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
