Creative Spaces Creative Spaces: Overview

Creative Spaces is a series of Gallery Services programs that incorporates activities, events and exhibition-based programs that are delivered outside of the traditional gallery space.

The aim of Creative Spaces is to undertake the activation of collaborative partnerships through identified opportunities that support, promote and enhance the cultural capacity, creative economy, cultural experiences and engagement opportunities for artists, arts workers, organisations, individuals and visitors to the Townsville region.

Creative Spaces includes dedicated programs such as Strand Ephemera, SHIFT: elevator art project, street art and Shop n Play as well as designing and delivery pop-up activities at existing events around Townsville.

During 2013/14 a total of 119 Creative Spaces programs and 19 exhibitions were delivered at venues such as Flinders Street, The Strand, Willows Shopping Centre, Stockland North Shore, Federation Place, Central, Northtown, James Cook University, Queens Gardens and the Townsville Civic Theatre.

Highlights of the 2013/14 financial period include:

+ The activation of elevator spaces around Townsville’s CBD as part of SHIFT: elevator art project, a new program where local artists design artwork to transform elevator spaces into pop-up art spaces. Five elevators were transformed during 2013/14.

+ Strand Ephemera 2013, a biennial outdoor sculpture exhibition that is situated along Townsville’s The Strand.

Strand Ephemera featured 33 unique sculptures along the entirety of The Strand and 36 free workshops, 13 guided tours for the general public, five artist talks, one symposium and launch. The school program featured 73 programs including artist talks, workshops and guided tours.

+ Shop n Play programs at Willows Shopping Centre and Stockland North Shore for Brick by Brick and QAGOMA Kids on Tour

These programs allowed Gallery Services to deliver workshops at two of Townsville’s premier shopping centres, take workshops to the public at large and expand the traditional arts audience.

+ Townsville Seafood Festival 2013 and the Eco Fiesta 2014. Gallery Services ran pop-up art activities at both of these events for the general public. Unique art activities were designed and delivered at each event for over 840 people.

+ Percival Portrait Artists. As part of the public program for The Percivals 2014, Gallery Services employed four local artists to hit the streets at the Cotters Markets every Sunday during the Glencore Percival Portrait Painting Prize

From Sunday May 17 to Sunday July 13, the artists donned a red beret and a stripey blue shir t and drew free portraits of people as a way to promote the biennal portrait exhibition.

+ Faces of Townsville exhibition, which featured large-scale photographic portraits of Townsville residents, by Townsville residents, was displayed in various locations around the city in the form of backlit photographs and paste-ups.

Faces of Townsville was displayed during The Percivals, from 9 May to 13 July 2014, ex panding the multi-faceted city-wide festival of por traiture beyond the confines of Townsville’s gallery spaces.