climate. Spedding will create a series of installations in the gallery that interweave images of domestic nature, human habitation and wild environments into a dreamlike setting. A Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Exposé Program exhibition JACQUELINE SPEDDING Biome (detail) 2018, installation view. Photo: Ona Janzen
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Exhibition Feature
Imagined Spaces: Jacqueline Spedding on her exploration of the ‘wild’ and ‘domestic’ for Biome. Clay, found objects and locally collected organic material form the basis of Blue Mountains artist Jacqueline Spedding’s sculpture and installations. Her daily finds – leaves, dried plants, dead birds and insects – eventually find their way into her work as inspiration or material elements, drawing attention to our ambivalent relationship with nature. Spedding will present her new body of work as part of the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre’s 2020 Exposé Program Photo by Ona Janzen
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Jacqueline Spedding talks to Artistic Program Manager, Sabrina Roesner:
SR: You have researched and developed this exhibition over the last three years; tell us more about your process and how the concept came about: JS: The genesis of this work came about while I was installing my sculpture for Scenic World in 2014. The lush rainforest valley is littered with remnant machinery from the coal mining that took place there. Rusted and decaying into the valley floor and tangled in the vines, there is a certain nostalgia to these objects that are connected to an industry that has driven the planet to breaking point. In that setting we are almost immune to the reality of their past use, much like we might feel immune to the reality of our present reliance on coal in the comfort of our own homes – until those homes come under threat by catastrophic bushfires like we witnessed this past summer. SR: What are some of the key works in the exhibition? JS: The main focal point for the exhibition is an old coal burning fireplace with a decorative surround made of handmade tiles in a fern motif. The fern is bracken that grows profusely in degraded and disturbed soil and is found commonly on the sides of the road. It’s a native plant but can become invasive. This bracken was collected in Lithgow during my time at the Old Lithgow Pottery. After I started making the tiles I discovered that the pottery produced a very similar tile over a hundred years ago – a nice link to my ceramic heritage. The pottery kilns were also fired by coal; another connection that is present in this piece. The idea for the fireplace is that, as the tiles run further out, they begin to morph and change from a traditional satin-glazed sprig-style decoration to burnt-out imprints highlighted by oxides. This surface pattern is created by introducing organic material into the clay during making that burns out in the firing. The material disintegration signals the need for a philosophical change from the comfort of old, well-worn ways to something new and transformative. The abiding passion I have for clay is its capacity as a material to capture incongruent and paradoxical states. Clay starts out soft and malleable and is transformed through making and firing. It undergoes a chemical change to harden into ceramics. This transformation makes it a wonderful vehicle for expressing ideas of transience and ambiguity. As a material, it is metaphysical and elemental, and I love that about it. Biome is on display at Blue Mountains City Art Gallery from 26 Sep – 29 Nov
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Exhibition Feature Visual Cultures for Planetary Consciousness Written by Leo Robba and Anthony Capon
“We have lived our lives by the assumptions that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption, what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and learn what is good for it.� Wendell Berry, The Long-Legged House (1969)1 ONA JANZEN Two weeks self-portrait 2017, (detail) photographic print on cotton photorag 140 x 90 cm.
