A GUIDING STORY: Volunteer gallery guiding through the decades at
Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
Cover: Rene Sutherland, Anita Buswell, Denis O’Connor, Keith Sterling, Joan Cahill 1988
A GUIDING STORY... Art Gallery Guides are people who are passionate about sharing their love of the Gallery’s collections and exhibitions with members of the public. A diverse range of visitors comes to the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery from New South Wales, interstate and around the world. Volunteer Gallery Guides prepare bespoke tours for audiences of adults, students and children right through to preschoolers. The ultimate aim is to engender an enthusiasm for art and to stimulate an enriched understanding and enjoyment of the collections and special exhibitions. Reflecting over the time since 1988 when guiding commenced, past and present Guides have enjoyed the challenge as well as the rewards of working with fellow Guides and Gallery Staff. Through ongoing education, knowledge and skills the guides have been enriched and valuable friendships have been formed. Art Gallery Guiding is under the umbrella of the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery Curator of Education and Public Programs, currently Ms. Linda Elliott. Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 2.00 pm. These often include an informed tour of current exhibitions by Curators or Gallery officers. Guide numbers have remained low but consistent in recent times. Currently with five: Joan Cahill, Leanne Croker, Mardi Holcombe, Sue Lidden and Irene Turner. Over the years the Guides have passed on great insight, knowledge and passion to the many visitors to the Gallery. The Guides’ dedication, professionalism and knowledge has established the standard for guiding and the guides. The current cohort of Volunteer Gallery Guides includes five active Guides, all with many years of experience in Guiding: Joan Cahill, Leanne Croker, Mardi Holcombe, Sue Lidden and Irene Turner. Joan Cahill is the only remaining active foundation Guide, having commenced with the first group in 1988.
Judy Le Lievre and Joan Cahill
Linda Elliott and Ashmont Public School, Ngulagambilanha: to be returning home program
Irene Turner
Linda Elliott and Ashmont Public School, Ngulagambilanha: to be returning home program
Mardi Holcombe, Loss, reverence and longing: ANZAC stories from the home front exhibition
Linda Elliott, Public School, Temora Public School, Ngulagambilanha: to be returning home program
Guides at A-Z of Art History presented by Dr Neill Overton
2015
Guides at ACO Virtual
Isobel MacCallum, Education Officer, Civic Theatre, Linda Elliott
Irene Turner partaking in the Enrich: Autumn Ikebana Workshop
Joan Cahill guiding Lake Albert Public School
Sue Lidden guiding Lake Albert Public School
2014
GUIDING LIGHTS For three decades, the Volunteer Gallery Guides at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery have introduced thousands of visitors to a world of art. The Guides have shown groups from schools and community organisations, of all ages and from countries around the globe, through hundreds of exhibitions across every possible artform. Many of our regular returning visitors, and indeed several of our current staff, have recalled their very first visit to the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, often as children with families or in a school trip, and the warm welcome they received from the Gallery Guides. Now they too bring their own children, and the Gallery Guides continue to help new generations to love and appreciate art and culture. One of the greatest strengths of the Gallery Guides at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery is the personal touch that each of them brings to their guiding. Every group they lead receives a very individual and unique experience – it’s never just a routine, and every exhibition is always brought to life with humour and a personal perspective as well as thorough research. In particular, the many years that the Guides have spent with the Gallery’s collections – the National Art Glass Collection and the Margaret Carnegie Print Collection – mean that they can illuminate the techniques and histories of these artforms in very special ways for any visitor. The Guides are truly a tremendous asset to the Gallery and to the community of Wagga Wagga, and on behalf of the Gallery and its staff, past and present, I sincerely offer our deepest thanks for their dedication, passion and commitment. Stephen Payne Gallery Manager Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
Managers over the years Cath Bowdler Yenda Carson Edwina D’Apice Kirsty Davies Louise Doyle Judy Le Lievre
Sarah Last Elizabeth Klose Susi Muddiman Alf Morris Michael Scarrone Madeleine Scully
