Art flutters into Blackwood

By Lachlan Ellis

A Blackwood artist has had one of her pieces displayed publicly by Moorabool Shire Council, showcasing themes of connection with the environment, and displaying a local avian resident.

Kathy Holowko’s ‘Water is Life’ has been put up on Martin Street in Blackwood as part of the 2023 edition of Council’s ‘Paste Ups Program’, with the three-dimension diorama depicting fairy wrens nesting by a waterway.

Ms Holowko said it was fantastic to see her work on display in her hometown.

"I live in Blackwood so it’s lovely to be able to contribute a work locally. The artwork is three dimensional, with layers of images and objects utilising the museum trope of the diorama to create a replica of an ecosystem. It includes natural history illustrations captured in the pristine environment of 18th century Australia. I view it as a contemporary interpretation that reflects upon the idea that a healthy waterway is the lifeblood of a habitat, that allows plants and animals to flourish...

including the human animal,” Ms Holowko told the Moorabool News.

We are very lucky in Blackwood to live in animal habitat, that’s the way I see it anyway. The fairy wren is a local resident that provides us with ‘encounter value’ – a scientific term used to describe the meaningful worth in chance meetings with wild animals. It is a way to understand and appreciate these moments that we get to experience because of the life blood that is the Lerderderg River provides.”

Council's Paste Ups Program seeks to create public spaces that are unique and engaging and offer immersive creative experiences for the community.

Other artworks pasted up around Moorabool for the 2023 edition of the program include Adam Bennet’s ‘Beryl’ at The Shambles in Gordon, Min Chiang’s ‘Carnival Undersea’ at First National Rayner in Bacchus Marsh, and Samantha Thompson’s ‘From Above’ at the Ballan Mechanics Institute.

For more information on the Paste Ups Program, visit www.moorabool.vic.gov.au/PUP.

By Lachlan Ellis

A local primary school that has served the community for more than a century has sadly announced that it will ring the bell for the final time, later this year.

St Brendan’s Primary School Dunnstown announced on Monday 19 June that the Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Ltd (DOBCEL) had made the difficult decision to close the school at the end of the 2023 school year, after providing the children of Dunnstown and surrounds with quality education for over 160 years.

In a statement, Executive Director of the school, Tom Sexton, said families would “be supported in their preferred school choice for 2024 with a number of alternative Catholic schools within close proximity”.

“Similarly, the staff of St Brendan’s will be fully supported to understand their options and career opportunities, including redeployment within other Ballarat Catholic school, if desired,” Mr Sexton added.

St Brendan’s Principal Inez French told the Moorabool News last week that the decision had unfortunately come about due to low enrolments.

“The staff and community received the news two weeks ago that St Brendan’s would be closing at the end of the 2023 school year. The children, parents, staff,

West Moorabool Ward Councillor Tom Sullivan, whose ward includes Dunnstown, said he was “disappointed and saddened” by the news, but hoped the “resilient” community of Dunnstown would celebrate the school’s achievements over many years.

“It’s unfortunate they were unable to keep it open, it’s sad when you see institutions like that, have been part and parcel of Dunnstown through the good and bad times, to be no more. It highlights the inability for these towns to grow over a long period of time, being in a water catchment. A constraint has been put on townships like Dunnstown, Bungaree, and Wallace, the latter two of which we’ve been trying to get sewerage for,” Cr Sullivan said.

“The limitation of growth is the fundamental, root cause of all this, it didn’t happen overnight. It’s been probably 40 years in the making, with the limitation on growth by the water authorities over that journey, trying to stop any sort of development.”

The school plans to hold celebrations towards the end of the year to acknowledge and reflect on the past 160 years at St Brendan’s.

“We will recognise the valued contributions of past and present families and staff,” Ms French said.

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