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It is clear we have reached a turning point in human history and it’s time for us to not only rethink the way we live but to fundamentally reassess what we value and how we care for the natural world – upon which we all depend. The emerging science of planetary health links the things we do with the health of people and the health of the planet. Its aim is to provide a framework for us to reassess current practices and courses of action to safeguard the health of current and future generations. Many of the ideas that underpin planetary health thinking provide mechanisms for us to visualise clearer, manageable pathways for collective responses and action. As ocular-centric beings living in a digital, highly connected and image driven world, this is now more crucial than ever before. For First Nations people, land, culture, and health are inextricably entwined, and their deep spiritual connections to land are unique. It is recognised that in Australia much can be learnt from Traditional Owners, their practices, and relationship with Ngurra (Country) about how human societies could better thrive. This connection to Country, and the deep cultural knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can provide guideposts for the way forward. Art and visual storytelling are embedded in our understanding of history and of human culture. Pictures and artefacts help chronicle issues, customs and cultural traces from our past and, crucially, can help make sense of the world today. Art’s ability to translate human experiences across space and time, and to form part of society’s collective memory, is fundamental to human health and wellbeing. Art allows us to picture the world in tangible ways so we can reflect and reimage who we are and to envisage solutions to the complex challenges we face. For many of us, we are so caught up in the current system of living it is hard to find time to slow down, to look, to feel, to rethink, and to find meaningful ways to act. If we are to change our relationship to the natural world and current exploitative behaviour, we must enact culture in order to picture new perspectives, visualise new stories and offer our young people messages of hope for their future. For the Blue Mountains as a community, and as a city of the Arts, it is clear we value creativity and the uniqueness of our particular place. The recent drought, catastrophic fires and now the great challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic reassert our interdependence with natural systems. At once, these great challenges both reaffirm the region’s fragility, and the exquisite abundance of its remarkable ecosystems. This year, as we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Listing of the Greater Blue Mountains Area it is important as a community to come together and ask, what should we do differently and what new picture can we paint for the Blue Mountains? More than ever before, art and creativity, alongside cultural institutions like the Blue Mountains City Art Gallery have a crucial role to play in supporting creative responses that enable ‘planetary consciousness’. critical mass: the art of planetary health is on display at Blue Mountains City Art Gallery from 3 Oct – 6 Dec 15
The Collection New Acquisitions to the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Collection. In April this year we welcomed two new additions to the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Collection by Blue Mountains artists Cath Barcan (Glenbrook) and Julie Harris (Blackheath).
Cath Barcan In 2019 Cath Barcan exhibited her body of work Nature morte/ Civil works as part of the ExposĂŠ Program at Blue Mountains City Art Gallery. For this exhibition Cath created the series Civil works, of which four were chosen to be acquired for the Collection: Landscape II, Landscape III, Landscape IV and Plinth.
CATH BARCAN, Landscape IV 2017-19, archival inkjet pigment print, 61 x 88 cm. Purchased through the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Collection Acquisition Fund 2020.
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Cath Barcan talks to Artistic Program Manager, Sabrina Roesner: SR: Cath, you have had strong photographic practice for the last 30 years. In most recent times you have focussed on series of works concerned with wrapped food and landscapes, highlighting the materiality of plastic and our complex relationship with it. Tell us what brought you to investigate these ideas, and how your artistic approach has developed over recent years. CB: My 2019 exhibition Nature morte/Civil works brought together the twin obsessions of my recent practice. The Nature morte room held still lives of wrapped food, and the Civil works room held images of draped landscapes. I made the work over the preceding five years or so, and had initially considered them to be two different bodies of work, but I gradually came to view them in an intertwined way. Both series of work started out with modest aims and approaches, photographing the things and places that were part of my everyday. Roadworks on the daily commute, bags of shopping on the kitchen bench. Initially, I was driven by formal elements: light and tone, composition and colour. I enjoyed the creative problem-solving of constructing small compositions in my studio, and of using the viewfinder to isolate large compositions in the world. This type of visual problem solving can be very satisfying, and by remaining curious, layers of meaning begin to grow in the work. The photographic medium by nature is one of scrutiny; looking at the world, looking through the lens, then editing the image. I produce my own prints, so for me this detailed examination continues in that process. The way the work is framed and installed again involves detailed visual analysis. I love how being deeply involved in looking for and at an image creates a space for meaning, intention and complexity to develop and accrue. Sometimes, it was there all along, and I just needed time to see it. SR: You depict plastic in a fascinating way: On the one hand your photographs reveal the beauty of its material and on the other they make us question the ever-present role it has in our lives and its short-lived use. Can you talk more about some of the clues and techniques you use in your works? CB: One of the things I was trying to do was make the material look quite beautiful. Soft plastics are seductive, pliant, translucent and fall into fascinating folds and creases. Unless we stop to think, we may not appreciate the profound problematics of the material. Creating ‘beautiful’ images using comfortingly familiar painterly tropes is a device