Annual Report 2017
Message from the Chair Sue Killham
This has been a great year for Western Riverina Arts and that is in no small part thanks to the stellar work put in by my predecessor, Marg Couch. Marg’s dedication and commitment to the Board and to the development of Arts in this region has been outstanding, she left some very big shoes to fill. I am honoured to have stepped into the role of chairperson and have been thoroughly impressed with the efforts of our Western Riverina Arts welcome new board Arts team over theWestern past year. I Riverina would like to warmly Strategic Goals 2013-15 members, Sue Fordham and Jason Richardson, and to thank the board for their dedication and ongoing support of the arts and their development in this creative and vibrant region. Effective Communications
On behalf of the board I would like to applaud our fantastic staff, Regional Arts Executive Director Derek Motion and Communication and Project Encouraging Capacity Officer Miriam RystedtCommunity and to give special thanks to Liana Magrath who has been a great asset to the team during her time with Western Riverina Pathways for Arts. Developing Artists
I look forward to the challenges and successes of the coming year Audience confident in our team’s commitment to achieving the goals set out in our Development strategic plan and to fulfilling Western Riverina Art’s vision of growing audiences, encouraging community capacity and stimulating increased Arts Leadership activity in the arts in in our the region. - Susan Killham Region
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Organisational Viability
Message from the Executive Officer - Derek Motion We saw the final outcomes of some great partnership projects in 2017 – including the touring of the Willandra Three Rivers exhibition to Narrandera, and of course opening of the Warangesda: Deep Waters exhibition. Both of these projects relied upon the partnership support of the Griffith Regional Art Gallery and other community groups, and on reflecting I find that this continues to be the strength of Western Riverina Arts: we are in a unique position of being able to move across the region between our council areas and help facilitate partnerships, and therefore cultural activity. This is the work we’ve been doing in 2017 and will continue to do into 2018. Our Arts Networking evenings proved to be some of the most useful and well-attended events of the year, with four evenings held over 2017 (Narrandera, Leeton, Griffith and Jerilderie). These evenings have allowed us to present information to the community but more importantly they have been a space where people have met and talked for the first time, building connections and ideas. Our experience in managing arts projects across the entire region has been growing each year, and our Board and staff are as always committed to delivering good cultural outcomes for our region. Working together with Government, artists, community groups and local residents has enabled us to meet many of our strategic priorities in 2017. We will continue to do this as we move into 2018 and another period of strategic planning for the future. - Derek Motion
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About Western Riverina Arts
Western Riverina Arts supports and facilitates arts and cultural initiatives in the Leeton, Griffith, Narrandera and Murrumbidgee Shire Councils. We are a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the development and promotion of arts in our region.
Launched in 2011, WRA is part of a network of 14 Regional Arts Boards in NSW, overseen by Regional Arts NSW. Western Riverina Arts is funded by the NSW State Government through Create NSW, and works in close partnership with our member councils. Our goal at WRA is to connect creative communities by initiating strategic projects, engaging and supporting our local artists and working closely with our community groups. This annual report presents the projects and work done by Western Riverina Arts in 2017.
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Our Board
Sue Killham - Chair Narrandera Shire Council Representative
Julie Briggs - Vice Chair - Narrandera Shire Community Representative
Margaret Couch - Board Member Anne Napoli - Griffith City Council Representative Penny Davies - Leeton Shire Council Representative Faith Bryce - Murrumbidgee Shire Council Representative Jason Richardson - Leeton Shire Community Representative Kerrie Weymouth - Murrumbidgee Shire Community Representative Anthony Morton - Co-opted Member, Solicitor Sue Fordham - Griffith Shire Community Representative Derek Motion (staff) - Executive Officer Miriam Rystedt (staff) - Projects and Communications Officer
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Communications
In 2017 Projects and Communications Officer Miriam Rystedt continued her good work in promoting arts and cultural events held by Western Riverina Arts and other groups and organisations in our regions. She also produced quality video content, further boosting our social media presence. Miriam went on maternity leave in August and was relieved by Liana Magrath for the remainder of 2017. Liana has worked in the region previously with the Griffith Regional Art Gallery and has graphic design skills and communications experience. Both Comms Officers continued to implement the Western Riverina Arts communications strategy which included: - regular updating of the WRA website - implementation of the social media strategy - preparation of regular newspaper columns - produce print material for exhibitions - development and distribution of the fortnightly e-newsletter.