ONE, TWO, THREE... COMING READY OR NOT! The Wagga Wagga Art Gallery Volunteer Gallery Guides have formed an integral part of my role as the Curator of Education and Public Programs. Whilst their primary role has been to assist in providing guiding experiences to the collections and exhibitions as individuals and as a collective they have shaped and informed the entity that is the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery today. They are custodians of an amazing wealth of knowledge, not just of the collections of the gallery, but the extraordinary diverse forms of arts in this region. That knowledge also extends to the wider world of which they are able to synthesise to enable patrons a deeper and richer understanding of not just the arts but of what it means to question, to probe and to think about the world. As I look back over the past three decades of guiding at Wagga it is striking to note that there is a guide from the first intake still guiding presently. This commitment to encouraging others to enjoy the artistic world underlines the integrity and excellence that guiding is placed within the community. At present the current cohort are not only guiding exhibitions and the collections they are also assisting the ever expanding programs. The way people are engaging with galleries has evolved and so have the guides to assist in the process. What the future holds will unfold in time, and I am sure that the volunteer guides of the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery will be a significant part of that future. Linda Elliott Curator: Education & Public Programs Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
Education Officers over the years Brendan Dahl Louise Doyle Errol Fielder Margaret Hunt Sarah Last Carly McIver
Denis O’Connor Leanne Smith Stephen Smith Rene Sutherland Isobel Thompson
Irene Turner assisting with Little Big Day Out
Mardi Hocombe assisting with Little Big Day Out
Sue Lidden assisting with Little Big Day Out
Linda Elliott guiding Family Day Care
Joan Cahill assisting with Family Fun Day – Kites
Linda Elliott guide talk for KaPOW! Kids and Print Outreach Workshop
Linda Elliott and Aunty Isobel Reid
Sue Lidden, Joan Cahill, Leanne Croker, Linda Elliott, Gwen Collis, Irene Turner at AAGGO Conference
2013
Linda Elliott, Tricia Harrison, Irene Turner and Sue Lidden
Joan Cahill
Irene Turner
Sue Lidden
Irene Turner
Leanne Croker
Gwen Collis
Leanne Croker
Menagerie: Contemporary Indigenous Sculpture Schools Engagement
Irene Turner at Operation Art Teachers Inservice
Mardi Holcombe at Operation Art Teachers Inservice
2012
GALLERY GUIDE TRAINING In 1988, Gallery Manager, Judy Le Lievre, realizing the value of providing tours, instigated the first Volunteer Guides training course. This took place over several months and covered lectures in Public Speaking, Australian Art, European Art, Print Making, Guiding Adults, Wagga Wagga City Council expectations and researching the Collections, particularly the Art Glass. Over 200 applied to train, 20 passed the Course and were accepted. Each was awarded a Certificate by the Mayor at a special ceremony. Subsequently, there have been five training programs and several short courses, including some at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
Completion of Museum Studies by Volunteer Gallery Guides under Sarah Last 2003
ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIAN GALLERY GUIDING ORGANISATIONS The Association of Australian Gallery Guiding Organisations (AAGGO) is a nonprofit organisation that helps guides get in touch with one another. Established in 1977, AAGGO currently includes twenty member galleries across the country and represents approximately 900 Voluntary Gallery Guides. The major AAGGO activity is the organisation’s biennial conference. In 1991, by invitation, Joan Cahill represented Wagga Wagga Art Gallery at the eighth National Conference of AAGGO as an observer and in 1993 the Gallery and its Guides were accepted as members. Wagga Wagga Art Gallery viewed this membership as a significant step in establishing the status of their Guides and subsequently have maintained that it is essential to adhere to the standard of continuing educational principles of AAGGO. Delegates from the Gallery’s Volunteer Gallery Guides have attended every conference since 1991. • 1991 National Gallery of Victoria • 1993 Art Gallery of New South Wales Joan Cahill • 1995 Australian War Memorial Jim Tweddle • 1997 Art Gallery of South Australia Sue Wooden • 1999 Orange and Bathurst Art Galleries Carolyn Richards • 2001 Art Gallery of Western Australia Joan Cahill • 2003 Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery Tasmania Joan Cahill • 2005 National Gallery of Australia Joan Cahill • 2007 Queensland Art Gallery Joan Cahill • 2009 National Gallery of Victoria Joan Cahill • 2011 Art Gallery of New South Wales Irene Turner • 2013 National Gallery of Australia Irene Turner • 2015 Art Gallery of South Australia Irene Turner