to keep the viewer looking; hopefully long enough to consider the toxicity and damage bound up in the production, overuse, and careless disposal of the material. SR: Can you tell us more about the Civil works series: Where did you take the photographs and what drew you to these draped construction sites? CB: Most of these works were taken in the Blue Mountains, and a small number in Kingswood. I drove past many these construction sites almost every day on my way to work. I was compelled by them. Each time I had to drive past I felt a sharp pang of regret. I promised myself I would make the time to stop, and this became more and more urgent as I saw extraordinary visual opportunities appear, and then, as construction work progressed, disappear, sometimes in a matter of days. So, in the first instance, the locations came to me. As my obsession developed, I actively sought out places where civil works were being undertaken. This was not a difficult task. These sites struck me as a type of reverse archaeology, with layers being progressively built up, and forms and materials concealed and revealed. They reminded me of giant pieces of public art, not unlike the way Jeanne-Claude and Christo wrapped Little Bay. They looked like curtains, stage sets, temples and rubbish dumps. They were fragile and monolithic, channelled water, held back subsidence, and resembled moonscapes and giant flags. They claimed and reclaimed. They looked like the future we still have time to change. 17
The Collection Julie Harris Born in Sydney, Julie Harris lives and works in Blackheath, NSW. Throughout her career she has developed a pictorial language of considerable integrity. She has created an organic and inclusive body of work and in it discovered an apt metaphor for communicating the shifting structure of her experience. Her work The Dark Stations has been acquired for the Collection. JULIE HARRIS The Dark Stations 2011, (detail) ink on paper, 70 x 50 cm each. Purchased through the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Collection Acquisition Fund 2020.
JULIE HARRIS The Dark Stations 2011, ink on paper, 70 x 50 cm each. Purchased through the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Collection Acquisition Fund 2020.
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Julie Harris talks to Curator, Rilka Oakley: RO: You have talked about your work being unintentional and inspired by the notion of chance theory and the unconscious. How does this play out in your creative process? JH: My mark-making is driven by the sub-conscious and is automatic. Chance plays a huge role. When I say unintentional what I am trying to do is to make it as free or as intuitive as possible. My paintings are created by a performance with my marks coming from my subconscious rather than a contrived, structured piece. I may destroy the marks, wash them away and only have traces left. It is those traces that start dictating how the painting is going to be. I try to take away the self-consciousness of the painting and any obvious marks. Abstraction is the foundation of my training and I prefer this as an intellectual and creative pursuit. I like the process of abstraction, the lack of self-consciousness. The process is one of addition and subtraction, errors and resolution, repetition and chance. It is neither a safe or predictable process, but it produces an aesthetically satisfying and emotionally cogent object. The search to make work out of chaos and achieve some sort of spatial logic remains the challenge. RO: We have recently acquired your 2011 work The Dark Stations. Can you tell me what the title refers to and why you made this work? JH: I was asked to do Station 13 (2010) by Rev. Dr Douglas Purnell (OAM) as part of an Easter exhibition. He asked different artists to each produce an artwork reflecting on a Station of the Cross. I decided I would have to produce the whole story of the Stations to make sense of an individual work; it needed to be read as part of a larger framework. This fitted nicely into the format of my work at the time, which I called ‘walkthroughs’. I needed to tease out my own interpretation of the Stations. I saw the biblical story of the journey of the cross to Golgotha as a metaphor for a life’s journey, an extended ‘walkthrough’, along which the viewer has to proceed. I wanted to provide a space for reflection. I called the resulting work The Dark Stations because of the inherent darkness of the story and also the visual blackness of ink. RO: Can you explain more about what the term ‘walkthrough’ means to you and how it influences this work? JH: From 2000 on, I was assembling individual works on paper into what I call ‘walkthroughs’. These are a way of interpreting a particular place, of finding symbols or signifiers and shorthand for consolidating information for myself. Strung together they are like a storyboard of ideas, which then coalesce into a singular work. They are also about the underlying structure in things, such as the repetitions found in fractal geometry. I was looking for underlying patterns and abstract qualities in the natural landscape and the ways in which the whole is repeated in the miniature. RO: Much of your work is influenced by the landscape/environment around you at the time of making. Can you explain how these works are connected to the Blue Mountains landscape? JH: I made this work when I lived in Kurrajong, in the Blue Mountains. It was in a very different environment to where I had been living in Wollombi. The studio backed onto the mountains and suddenly I had vistas and panoramas instead of the close chaos of the bush. The influence of these views started to appear in my work and I started to explore this with pours of ink and tonal layering. My paintings and drawings are always layered, made and unmade so the materiality of the paint becomes the painting ‘like a residue of the process’ (Jupp Linssen). I like the history of the making to be a part of the works. The painting becomes the director of its own theatre. 19
Inspired by Art Clare Delaney Local artist Clare Delaney has facilitated the Inspired by Art class since 2014. With a background in nursing, she brings together her arts and health practice in this inclusive class that is open to art-lovers living with disability and other creative locals. The class has become a community united by art and expression that encourage each other to discover their artistic abilities. Visit the Cultural Centre website to view the Inspired by Art online exhibition featuring life size portraits and large scale collaborative paintings. Installation view We don’t need a map: a Martu experience of the Western Desert, Blue Mountains City Art Gallery.
