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21 FEBRUARY, 2023
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Family life inspires art
Tam Bower is hosting an exhibition at STACC.(Damjan Janevski) 318867_01
Tam Bower’s children are her biggest inspiration – in fact her days at home with them have inspired the drawings behind her solo exhibition which opens at the St Albans Community Centre later this week. ‘At the end of the day’ is a series of drawings about Bower’s days with her children, encompassing all aspects of family life and their childhood. Bower often spends time in the studio with her children conceding that “they always have the best ideas”. Bower moved from South Australia to Melbourne 10 years ago and worked in early childhood until she had her own children. It was then she realised that she wanted to follow her passion for creating art. Over the years, Bower has taken part in a number of group exhibitions across Melbourne, but ‘At the end of the day’ will be her first solo exhibition, something she can’t quite believe. “The news hasn’t really set in yet.” ‘At the end of the day’ opens on Friday, February 24 and is on display until Wednesday, April 12.
Push to protect gardens
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A Brimbank resident has started an online petition calling for changes to the Melbourne Airport Rail plans amid concerns the current proposal will impact the heritage-listed HV McKay Memorial Gardens. Cat McDonald started the petition which is address to Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan calling for changes to the rail plan made near the gardens. The proposed route has the Sunbury and Bendigo tain lines moved within the rail corridor to make space for the new rail tracks and elevated over Anderson Road, and a new pedestrian bridge.
In addition, a jet fuel pipeline will be relocated from the gardens to the other side of the rail corridor, avoiding the need to build a large concrete retaining wall next to the gardens. An embankment will instead be constructed next to the gardens. Ms McDonald said she felt the community needed to know what was going on at the gardens, which were built in 1909 for the local workers. “Contrary to all previous information provided to the public, Melbourne Airport Rail proposes to slice off a section of the garden along its entire length, removing a famous existing garden bed and remaining heritage items, construct a batter
embankment, removing the most historically significant relationship between the gardens and the harvester factory site,” the petition stated. Ms McDonald said up until December, she and other residents had believed the rail line would be built on the outer edge of the rail corridor, away from the gardens and they wanted to maintain some visual connection between the gardens and the harvester site. She said part of the area that would be lost is heritage-listed. =The Melbourne Airport Rail project is working closely with Heritage Victoria to obtain the necessary permit approvals. “[The Department of Transport] don’t seem to care, they don’t give a damn about
Sunshine,” she said. “They’ve known about the gardens since they started. They knew that they had to go past them. “I hope the local community gets behind this.” A Rail Projects Victoria spokesperson said the organisation was proud of its community engagement and has worked with the Friends of HV McKay Gardens and Brimbank council on further improvements to the gardens. “The project team is excited to share these details with the Sunshine and Albion community soon,” the spokesperson said. “We recognise a few in the area are opposed to the project and do not represent either the Sunshine and Albion community, nor the Friends of HVMcKay Gardens organisation.”
Find a Kinder Program near you. There is still time to enrol for the 2023 kindergarten year. Find services offering approved kindergarten programs by scanning the QR code. Find out more at vic.gov.au/kinder
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By Tara Murray