Joan Cahill and Irene Turner at 17th AAGGO Conference
Gwen Collis and Irene Turner, 17th AAGGO Conference
Gwen Collis and Irene Turner at 17th AAGGO Conference
Guide Tour of Giilangbang Bangamalanha: sharing stories
Mardi Holcombe at Little Big Day Out
Sue Lidden and Leanne Croker at 17th AAGGO Conference
Irene Turner and Joan Cahill with fellow guide at 17th AAGGO Conference
Wagga Wagga Volunteer Gallery Guides at 17th AAGGO Conference
2011
Little Big Day Out with Guides assisting
Leanne Croker opening Art to Crow About
Irene Turner, Gwen Collis and members of the public at the talk for Mamana Mamanta
Irene Turner and Joan Cahill at the launch of Art Horses and Crossfire II
Leanne Croker with Friend of the Gallery
April Glaser Hinder exhibition launch
Joan Cahill receiving a certificate of appreciation from Marie Bashir, NSW Governor
Mardi Holcombe, Sue Lidden, Irene Turner and patron at the opening of the With a little help from friends‌ exhibition
2010
GUIDES’ STORIES Irene Turner Since a very early age, I have had an interest in art and a love of learning, both of which I have continued to develop throughout my life, firstly as a student and then as a primary school teacher and school principal. On completion of my education service, including two post graduate diplomas and a Masters in Education Leadership, I studied Art, trained to be a Guide, at the same time becoming a practicing artist. My art work is an expression of who I am. It is my story told through a range of techniques and media and expressed through a subject which inspires and fascinates me. Nature, Australian flora and landscapes are favourite topics, especially in pen and ink and watercolour. I recall some interesting and inspiring guiding experiences especially taking primary student tours through the 2004 Exhibition “Please be Seated” about real and imagined chairs. The students remained actively engaged and responsive throughout the oral activities, the literature and drama segment and the design and drawing component of the tours. A tour which we conducted for a mature audience was through the “Come hither: Interpretations of the Boudoir” Exhibition. As this featured several of Florence Broadhurst’s limited edition prints, it was inspiring from a guide’s perspective to attend the Artist Floortalk by Helen Lennie, co-founder of Signature Prints, which has the rights to reproduce the Florence Broadhurst designs and prints. It is always exciting to guide in the Wagga Wagga Art Glass Gallery, repository of the National Art Glass Collection, and a unique purpose built building shaped like a shard of glass. When viewing the works, the Guide can pass on the play of shadows, dimensions, lines, perspectives and interpretations. It has been a privilege to guide in the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery since completing my training in 2002, and I hope to continue for many years to come.
Susan Lidden As an isolated child on a country property whose school lessons came in the mail, I spent many hours poring over a catalogue of ‘Fine Prints’ found on my parents’ bookshelf. With etchings and paintings from the time of Rembrandt onwards, I pondered the use of colour and line, dreaming up stories to suit each scene. As an adult, after years of teaching children of all ages, becoming a volunteer Gallery Guide in 2001 has provided me with the opportunity to pass on to children of our local community my interest and appreciation of art. I once heard the guiding process likened to a glass prism: encouraging children to really look into an art work, to find their own story, or imagine what the artist may have been thinking, brings many different ideas. The results are always rewarding and sometimes surprising! Taking small groups of children into our wonderful Glass Gallery can be a delight. Most have experienced a domestic calamity of broken glass and the necessity to move carefully within the gallery. They are awed by the magical interplay of light and colour in the extensive variety of forms on display. While familiar with the heat of 40 degree summer days, and the heat of the kitchen ovens, temperatures at which glass becomes a honey like liquid, able to be blown or shaped is a wonder to be marveled at. As a guide I have been privileged to attend some of the biennial AAGGO conferences, meeting other guides from galleries around Australia. Speakers have included gallery directors, curators, art lecturers and critics, all very interesting, but the greatest thrill has been to hear artists such as Hossein Valamanesh and Ken Thaiday Snr. sharing the inspiration and passion behind their work. While sometimes a challenge, being a volunteer gallery guide has been not only a rewarding experience, but has brought many lasting and valued friendships.