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Clare talks to Public Programs Coordinator, Brittany D’Chong. BD: How did the class form and what was the motivation for the program? CD: In 2014 I was asked to facilitate the Inspired by Art group at the Cultural Centre by Greystanes Disability Services in Leura. Greystanes advocates for people to be active members of the wider community. Susan Hatswell, Day Options Program Manager at Greystanes, wanted to create an inclusive art group that occupied a public community space. Now in its sixth year the group has grown to become that inclusive class where people, independent of ability, can come together, be inspired by the exhibitions held at the Cultural Centre, and create their own artwork. By bringing together a diverse group of people we have become a real community success and has shown that all people can be artists. BD: What are some of the ways collaboration and expression are fostered in the class? CD: I try to teach in a responsive and flexible way that’s open to suggestions from the class. I often have an idea for a class but am ready and open to go a completely different direction. I find these moments exhilarating, when a student instigates a change in direction. We often explore collaboration and expression by making on a large scale. Working together on one piece of work can be challenging, especially when there is the possibility of your work being covered up by another, but the group has always been respectful of each other. One of the ways we have achieved this is to maintain focus on the process rather than the outcome; to keep it fun, to maintain the laughter, and the light, and not worry about the mess we might be creating. We’ve also done this by engaging in a process of reflection, by periodically pulling back from the work to enable us all to negotiate the next steps as a group, and by finding ways for the group to assist each other’s ideas for the work. BD: Is there a favourite moment or collaborative artwork you can reflect on? CD: I am constantly inspired by the individuals who participate in the groups regardless of whether their achievements are small or large. Some of the most special moments are the unexpected spontaneous ones. One of these happened recently when I asked the class to create their own life-sized, self-portrait inspired by the Blue Mountains Portrait exhibition. It was wonderful to see the class immersing their whole bodies in this activity, literally getting covered in paint. The joy in the room was infectious. The works took three weeks to complete, and when finished, each single painting represented each unique individual who took part; placed together they were a very impressive sight to see. Celebrating each other’s achievements together is also really important. Often, what may appear to be a small achievement, in fact is a huge achievement, so we don’t let those moments go unnoticed. BD: What have you learnt from being part of the group? CD: There is so much I have learnt from facilitating this group. This class has broadened and extended my skills as much as it has the participants. Most importantly I have learnt the importance of really being present for the class. Whilst I have always provided a vision for each activity, I have learnt to respond to the needs of each participant, to let them guide me where the class needs to go. I find these moments exhilarating, as it’s usually a suggestion from the class which instigates some of the most exciting changes in direction. For me this is what art and creativity are all about. I love how art can be so participatory and be the conduit to bring a diverse bunch of people together and to see their commonalities and strengths. 21
Virtual InSight During the coronavirus lockdown, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre was quick to launch the VIRTUAL INSIGHT program: a curated selection of digital content, featuring artist tutorials and studio tours, DIY art making activities, staff insights into our collection and exhibitions, recipes from our cafĂŠ and much more. The program was immediately a success and gave much needed positive content to the community. Here we share some highlights from this fun foray into the digital world.