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Social Media Stats: - 1769 Facebook followers - Avg weekly Facebook reach: 2,194 users - 1,120 Instagram followers - 750 Twitter followers - 3,639 total social media followers
Pathways for Artists and Creative Communities
Western Riverina Arts creates pathways for local artists and creative communities by providing opportunities to engage in projects and initiatives that develop skills and creative capacity. In 2017 WRA was successful in attaining a Regional Arts Fund through the Federal Government to implement ‘Activating Narrrandera Arts’, a 2 year program of visual art exhibitions designed to engage local artists and curators to utilise the newly established Narrandera Arts and Community Centre. 2017’s exhibitions included Re//Creating, and Crossing Streams. Other projects and initiatives that were delivered in 2017 included Warangesda: Deep Waters and Wilandra Three Rivers at the Narrandera Arts Centre and various workshops with local artists.
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Willandra Three Rivers
Willandra Three Rivers was a 2016 project that we started off the year by showing at the Narrandera Arts Centre. Based on Willandra National Park the exhibition was a collaboration of work produced by artists from different areas of regional NSW, including Melanie Baulch, Treahna Hamm, Chris Kunko, Gabirella Hegyes, Kerri Keymouth, Cory McKenzie, Robert Moss, Jack Randell and Jo-ann Southorn who all worked alongside each other during 2015-16 to produce the works for the exhibition.
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Re//Creating
The first exhibition of the Activating Narrandera Arts program was Re//Creating, a collaborative exhibition of work by all female artists, curated by local artists Sarah McEwan of the CAD Factory, and Julie Montgarret of the school of Communication and Creative Industries at Charles Sturt University. Re//Creating was a contemporary exhibition of work by 23 female Riverina artists and was the third and final exhibition developed and curated by McEwan and Montgarret addressing the issue of gender inequalities in the creative industries. The artists involved in the exhibition included emerging and established artists in dialogue with contemporary art. Re//Creating was shown at the Narrandera Arts Centre in May 2017, during this time an artist talk was also held with Sarah McEwan and several artists, this gave the general public the opportunity to engage with the exhibition on a deeper level and come to understand the themes underlying the artworks.
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Warangesda: Deep Waters
Warangesda: Deep Waters was a project developed over 10 months, it was based on the Warangesda mission at Darlington Point, a significant cultural site for the Wiradjuri people. Local Aboriginal artists were engaged with the project which included a site visit to Warangesda to view the remains of the misson, workshops with Treahna Hamm and Mel Evans to produce artworks for the exhibition, a visit to Wagga for a workshop with the weavers group, and dance workshops with Kerry Johnson to produce performances for the exhibition opening. Warangesda was a joint project between Western Riverina Arts, the Griffith Regional Art Gallery, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The exhibition was held at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery with an estimated 150 people in attendance for the official opening in July. The exhibition was then shown at the Narrandera Arts Centre in September.
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Crossing Streams
Crossing Streams was shown at the Narrandera Arts and Community Centre as part of the Activating Narrandera Arts program. Curated by local artist Jason Richardson the exhibition was an end result of a project based on Haiku, a traditional form of Japanese poetry formatted in 3 lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables. Jason facilitated workshops earlier in the year working with local Narrandera residents developing the Haiku poems. Twitter and email were also used to submit Haiku which came from locals aged from 8 to 65 years old. The Haiku were then sent to Naviar Records in London, and Disquiet Junto in San Francisco to be distributed to musicians who created musical responses. Recordings came from all over the world including the United States, Canada, UK, France, Czech Republic and Australia. Jason also captured images from around Narrandera which reflected the themes in the Haiku.
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The exhibition was shown at the Narrandera Arts Centre in October and also included a second exhibition; Slow Book Haiku, a collaboration between Dr Greg Pritchard, who wrote the Haiku, and Kelly Leonard who wove the poetry into fabric form. The exhibition opening drew a large crowd and included a live musical performance of Fiona Caldarevic’s composition by pianist Mary Sutcliffe and Elizabeth Walsh on Viola. Three workshops were also held during the exhibition: a writing workshop facilitated by Dr Greg Pritchard, another writing workshop with Peita Vincent a weaving workshop facilitated by Kelly Leonard.