Joan Cahill at The Kerfoot Collection launch
Sue Lidden and Linda Elliott at the launch The Glass Percussion
Leanne Croker and patron at the launch of The Kerfoot Collection
Linda Elliott launching Operation Art
Patron with Sue Lidden at launch of Margaret Carnegie Gallery
Keith Sterling with patron at launch Natural Selction
Irene Turner and Gwen Collis at the talk for Mamana Mamanta
Sue Lidden, Gwen Collis and Irene Turner at 17th AAGGO Conference
Guides viewing the National Gallery of Victoria Leonard French Ceiling
2009
Mardi Holcombe guiding St Joseph’s Primary School
Irene Turner and Joan Cahill during talk by Tudor Price-Jones
Irene Turner and Joan Cahill during talk by Tom Middlemost
2008
Joan Cahill Thirty pairs of eyes follow the dot from my last pointer as I show them a painting. A hand shoots up before I can even speak. ‘Yes’ I say. The small boy replies ‘Did you know that if you point the light up one side of your nose, it comes out the other side?’ From childhood when my father and I would visit art museums in Melbourne, I have had a passion for art and demystifying art galleries. Now I enjoy seeing the look of surprise and pleasure on the face of a first time visitor to the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery. As I write this there are only five Volunteer Guides which can be challenging when a major exhibition is showing. Often we guide a coach load of adults which can be as many as 50 people, or school groups of around 25 to 30 children. My guiding strategy is to engage the children (and even adults) by asking ‘Who do you think might have made this? How is it made? What do you think the artist is trying to tell us? How does it make you feel?’ Often I include a game, I might say ‘turn around now tell me one thing you remember seeing. No peeking’ To have a child say that he/she will tell parents about the works discovered and enjoyed today, still gives me a buzz.
(Excerpt from ABC Open Riverina February 2012)
In the years when I worked part-time, I would often finish for the day at the other end of the CBD and race up to the Gallery to find a group of Primary School students waiting for me. Since 1988 when I trained as a volunteer in Art Gallery Guiding, I have loved guiding thousands of children and adults through exhibitions and passing on some knowledge of the collections of the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery. Every tour, I learn something new.
Mardi Holcombe On coming to this town and not knowing one person (apart from immediate family) I thought how will I meet anyone? I knew the Armidale Art Gallery often needed extra pairs of hands so why not try Wagga Gallery. Yes they did and asked for me to join the guides. In doing so I met friendly, delightful Anne Brassil. Guide training with Sarah Last was interesting, thorough and in depth. I have enjoyed the involvement especially with primary classes (little ones). They enjoy it and have their own little stories to tell and love the drawing lesson on the floor to finish. Being involved with The Beyond the Frame exhibition was a special event. My art teacher background has been handy. Now my days are mainly busy but sometimes I still manage a Guide meeting.
Gwen Collis I started work at the Art Gallery as Gallery Assistant part time in 1983. At the time Judy Le Lievre was Director and I was the only other staff member. There were no guides but volunteer attendants came in each day to cover lunch breaks and then early afternoon so that I could work uninterrupted by visitors. These volunteers were often members of the Wagga Art Society: Margaret and Trixie Read, Patricia Coogan, Joyce Jenkins, Shirley Lenehan, Noela Yuill, Trena Kennedy, are some of the people who come to mind. In 1988 Rene Sutherland was appointed Education Office and Public programs were developed, and at the same time Guide Training and subsequent Guided Tours were commenced. Following the initial training course, Robin Norling from the Art Gallery of New South Wales gave a stimulating training program into Guiding Children. I enjoyed my years of Guiding at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery together with the friendship extended by the many other Guides. (Retired 2013)
Irene Turner and Sue Lidden enjoying prints from the Margaret Carnegie Print Collection
Guides at the talk by Joanna Bone
Guides at the forum for Stained: a current glimpse
Irene Turner guiding schools during Sacred Footsteps from the Roof of the World
2007
Joan Cahill and Sue Lidden sorting resource library
Leanne Croker guiding schools through Contemporary Wearables
Family Fun Day participants
Mardi Holcombe guiding Contemporary Wearables
Guides and staff at field trip to Canberra
2006
Joan Cahill, glass artist Julio Santos and Sue Lidden
Linda Elliott, Gwen Collis, Sue Lidden, Irene Turner and Joan Cahill
Irene Turner, Joan Cahill and patron
Caroline Richards, Sue Lidden, Joan Cahill, Irene Turner and Diana MacDonald at Government House
Guides at the 15th AAGGO Conference
1994 Guides at end of year function
13th AAGGO Conference contingent
archives
This is a working document and any further information is welcomed. Please contact the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery gallery@wagga.nsw.gov.au 02 6926 9660