In celebration of all that the New England Highlands has to offer, the first inaugural North West Arts Trail Open Weekend is shaping up to be a wonderful weekend of culture, creativity and cuisine.
The Open Weekend will give visitors and locals the opportunity to explore artist studios, galleries, museums and cultural venues in the Glen Innes and Tenterfield region on the weekend of 21st and 22nd of July.
Steph McIntosh, Communications Officer with Arts North West explains that “anyone visiting the area on the Open Weekend can create a personalized route and stop off at the various venues on the map. Whether you are interested in arts, history or Aboriginal culture, there is huge diversity in the range of wonderful and welcoming venues on the trail, including Chill N Glen Festival, an open studio in Deepwater, local produce in Tenterfield and much more in-between. There is no better excuse to rug up and enjoy the enchanting spirit of winter in the Highlands.”
The hardcopy map will be distributed throughout the region in the first week of July with the online map becoming available here www.artsnw.com.au/open-weekend-map on the 3rd of July.
The Art of Making Old Markings New
The Making Old Markings New exhibition opening at the Armidale Aboriginal Cultural and Keeping Place on June 7 is the result of a two year project run by the Arts North West Aboriginal Cultural Support Program with funds from the Aboriginal Regional Arts Fund through Create NSW.
The Making Old Markings New project was facilitated by Aboriginal Project Manager Pene Riggs and provided professional skills development to four Anaiwan and Kamilaroi artists; Adele Chapman-Burgess, Lorrayne Riggs, Rod McIntosh and Nick Levy.
The artists worked with staff Rebecca Fisher and Sharni Jones from the Australian Museum and Professor June Ross from the University of New England to explore objects and mark making traditions from the New England North West, and to visit rock art sites in the New England, applying this rediscovered knowledge to their professional contemporary arts practice.
The group visited the Australian Museum to view the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collection, receiving a tour of collection storage rooms with special focus on the artefacts from the New England and North West region. This was a very moving experience for everyone involved, inciting many different emotions within the group.
Artist Rod McIntosh said he felt “privileged to be part of such a unique arts project that reinforced the importance of cultural art and identity connected to our country and traditional boundaries. To see such various places, sites and artefacts that many people of our Tribal Nations may not see is such an honour”
Along with Professor June Ross, the group also visited several rock art sites in the North England region including Wattle Ridge Guyra, Mt Yarrowyck, Goonoowigall, Inverell and Boundary Rock Moonbi to view the traditional mark making symbols and techniques that make the New England North west region unique. Throughout these visits the group was accompanied by traditional custodians and Elders of the area.
The Making Old Markings New exhibition expresses a strengthened connection of the artists to their culture as they share their journey and discoveries of the project through the creation of new artworks.
The exhibition will open at 6pm on 7 June at the Armidale Aboriginal Cultural and Keeping Place until 23 July.
All things new at Arts North West
May 2018 has been a busy one for Arts North West. Following a comprehensive review of its governance structure, Arts North West elected a new skills-based Board at its AGM held on 11 May. The new Board of Management consists of nine members with the 2017 Chair Anna Watt (Glen Innes) re-elected to the position of chair, Sandy McNaughton (Inverell) as Vice-Chair, Sue Price (Moree) as Treasurer and Chris Newbigin (Inverell) as Secretary/Public Officer. Previous board members Hayley Ward (Armidale) and Vivien Clyne (Moree) will continue in 2018 and new to the Board are Peter Ross (Tamworth), Len Waters (Tamworth) and Sally Blackwood (Quirindi). We are delighted to have a diverse set of skills on the Board, from financial to legal as well as arts management in music, visual arts and theatre. The new Board structure also includes a second tier, the Strategic Advisory Council, which comprises a delegate from each of our contributing Local Government Authorities as well as four community arts organisation representatives. Arts North West is looking forward to working together to drive creativity in our communities.
And there have been more changes. After more than ten years above the Glen Innes Tourist Information Centre you can now find Arts North West at 16 East Avenue, in the beautiful Glen Innes King George Parklands. The new move will give Arts North West a more noticeable presence in the Glen Innes community and a more accessible location for staff and visitors. Our contact details remain the same.
Finally we would also like to welcome a new member of staff – Christine Davis as our new Admin Assistant.
Christine brings with her a wealth of experience in not for profit organisations and administration tasks, previously working for New England North West Landcare and Queensland Murray-Darling Committee.
Cultural Tourism Workshop for the Aboriginal Community
Dhiiyaan Aboriginal Centre
Balo Street, Moree
5 June @ 10am - 3pm
Do you need help converting your idea into an action? This is an entry level workshop for Aboriginal entrepreneurs who are considering entering the cultural tourism industry.
Lorrayne Riggs, Arts North West Aboriginal Arts Officer, will take you through the basic steps on how to make the most out of your cultural tourism idea.
If you have a specific idea in mind we recommend you contact Lorrayne on 0467 668 977 to have a chat before the workshop to discuss your idea.