Arts Bulletin 261
7 February 2008

This Week's Feature - Botanical Art Exhibition

Artist Deb Chirnside (photo courtesy of Geelong Advertiser)

Pelagonium by Yvonne Steele

Artists at Work 

This exhibition showcases works by Geelong Botanical Art students and teachers, many of whom have exhibited interstate and overseas and whose works have been purchased for inclusion in well known collections. Included will be works by accomplished artists such as John Pastoriza-Pinol, Lyndelle Price, Helen Burrows, Margaret Muffet, Maurine Wrigley and Deb Chirnside.

Geelong Botanical Artists were formed in 2001 under the guidance of well known local artist and international exhibitor Margaret Muffet.  The classes are held at the Geelong Botanic Gardens (GBG).  Over the past 7 years many students have attained international recognition with several artists awarded medals at prestigious exhibitions in the United Kingdom.

In April 2007 management of Botanical Art Classes was transferred to Friends of Geelong Botanic Gardens (FGBG).  Classes are held 3 days a week.

The Friends also provide a twilight music program in the Gardens each February (see Performing Arts section for details) and this year are delighted to be associated with the Botanical Art Exhibition.  The Friends is a self-funding, voluntary association formed in 1985 to conserve, protect and enhance the Geelong Botanic Gardens.  It comprises 550 members, many of whom are social members who attend events and lectures relating to Botanic Gardens and the environment while 150 Friends actively volunteer their time at the GBG to provide visitor services and botanical programs for the community.   FGBG also look after the extensive Botanic Gardens Library with qualified librarian staff. 

FGBG plant and maintain a magnificent perennial border in the centre of the Gardens while the Growing Group of Friends maintain the Friends Nursery and provides a wide range of plants for sale to the public including an excellent selection of drought tolerant plants suitable for Geelong gardens.

The trained voluntary Guides provide informative garden walks for groups and individuals.  The  Friends Teahouse, open daily 11am to 4pm, is acclaimed by the community as the best place for lunch or morning tea in Geelong in a magnificent setting within the Gardens.

The Exhibition provides the opportunity for the public to view some outstanding botanical art with all works available for sale.

Musical Mornings 2008 Season One - The Mikado 
Gilbert and Sullivan's most popular musical, The Mikado, will open Geelong Performing Arts Centre's Musical Mornings Season One 2008 program on 6 and 7 February 2008.   With more fun and frivolity than ever, and performed in full costume on a magnificent set, this highly acclaimed and energetic production will be just the ticket to set off Musical Mornings in 2008.  Musical Mornings concerts are proudly supported by Seniors Card, and are held in the comfortable setting of the Ford Theatre at GPAC on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10.30am, with free tea and coffee before the show.  The first season includes five outstanding shows running from February through to June.  Performers include Denis Walter, Annalisa Kerrigan, Julie Anthony and the season finale is A Day at the Great Music Hall. 

Music in the Gardens 2008
This summer, Music in the Gardens promises to be better than ever!   You can picnic with family and friends on the Teahouse Lawns with this week's band, The Louisiana Shakers who play authentic and definitive New Orleans Jazz.  The band has achieved great success and genuine international popularity through dedication to style and entertaining presentation.  The next concert features The Jazz Connection.  This group has always been a favourite at Music in the Gardens, playing a range of toe-tapping jazz standards. The Teahouse will be open for refreshments.   

The Louisiana Shakers

*NEW*
NATIONAL WOOL MUSUM
FabARTS 2008 Exhibition 
The fabARTS exhibition at the National Wool Museum, presents the best of 2007's VCE student work from secondary schools throughout the Geelong region and features works from the subjects of Art, Studio Art and Visual Design and Communication.  It showcases some of our City's most talented young artists.  As well as demonstrating the high calibre of art in our schools, the 2008 fabARTS exhibition is a must-see for all current senior school art students.  The exhibition provides a very valuable resource for current students and their teachers, as both the final pieces and their accompanying folios are on show, which demonstrates not only the finished product but the research and processes involved in its creation.

Central Geelong Farmers Market
Experience the best of the region's delicious fresh produce and unique gourmet treats including fruit and vegetables, flowers, cheese, spices, chutneys, pesto, wine, preserves, bread, pasta and more.  Enjoy live entertainment, a seasonal cooking school, a miniature animal farm and face painting for the kids!

Historic Belcher Fountain Returns
The Belcher Fountain will be installed at the new intersection of Mercer, Malop and Gheringhap Streets.   It is currently undergoing full restoration in accordance with a Heritage Victoria permit.  The Belcher Fountain was first installed at the intersection in 1884 but was moved into Johnstone Park in 1927, to make way for Geelong's tramways service.  When the trams stopped in the early 1950s the fountain went back onto the plantation in the middle of the intersection, but eventually it fell into disrepair.  The restored Belcher Fountain will be an impressive feature of this iconic Geelong intersection.
 