Expressive Portraits with Jody Graham
KIDS CRE8
Join multidisciplinary artist Jody Graham for a free online workshop series in expressive portraiture. The artist will offer insight into her process of using unique drawing instruments to create expressive portraits in mixed media. Through this four part video tutorial series, you are invited to create and expand the exercises at home.
Get stuck into creative problem solving with local graphic designer, Hannah Surtees. Over this five-part series, Hannah takes on the COMBO CHALLENGE – to make something inspired by a random combination of one famous artist and one craft material. Kids will be inspired by this out of the box approach to learning and problem solving.
Artist Insight Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High School students are connected to Blue Mountains artists to develop memorable case studies for their HSC Visual Arts exam. In term 2, students will meet three artists in a live-streamed interview. Before each interview students will undertake research guided by a case study worksheet. A three part case study and livestream interview, of Blue Mountains contemporary artists by Year 12 students at Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High School. Worksheets and a recording of each artist interview will be made available on the BMCC website as a learning resource for other schools. Artist Jody Graham hosts a workshop series. Photo: Graeme Wienand
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Visit the Cultural Centre website to access the entire VIRTUAL INSIGHT program. All content is accessible online and for free.
Volunteer Profile
Dodo Kerr
What are some highlights of your time volunteering at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre front desk? I love being front of house, meeting, greeting and making a connection with people locally and from all around the world. Being a graduate of Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London (1950!) has served its purpose in enabling me to adapt to the multiple cultures, languages and careers that I have experienced. I have found a common ground with so many people. Imagine, in talking with a gentleman, discovering we lived across the road from each other in our childhood in Scotland! What has been your favourite Blue Mountains City Art Gallery exhibition? The obvious advantage of being a volunteer is the firsthand knowledge you are privy to across a very diverse range of exhibitions. Two, for me, are especially memorable: The first; We don’t need a map: a Martu experience of the Western Desert where I met and held the hand of one of the Martu women, it was a deeply moving experience. The second is the hitherto unknown work of Mary Alice Evatt, wife of Dr Herbert Evatt, leader of the Labor Party. She was so much in tune with the Art of her era. Her work is insightful and imbued with a warm sensitivity of colour, especially in her portraits of women. Meeting with Rosalind, her daughter, made the experience that more special. Were it not for the vision of Mary Alice Evatt, that Art should reach Regional Australia, I would not have this opportunity to volunteer at our Cultural Centre! What keeps you volunteering at the Cultural Centre? Walking in the door every Wednesday these last seven years I feel part of a friendly family. A very talented and skilful one at that! In these circumstances it is only natural that I be known by my nickname “Dodo”! I am currently missing the hugs and the great coffee! 23
Gallery CafĂŠ Whilst the cafĂŠ has been closed in recent months, we have taken the time to reflect on our menu. We are delighted to say that we are bringing some new and exciting options to you, featuring more of the fabulous fresh local products you know and love plus some irresistible additions! We look forward to welcoming you back.
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CRANBERRY AND MACADAMIA SLICE I N G R E DIENTS
1 1/2 cups sifted self-raising flour 1 cup dried cranberries 3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts 185g melted butter 1 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 egg lightly beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla essence Icing sugar to dust
METHOD
Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease and line a 20 x 30cm slice pan with baking paper. In a large bowl combine flour, cranberries, nuts, and sugar. Stir in the melted butter, vanilla and egg. Press mixture into slice pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool in pan. Cut into 24 pieces and dust with icing sugar to serve. Enjoy!
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Gallery Shop Offering a unique retail experience, the Gallery Shop stocks a wide variety of quality Australian made gifts, books and homewares, with a focus on artisan products designed and made in the Blue Mountains. InSight Members receive a 10% discount on items in the Shop and invitations to exclusive member sales throughout the year.
