Arts Report 2018

Artists:

Juliet Jae Statues & Arts Village Gate

Taisha Reid Fire Circle Gate

Christine Dhen & Coral Larke CELT Circle of Elementary Light and Transformation

Tania Moresman Labyrinth

Bruce Pinney Wooden Curiosities

Hazel Davies Dessert Pea Shrine

Murray Patermoster Sound Garden and Bubbles

Support for artists.

Tania Morsman

Encouragement Reflection through photographic documentation Trailers and cars to transport logs Ample time

What made the difference to Tania’s work was the support she received from Peter Cruise. As soon as he heard her desire to build a Labyrinth he encouraged her to start. He did this by walking with her to find the perfect location and listened to her ideas, when he sensed her hesitation he gently coaxed her forward. Eventually Tania surprised us all by the sheer scope of her installation and the work involved to produce, many people commented that they wouldn’t have been able to keep up with her tenacity and ability to lift fallen branches for hours on end. During the build, Peter took photos and this helped Tania gain perspective and make adjustments. The Labyrinth was a great success and was consistently used. Many people enjoyed the walk through the mystical tour of self discovery.

Juliet Jae

Support

Self supporting. Use of heavy machinery, front end loader and tractor. Ample time during set up while waiting for the John Deere tractor to arrive.

Juliet is an all rounder with an ability to produce a whole gamut of things. Her work was self funded and used her own tools. Juliet doesn’t plan her artwork, her methodology is spontaneous and intuitive, needing to work when the inspiration strikes. The author of this paper believes that Juliet is an artist who could become a well known Australian name and even though she enjoys working the tractor, I believe DTE needs to commandeer her away from heavy machinery and replace gear sticks with paint brushes, to actively seek out what she needs for the cultural enrichment of ConFest.

Christine Dhen & Coral Larke

Support

Gained funding from DTE to cover paint and sanding disks. Orga operator dug holes for the installation Had support from Michael to erect the installation

Juliet excavated and delivered sand

Having waited for budget approval from DTE 6 weeks prior to ConFest meant that there was not enough time to work adequately, this meant the need to travel to and fro site numerous times, this increased the expense due to fuel costs, added to stress levels and wasn’t ready by the time ConFest started. Had funding and approval been available during December the work could have been done over the holiday period at one long stretch. Instead the work was done our usual jobs.

Taisha Reid

Funding A dedicated crew

Taisha Reid is an organiser extraordinaire and gathered a talented and hard working team around her. The Fire Gate was erected within a short time frame and stands testament to good planning.

Bruce Pinney

Funding for paint. Support from the Arts Village allowing him to concentrate on his installation and not worry

about the usual set up work he performs.Bruce’s work was quirky and fun. Being part of the set up team enabled adequate time to devote to the project. He was relieved that the Arts Village team didn’t look down on him for not doing the work that he usually does, that did not stop him from feeling guilty though.

Hazel Davies

Funding Support from Aboriginal Relationships.

Murray Paternoster

Funding Giant Bubble workshop

Summary

$4595 was the total amount of funding given for installations made specifically for ConFest 2018, this is minute for a festival. Most was made from a construct of wood that grew on site, either left over timber from milling days or fallen branches. Juliet, Tania and Bruce’s work demonstrated what can be achieved when working as artists in residency. Coral & Christine found the DTE budget model inhibited their ability to produce art to their potential. That it suitable for artists to be given approval way ahead of the usual seven weeks prior to ConFest.

Photographers

Gerard Wills

Murray Paternoster

Bianca Anderson

James Henderson

Coral Larke

Art at ConFest works best when it

Invites you to experience

Asks you to enter

Inspires an offering

Inspires Children

Is created from the environment

Enables the viewer to look at painful truths and hidden histories

Raises social awareness

A

Defines a village

Is quirky, fun and whimsical

Becomes a land mark

A collaborative effort

Points you to the moon

Points you to the sunrise

Encourages a viewer to look from the inside out

Awakens the senses