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Audience Development and Community Engagement
Western Riverina Arts encourages audience development and community engagement in the region by hosting events that encourage participation, networking and engagement in creative activities. In 2017 Western Riverina Arts provided such opportunities through the following initiatives: - Networking Sessions in Leeton, Griffith and Jerilderie - Free production of Diary of a Wombat for local school children at the Roxy Community Theatre - Co-hosting a poetry evening and poetry slam at the Griffith City Library, - Assisting with Leeton Library’s Sunday Soiree poetry events, - Co-hosting a professional development event with staff members from Create NSW at the Griffith Regional Theatre.
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WRA Networking Sessions: In 2017 Western Riverina Arts hosted 3 networking sessions in our local area, this included Leeton, Griffith and our newest member Jerilderie. The sessions were well attended with approximately 85 people over the three events. 14 guest speakers spoke at these networking sessions and gave insight into the work they do, their practice, and their involvement in the art community. Diary of a Wombat In May 2017 Western Riverina Arts hosted a performance of Monkey Baa Theatre Company’s production of ‘Diary of a Wombat’ for local schools. The performance was held at the Roxy Leeton Community Theatre and free entry was offered by WRA for 2 performances which attracted over 800 children from schools from around the region. Immediately after the performances the actors held a question and answer session with the children and allowed them to interact with the puppet used in the show.
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Create NSW visit In May 2017 Create NSW sent out a team of professionals to Griffith to give local arts and cultural workers and practitioners the opportunity to learn more about the 2017/2018 Arts and Cultural Development Program and the available funding opportunities. Our Comms Officer Miriam was a key organiser of the event, along with Raymond Wholohan of the Griffith Regional Art Gallery. The event was held in the Burley Griffin Room at the Griffith Regional Theatre and was a great success with plenty in attendance.
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Poetry Events In 2017 Western Riverina Arts assisted local partners to deliver several poetry events including a Poetry Slam and open mic night at the Griffith City Library, and several ‘Sunday Siorees’ at the Leeton Library. Feature writers Nathaniel O’Reilly from the US and poetry slam champion Zohab Zee Khan were engaged in these events, as well as local established and emerging poets and writers.
Leadership, Advocacy and Advice
In 2017 Western Riverina Arts provided leadership advocacy and advice for various groups and organisations delivering arts and cultural initiatives in the region. The most notable being the formation of the Murrumbidgee Regional Conservatorium of Music, and the Leeton Public Art Project. Murrumbidgee Regional Conservatorium of Music: In March 2017 a steering committee met to form the Murrumbidgee Regional Conservatorium of Music based in Griffith. Our Executive Officer Derek Motion, was appointed as Vice-Chair due to his knowledge and experience of the arts and music. The committee are working towards getting a Conservatorium up and running in order to provide local people with the opportunity to access professional music training, and also to provide professional development opportunities for local people wanting to be music teachers. This was in response to the expressed need for a music conservatorium in the region. Leeton Public Art Project In 2017 Western Riverina Arts provided support to Leeton Shire Council with their Public Art Project in which funding was gained to commission the development and installation of 5 public artworks in the region. Western Riverina Arts supported this project by providing a letter of support for funding, attended meetings to develop the plan and Expression of Interest form, and finally provided input in the selection of artworks.
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Representation and Professional Development
Representation: In April 2017 Derek attended the Cementa Arts Festival in Kandos NSW. This was to gain professional development experience, to network, and Derek also participated by reading some of his poetry. Derek met Alex Wisser at Cementa who is commissioned to deliver an exhibition for the Activating Narrandera Arts Project in 2018. In December 2017 Derek and Comms Officer Liana attended Artstate Lismore which is the Regional Arts NSW annual conference. This provided an opportunity to network with other arts workers from the state and to learn about the projects taking place in Australia and internationally. Professional Development: In May 2017 Derek attended the Australia Council Governance Program in Western Sydney. This was to gain advice on how to effectively govern board-run organisations and manage community events. Over several months Griffith graphic designer Jenna Knowles was employed to work with Derek and Miriam and teach them how to use Adobe Creative Suite products. These skills are useful in the development of digital and print visual material such as posters, logos and social media images.
