NEWS DESK Shire’s Funding Finder website
On show: A Collection of Stranger Things exhibition can be viewed online at mprg. mornpen.vic.gov.au
Art lovers invited online
LIKE galleries and museums across the country, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery is closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, content from its exhibitions can be viewed online, including a free publication of A Collection of Stranger Things. In this showing artist and collector Patrick Pound drew out works from the MPRG collection and displayed them alongside his own collection of photographs and objects. In a podcast, Pound explains his collection methodology and how the collection became the medium. An online publication of With a Little Help from our Friends showcases works acquired by the Friends of MPRG since 1996. Money raised through memberships and friends events have gone towards buying works on paper by artists Gareth Sansom, Fiona McMonagle, Catherine Cassidy and Raymond Arnold for the MPRG Collection. Peninsula artist Sophie Perez’s exhibition The landscape In Between will be supplemented with a podcast and in-studio demonstration video
this month. The deadline for submissions to the 2020 National Works on Paper has been extended until 19 July. Leading artists display works in drawing, printmaking, digital prints and paper sculpture. Prizes total $50,000 in acquisitions and awards (including the major acquisitive award of $15,000). When the gallery reopens to the public it will be launching MPRG: Fifty, a major exhibition and publication that highlights the development and growth of its collection. This year is the 50th anniversary of the first work acquired for MPRG’s collection by founding director Alan McCulloch. Over that time the collection has grown to include more than 1800 objects, including paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures. A focus is the cultural heritage of the peninsula, which has been a haven and source of inspiration for artists, including Fred Williams, Albert Tucker and Arthur Boyd, since the 1850s. Visit: mprg.mornpen.vic.gov.au
A FREE online service has been launched to help individuals, businesses and community organisations to easily identify and access government funding, as well as philanthropic grant programs. Mornington Peninsula Shire’s Funding Finder website includes a page dedicated to gathering the many COVID-19 funding opportunities into one place. This one-stop-shop approach aims to save time and effort on research. Users can create favourites lists, receive direct email alerts from their areas of interest and keep abreast of all funding opportunities and deadlines. The website also offers advice and tips for finding and applying for grants to maximise the chances of success. It allows users to filter their search to a specific location, industry or type of project. “Now more than ever it’s important that individuals, businesses and organisations know what financial support is available to them and how to apply for it,” the mayor Cr Sam Hearn said. “The Funding Finder is a great support tool. It will go a long way to taking time and stress out of searching for community and business funding. “I encourage anyone in our community looking for financial support for a project or business to use this tool to help them in their search.” He said the free service was suited to local businesses, not-for-profits, community groups, sporting organisations and individuals. Visit : mornpen.vic. gov.au/fundingfinder
Coming clean: Chief’s Son Distillery employees Stacey Penny and Martyn Ashton have helped make the switch from whisky to hand sanitiser. Picture: Supplied
Distiller cleans up with new line IT’S like a career change, or a sea change for staff at Chief’s Son Distillery, Somerville. While they usually produce single malt whisky, a shortage of hand sanitiser has opened a new product line that is benefiting the business and the community. “We significantly retooled so that we could help the local community in the battle against COVID-19 and continue to employ our staff,” the distillery’s Naomi McIntosh said. “Our primary aim is to provide medical grade hand sanitiser to front line medical and emergency services workers, to the vulnerable in the community, to businesses so that they can keep their workers safe and remain open, and to households on the Morn-
ington Peninsula. “We have supplied sanitiser to the Somerville Basket Initiative from which all profits of the first 20 baskets will be going to the nurses at Frankston Hospital.” Ms McIntosh said mainstream producers of hand sanitiser would soon be able to supply supermarkets on the peninsula in a “top-down approach”. “We have been able to supply hand sanitiser from the bottom up meaning we are able to quickly and effectively support the local community and local business,” she said. “We have been able to ensure that medical grade sanitiser is available in the community, and able to keep our staff on during these uncertain times.” Stephen Taylor
‘A high performing provider of education on the Mornington Peninsula’ As the highest performing secondary school on the Mornington Peninsula, Dromana College will continue to work tirelessly to develop and consolidate the many exemplary educational programs on offer. With outstanding facilities, a committed professional staff and a caring school community, students are challenged to explore their interests and talents to achieve their personal best.
Open Night
Tuesday 28 April 2020 at 6.00pm
D E N O P T S O P T OPEN NIGH
‘Lessons come from the journey ...not the destination’ 110 Harrisons Road, Dromana, Victoria 3936
PH: 03 5987 2805 E: dromana.sc@education.vic.gov.au W: www.dsc.vic.edu.au
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Mornington News 21 April 2020