Arts

Nancy Whittaker. My first encounter with Carolyn Vickers was in the MANet Arts Focus Gallery a few months ago when we played ‘duelling camera phones’ ... Carolyn is the next featured artist in the aforesaid gallery ... Carolyn said that her works are her visual notes.

Golden Rivers Theatre Group (GRTG) is receiving the Arts and Culture Award for their outstanding contribution to the local arts space.  GRTG president, Veronica Martens, was thrilled by the group’s recognition.

Narrandera film production When the House Is Empty has wrapped up another shoot in Narrandera in January and has reached the final stages of filming. It was a busy start to the year for all those involved in the upcoming locally made film with all the cast and crew members gathered in Narrandera earlier this month for a week of filming.

Allora locals had the opportunity to vote for their favourite mural to be painted on the wall of the IGA building. There was a good response of 567 votes with 375 going to the red-winged parrot design.

Three recent additions to Yorke Peninsula’s large-scale art scene have been nominated for the 2023 Australian Street Art Awards. Projects at water tanks in Minlacowie and Wool Bay, both completed in the first half of last year, are nominated for Best Mega Mural and Best Rural Art respectively.

Chris Johnston. 2023 was a fantastic year for the Hub: so many highlights it’s hard to choose ... First up this year is our Instrument Makers Gallery, a special event in partnership with Newstead Live.

Wilya Ajjul Janta (we all stand strong together), is a Wumpurrarni housing organisation with its roots in Tennant Creek ... the Papulu-ku Nyinjjiki Junkurrakur Exhibition (seeing houses in Tennant Creek) ... will showcase the models that our founders and architects have designed together ...

Roger Underwood. There was an unusual event in Dryandra Forest in Western Australia in November 2023: a commemoration of 100 years of forestry management. At a large gathering in the forest, beneath the shade of a 100-year-old brown mallet plantation, speeches were made, a plaque unveiled, and this book on the history of the forest was launched.

Gai Pritchett. Whilst the world is in turmoil artist Caroline Varendorff's beautiful paintings of nature in all its purity brings a calmness to the viewer. This local artist has exhibited extensively and now brings to Yamba her collection along with Caroline's husband Paul Varendorff who has included some of his ink sketches in the show.

Elvis has left the building! Around 25,000 Elvis fans donned their bejeweled jumpsuits, poodle skirts and pompadour wigs to shake rattle and roll the week away in Parkes, New South Wales, for the 2024 Parkes Elvis Festival.

Serena Kirby. A capacity crowd turned out at Rockcliffe Winery last weekend for a memorial concert for respected local musician Colin Reeves ... “Colin and I played music together for around 40 years and he had a real passion for classical guitar,"Colin's brother Michael said ... Michael’s son, Sam Reeves, is following in his uncle’s footsteps and is lead guitarist for Night Train who played at the tribute concert.

“Visitors are welcome to our gallery where you can purchase paintings and learn more about the history of Papunya and its artists.” This message is on the Papunya Tjupi  website  and Yuendumu’s Warlukurlangu Artists  have a similar one. Meanwhile the plodding preparations continue for the bombastically named National Aboriginal Arts Gallery (NAAG) in Alice Springs.

This is the very personal life-story of a charismatic Welsh seaman who moved to Australia for love and once there became a captain of industry. The work is ‘as told to’ by Paul Simons to the writer Terry Larder and contains many anecdotes that illuminate aspects of life in wartime Britain and in postwar Australia ... Most of the book is concerned with Paul's life and career, enlivened with some quite racy anecdotes and more serious reflections on the way of the world. Paul has a sense of humour but also a strong moral sense.

A crowd of more than 300 people enjoyed Nhill’s Community Carols last Saturday evening. Perfect weather and an idyllic setting amongst the gum trees at Jaypex Park set the scene for some wonderful music and performances...

Michael Darby, Bush Poetry Champion of Australia (2023), recites the famous Australian Christmas poem, Tangmalangaloo, by John O'Brien (Msg Patrick Hartigan). Audio produced by audio engineer, Peter Kukura.

Alison Stillwell. It dominates the Kingston township skyline and is a recognised visitor experience, but the Shine On Sunday event took the Lighthouse onto the stage. Local playwright and drama teacher Amanda Stewart’s play, “Crest of the Wave”, brought the Cape Jaffa Lighthouse story alive with a very effective use of vignettes...

The Silo Art Trail (SAT) continues to evolve, and is well-regarded as Australia’s largest outdoor gallery, connecting many communities across the Wimmera Mallee ... Wycheproof’s historical Grain Elevator Board Silos (now Graincorp), officially became illuminated green in a modest yet effective unique lighting activation.

A new book about the rivers and wetlands of the Murray-Darling Basin includes information about the Upper Murray and is now on its way to thousands of primary schools across Australia. Commissioned by the Jane Goodall Institute in London and Sydney, the book was written by the Petaurus Education Group in Albury-Wodonga.

Southern Downs Poet, Marco Gliori admits that standing behind a microphone, encouraging people to smile, steering proceedings, and sharing his community's stories has become a huge part of his life. Some of the yarns he tells are inspired by local experiences, others by distant landscapes and characters he has met, whilst taking the road less travelled.

Kate Douglas School of Dance had their inaugural end-of-year showcase, and what a show it was! After only 10 months since the dance studio opened, over 100 dancers performed on stage to an audience of 500 spectators.