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Credits Image credits: Front Cover: ‘An Earthmoving Performance’ 2017 by Ashleigh McDonald. Part of the Re//Creating exhibition. Warangesda exhibition at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery, photo by Derek Motion. Title page: Wilandra Sunset by Derek Motion. Page 1: Photo: Sue Killham collection, text: Sue Killham Page 2: RADO Derek Motion. Image: Joshua Thomas; Text: Derek Motion. Page 3: State map courtesy of Regional Arts NSW. WRA vehicle, photo by Derek Motion. Page 4: WRA Board, back left to right: Miriam Rystedt, Derek Motion, Julie Briggs (VC), Anthony Morton, Jason Richardson, Faith Bryce, Anne Napoli, Penny Davies. Front left to right: Sue Killham (Chair), Marg Couch, Kerrie Weymouth. Image by Western Riverina Arts. Page 5: pen and paper, stock image from Pexels.com. Snippet of WRA Newsletter post on WRA’s Instagram page. Page 6: top: weaving workshop with Kelly Leonard at the Narrandera Arts Centre. Photo by Kelly Leonard. Bottom: Jack Randell screenprinting at a Wilandra workshop. Photo by Miriam Rystedt. Page 7: top: ‘Wilandra Tracking 1’ by Kerry Weymouth. Detail ‘Wilandra Moth Dreaming 1’ by Cory McKenzie. Photo of artists at the Wilandra: Three Rivers exhibition opening at the Narrandera Arts Centre. From left: Derek Motion, Jack Randell, Joanne Southorn, Kerrie Weymouth, Marg Couch. Photo by Miriam Rystedt. Page 8: Recreating exhibition. Top: ‘Untitled (Suicide Flowers)’ 2017 by Casey Ankers, photo by Derek Motion. Yinaagalang Walambang (Women Very Strong) 2016-17 by Casey Ankers and Lorraine Tye, photo by Derek Motion . ‘Lockie, Fleur and the Emu 2016-17 by Gail Manderson, photo by Derek Motion. Page 9: Top: Kerry Johnson performance at the opening of Warangesda: Deep Waters @ the Griffith Regional Art Gallery, photo by Miriam Rystedt. Bottom: Wiradjuri elders at a Warangesda workshop, photo by Miriam Rystedt. Page 10: From top: Warangesda exhibition view at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery, photo by Derek Motion. Still from a Warangesda weaving gathering video by Miriam Rystedt. Woven fish by the AMS Woman’s Group. Aunty Heather Edwards addressing the audience at the opening of Warangesda at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery, photo by Miriam Rystedt. Warangesda remains, photo by Miriam Rystedt. Page 11: top: Image by Jason Richardson. bottom: Mary Sutcliffe and Elizabeth Walsh at the opening of Crossing Streams at the Narrandera Arts Centre, photo by Liana Magrath. Page 12: from top: Dr Greg Pritchard and Kelly Leonard at the opening of Slow Book Haiku at the Narrandera Arts Centre, photo by Derek Motion. Image by Jason Richardson, poem by Eden Richardson, photo by Derek Motion. Patrons viewing image and poem by Jason Richardson, photo by Derek Motion. Page 13: top: Anthea da Silva presenting at the Griffith Networking Session at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery, photo by Derek Motion. Bottom: Sos Hawkins talking about the dot painting she co-created with 3 female family members in 1999, held at the Jerilderie Council Chambers. photo by Derek Motion. Page 14: top: Jerilderie networking sesson at ‘Ye Olde Bank’ Jerilderie. Photo by Derek Motion. Bottom: the cast of Monkey Baa Theatre company’s production of ‘Diary of a Wombat’ at the Roxy Leeton Community Theatre, photo by Miriam Rystedt. A scene from the production, proto by Miriam Rystedt. Page 15: top: Sue Killham, Ray Wholohan and Miriam Rystedt with the Create NSW team. Image by Western Riverina Artists. Left: Zobab Zee Khan performing at the Griffith City Library. Photo courtesy of Griffith City Library. Page 16: Derek Motion and Penny Davis in front of the Leeton Visitors Information Centre. Courtesy Leeton Irrigator. Page 17: Miriam Rystedt, Jenna Knowles and Derek Motion during an Adobe Illustrator workshop. Photo by Western Riverina Arts. Page 18: top to bottom: Kerry Johnson and dancers at the opening of Warangesda: Deep Waters at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery photo by Miriam Rystedt. Create NSW Workshop at the Griffith Regional Theatre, photo by Miriam Rystedt. Networking session at ‘Ye Olde Bank’ Jerilderie, photo by Derek Motion. Artists involved in the Re//Creating exhibition. Back left to right: Angela Coombs, Natalie Louise Power, Lorraine Tye, Adele Packer, Melinda Schiller, Emma Piltz, Julie Briggs. Front left to right: Sarah McEwan, Jacko Meyers, Melanie Evans and Gail Manderson. Photo by Miriam Rystedt. Text, layout and design by Liana Magrath.
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