2 minute read
Art About Town
A snapshot of arts activity happening around the Maitland community.
BLACK AND WHITE
Georgia Hill, 'You can come back', mural, 2020. This striking mural is the latest to transform the entrance to MRAG.
From Sydney to Paris to Delhi, and now to Maitland, comes internationally acclaimed Australian multidisciplinary artist Georgia Hill. Hill is the latest artist to grace this (little) City with a largescale mural.
As you walk, hop, scoot, cycle or drive along Maitland’s High Street past MRAG, look up and enjoy, and perhaps also be reminded of Maitland-born Lucas Grogan’s blue and white murals, which were painted on the ground floor and walls of MRAG for his exhibition 'Long Story Short' before lockdown.
After the bustle in the Gallery for the opening of Grogan’s exhibition, as part of MRAG’s Autumn Season Celebration, its public display was literally cut short, but we are thrilled to now have his quilt 'The Shroud' (2016) as part of the permanent Collection.
Don’t forget to look up by day and especially by night, at Nell’s 'Made in the light – Happy Cloud and Drips' neon installation on the other side of the MRAG building, which has become a well-loved part of the City scape and gained additional meaning since COVID-19.
georgiahill.com.au
WALLS THAT TALK
'Walls That Talk' is a series of exhibitions transforming the front of Maitland City Library into a public gallery. 'Pets of Maitland' (above) was on display until August 2020, featuring nine local pets that provided love, solace, and company to Maitland residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Image courtesy Maitland City Council
Maitland City Council’s Place Activation program continues to support creative projects as part of Council’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery.
The latest exhibition of 'Walls That Talk', which transforms the front wall of Maitland City Library into a public gallery, is 'Pandemical Habits', a creative project by Grace Barnes telling the stories of nine Maitland locals who formed a healthy habit during isolation.
Grace has a design background and received grant funding for the project through Council’s Quick Response Creative Streets program.
Grace has teamed up with photographer Jedd Cranfield to develop a video and imagery to accompany each #pandemicalhabits story.
'Pandemical Habits' will be on display from the end of August until the end of October 2020. You can view current and previous 'Walls That Talk' exhibitions anytime on the Maitland Libraries website.
maitlandlibrary.com.au
ISO-MOOD
Also keep an eye out for ISO-MOOD, an interactive, kinetic sculpture that will be on display at the Bolt Gallery at 395 High Street, Maitland from September 2020.
The sculpture, representing a pixel, will keep changing with data provided by community members that displays their mood through colour and intensity.
The project is the work of Stevi Cannon and Peter Sesselmann, who were also recipients of Quick Response Creative Streets funding.