City of Greater Geelong/Gordon TAFE Small Business Training Grants program
The Gordon Institute of TAFE, in partnership with the City of Greater Geelong, will allocate Small Business Training Grants, each valued at $500, to 50 local small businesses which meet specific criteria.  The grants are an extremely effective way of helping small business operators to further develop their business skills.  The training program will begin on 27 February 2008.  To be eligible for a grant a business must:

• be registered in the municipal boundary of the City of Greater Geelong
• have been trading for a minimum of 12 months
• employ fewer than 20 employees
• have a registered ABN number
• pay the sum of $85 on enrolment
• attend all three training programs
• not have previously received a $500 City of Greater Geelong Small Business Training Grant within the past two years, and
• not be an employee either of the Gordon Institute of TAFE or the City of Greater Geelong, or an immediate family member.

Anyone interested in taking part in the training program should ring the Gordon TAFE on (03) 5225 0701 and ask for an enrolment form to be sent to them.

ARTreach - Free Art Program for Young Women
YWCA Victoria Geelong are running ARTreach to provide a safe space for young women to express what is relevant in their lives through creativity.  All women aged 15 to 35 are welcome.  Art materials and lunch are provided.

Drama Seminar
Billy Marshall Stoneking is an entertaining, gifted and inspiring teacher.   As a scriptwriter, script editor, poet and playwright, Billy has much to offer anyone seriously interested in the written and performing arts.  He was senior lecturer at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School for many years and has written and edited several well known award winning feature films. 

The Artist's Muse by Ariani Anwar,
fabARTS 2008

King Tide Photography by Aiden King, fabARTS 2008

This month we are featuring two student artists whose work is highlighted in the National Wool Museum's latest exhibition, fabARTS 2008, Ariani Anwar and Aiden King.  Now into its fourth consecutive year, the fabARTS exhibition presents the best of 2007's VCE student work from secondary schools throughout the Geelong region.  With 18 pieces selected from over 60 entries, the exhibition showcases some of our City's most talented young artists and covers fine art, sculpture, video art installation, textiles and clothing and 3D landscape design.

Ariani Anwar
IB Art, Geelong Grammar

Ariani comes from a highly artistic and cross-cultural family, and has lived between Australia and Bali for most of her life. Even from a young age she has had a strong appreciation of the importance of art as a means of inter-cultural awareness.

In her film installation, 'The Artist's Muse', now exhibited in fabARTS 2008 and the Victorian and Tasmanian International Baccalaureate (IB) Year 12 Exhibition, she has primarily explored the capacity for her work to act as a medium to break down the boundaries between artist and viewer by engaging the viewer with the interior experience of the artistic vision.

Inspired by the work of the Surrealist film maker, Jean Cocteau and the Surrealist painter, Rene Magritte, she investigated the concepts of reality and illusion, focusing on the process involved in the transfer of the artistic vision from the interior realm of the mind, to the exterior where the viewer is also able to engage with and experience it.

In her other works, Ariani has drawn inspiration from the English poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins and his use of poetry as a means to channel the spiritual and in this, the capacity for the artist to fully communicate their interior experience.

Throughout the course of her IB diploma at Geelong Grammar School, Ariani also undertook explorations into Abstract Art and photography and the significance of industry on our current and future society, delving into the work of Peter Booth and Jeffrey Smart.

In addition she also investigated portraiture as a means to connect different cultures, and her work, 'Portrait of my father praying in Bali' is also on display at the Victorian and Tasmanian International Baccalaureate Year 12 Exhibition.

This year she is studying at the University of Melbourne, undertaking the New Generation Arts degree. She plans to major in Art History and Psychology and intends to continue creating artwork simultaneously with her studies.

Aiden King
Visual Communication & Design, St Joseph's College

Aiden King has been interested in art and design ever since he was first introduced to it at school, where he was inspired to further explore the different cultures and meanings associated with pieces of art, through the creation of his own art and design in all sorts of mediums.

For the past three years, Aiden has been running a freelance art, design and photography business called King Tide Photography (KTP). For his VCE work in Visual Communication and Design, he decided to develop a promotions package that would firmly establish the company's image, as well as providing useful items to further develop the business.

Aiden began by developing a logo which incorporated both modern scenes of urban culture and visually created a ‘music atmosphere'. From this he developed a promotional banner, screen printed a t-shirt to wear whilst he was ‘on the job', designed a car sticker for the windshield of the company car, and also printed business cards. The promotions package, which is featured in the fabARTS 2008 exhibition, has resulted in a doubling of his business within the first three months.

At the moment Aiden is into ‘Urbanistic Graphiti' design and photography, and is constantly finding new pieces to photograph in preparation for an upcoming exhibition. He is inspired by upcoming trends and design techniques that he can portray in his own manner.

He also continues to work on his music-associated photography as both an occupation and a hobby, enjoying the opportunity it provides to bring him and the person viewing the photo closer to the performer being captured.

Aiden is currently studying Audio Engineering and would also like to get into Graphic Design at a later date when he feels he has the time and experience.

As well as being selected to feature in fabARTS 2008, Aiden's work was also shortlisted for Top Design at Melbourne Museum.