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HeatPack From Tasmania The perfect gift for cold winter nights, HeatPack creates eco-friendly products from Australiansourced materials. Made from Australian Merino wool woven in Tasmania, they are filled with Australian wheat and Tasmanian lavender buds or coffee beans roasted in Tasmania. $36 / Members $32.40
Vetro E Metallo Vetro e Metallo means Glass & Metal in Italian. The centre of V&M’s ethos is the handcrafting and upcycling of salvage materials to create a collection of metal and glass with soul. Metals are salvaged locally and re-formed to tell a new story. Every piece is produced in V&M’s forges and kilns in Braidwood, NSW. Copper leaf earrings $40 / Members $36 Church roof earrings $65 / Members $58.50
Brett Niven Ceramics Mudgee-based ceramic artist Brett Niven creates hardwearing, beautiful wheel thrown pieces suitable for any table or home. The Shop stocks a wide range of Brett’s restaurant quality products including plates, vases, bowls and tea sets. Bud vase $28 / Members $25.20 Plate $40 / Members $36
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Braemar House & Gallery Braemar House is home to the treasured Braemar Gallery, a Council operated community exhibition space for visual artists.
During the global coronavirus pandemic the gallery has been closed to the public. We acknowledge the impact that this has had on exhibiting artists, volunteers and regulars to the historic house who have given such warm support over the years. Opened in 1988, Braemar Gallery showcases works of local and regional artists. Behind the scenes there are many volunteers who work passionately to bring these exhibitions to the public, including the Braemar Gallery Management Committee whose current members are: Annette Coulter, Tim Newman, Susan Ruming, Natalie Sharpe and Jude Skeers. Also on the Committee are Cr Mick Fell and Cr Shae Foenander. We extend a special mention to Kerry Beaumont, a long-serving member of the Committee, who sadly passed away in 2019. Kerry contributed much to the success of the gallery and her dedication is felt throughout the community. The Committee make possible the day-today operations of the gallery, overseeing exhibition install and deinstall, programming, opening events, volunteer coordination and marketing. Each committee member takes pride in their work and these great efforts along with significant community participation and support has seen visitation increase year on year. In 2016 annual gallery visitation was 4,000 people and has increased each year to reach 7,000 people in 2019. Braemar Gallery proudly exhibits an average of 23 individual and group shows each year. 28
As we now see the reopening of museums and galleries, we look forward to welcoming visitors back from 6 August to this beloved hub of creative talents. The program begins with exhibitions from Laurent Rivory, Jean Luc Batchelor, Marlene Jones, Louise Fox and Cathie Cox, Five Blue Mountains Artists, Tobin O’Bree, Tim and Bron Newman, Martin Roberts, and Natalie Sharpe. For the time being we say a big thank you to our Committee, our gallery volunteers and our special community of artists. 104 Macquarie Road, Springwood Thursday – Sunday: 10am – 4pm Free Admission See the website for up-to-date information on the exhibitions: bluemountainsculturalcentre.com.au/ braemar-gallery Email: braemargallery@gmail.com Enquiries can also be made to Blue Mountains Cultural Centre on 02 4780 5410.
Installation view Anita White: At the Gallery, Braemar Gallery. Photo by silversalt.
ADMISSION:
OPENING HOURS:
Adults: $5 Australian concession card holders: $3 InSight Members: Free Children under 16: Free
Monday – Friday: 10am – 5pm Saturday + Sunday: 10am – 4pm Public Holidays: 10am – 2pm
Your admission ticket allows entry to our permanent exhibition Into the Blue and the Blue Mountains City Art Gallery
Closed Good Friday and Christmas Day The Gallery Café opens 9.30am weekdays. Please access via café entrance. Café closed public holidays
OUR PEOPLE:
Manager, Arts & Cultural Services: Paul Brinkman Artistic Program Manager: Sabrina Roesner Promotion and Retail Manager: Rose Stibbard Administration Officer: Felicity Hallam Public Programs Coordinators: Brittany D’Chong Katrina Noorbergen Gallery Technician: Mark Surtees Curator: Rilka Oakley Café Coordinator: Sharon Holstein Patron Services Officer: Nicole Roberts We thank the dedicated volunteers at Blue Mountains Cultural Centre who provide valuable support to staff and visitors.
InSight Magazine is proudly designed and printed in the Blue Mountains. Design by Hannah Surtees, Studio ham.
BLUE MOUNTAINS CULTURAL CENTRE:
Level 1, 30 Parke St Katoomba 02 4780 5410 info@bluemountainsculturalcentre.com.au bluemountainsculturalcentre.com.au
