Jerome Davenport Mural Project

The Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council's latest collaboration project will be starting next week at the Hopetoun Primary School!! Such an amazing opportunity to have a visiting artist to the school. Watch this space for updates on the project.

 

The Art of Maths

During the Wildflower Show this year the Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council (RRAC) hosted husband and wife team Christina Harrison and Karl Richards’ “Art of Maths” exhibition in the Ravensthorpe Town Hall from Monday 14^th September to Thursday 17^th.

The exhibition was a collection of artwork inspired by the pair’s extensive travel, particularly through South America and the ways in which different cultures and communities incorporated maths concepts into their lives. It culminated into a colourful and intriguing display of drawings, paintings and lino cuts.

Students from Ravensthorpe, Hopetoun and Jerdacuttup attended workshops with the artist (Christina) and mathematician (Karl) throughout the exhibition and explored mathematical patterns in nature and ways of using art to express and record personal experiences. Hopetoun and Jerdacuttup schools were provided with free buses from the RRAC’s Lotterywest Regional Audience Travel Fund.

RRAC would like to thank the schools and the staff who made it possible for the students to have this unique experience, as well as the volunteers who gave their time to set up and pack away the exhibition.

Artist Christina Harrison with students in the hands on part of the workshop.

Latin Squares, Music and Visual Inquiry...its all Maths guys!

Christina and Karl (Doctor and Mathematician) speak about how maths concepts are incorporated into nature.

Whilst the talk was somewhat interesting to most; this was by far the favourite part for everyone:)

Another Awesome Art Exhibition!

This year the annual art exhibition run by the Ravensthorpe District Art Group in the tiny little Dunnart Gallery was once again full of quality local art. We had 33 entries by 14 artists. The exhibition ran throughout the Wildflower Show as usual and received almost 500 visitors during that time. It was especially nice to have two school groups come through and view the works.

The awards night was held on Friday 11th September and, although attendance was down this year it was still a great night. Guest Judge, Sue Leighton had been up earlier in the week to judge the entries; no mean feat since everything was of a very high standard. Sue, who was not able to see the artists’ names during the judging, spent a couple of hours deliberating which works deserved to be awarded. Shire CEO Ian Fitzgerald however, did not take long to find a favourite for the annual Shire Acquisition Award!

Congratulations to Siska Gutteridge for winning the Shire Acquisition Award with her oil painting “Cocanarup”. The new B4TV category sponsored by Kerry and Ian Dickinsen was won by Mel Daw with her acrylic painting “Please Don’t Put ‘im in the Pot Nan!” and the Young Achiever Award was won by Cassidy Chambers with her acrylic painting “Raider and Traveller”.

Other winners were Colin Hughes for 3D sculpture with “A Light Snack”, Lynnell Belli for Mixed Media with “Faith”; Nola Peterson for Painting with the gorgeous “Blossom Surprise”, Elfie Venter won Textiles with her “Flowers” embroidery and Sarah McKie won the drawing category with her pastel “Keeping Watch”. This year we only had 3 children’s entries so they were all awarded a prize for their efforts; Judge Sue was very impressed by the upcoming talents! Congratulations to Seth Francis, Harmony Daw and Amberley Daw (your Art teacher is also very impressed by the way).

On the completion of the exhibition last weekend we can announce with pleasure that Iris Munro is the lucky winner of this year’s beautiful quilt raffle, once again donated by our very own talented Mrs Judy Harp. The winner of the popular vote was, for the very first time a children’s entrant and by quite a few votes was Harmony Daw for her 3D “Dragon”. Other most popular artworks were Siska’s “Cocanarup” and Cassidy’s “Raider and Traveller”.

The Ravensthorpe District Art Group would like to thank everyone who supported the exhibition this year and particularly those who volunteered to open the gallery when we could not; due to a number of reasons we were down to a skeleton crew of 3, so we very much needed and appreciate your help!

Save the date of Friday night 23rd October to come along to the Dunnart Gallery to “Meet the Mannequins” of the Wearable Art Project and have your say about 2016 at the gallery. We hope to see you there; meanwhile stay tuned for more details and if you have a query about Art Group, please call Mel on 0427 381 530.

"Cocanarup" by Siska Gutteridge

"Dragon" by Harmony Daw

Harmony and Amberley open their prizes

Iris is wrapped in her new quilt!

Art Group Secretary Jen Chambers presents Mel Daw, long term member, with a gift as she is leaving the district at the end of the year.

Kerry Dickinsen congratulates Mel daw for winning the B4TV category

Guests at the opening; Anne Williams and Helen Burton.

Siska receives her Shire Award from CEO Ian Fitzgerald

Wildflower Walk

Don't  miss out! Contact Ainsley Foulds now to book your spot!

Healthy living art award now open

Media Statement                     

 

The Ravensthorpe Health Service is holding an art competition in the lead up to its Open Day on 16 September 2015.

All school children from the Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun area are encouraged to enter the competition using the theme ‘Healthy Living’ as inspiration. 

Local Operations Manager Ruth York said artworks showing how local community members can lead healthy lives were welcome.

“Students are asked to create their artwork on A4 paper by Friday 11 September 2015 and leave at their school for collection. Home schooled students can drop off their artworks at the hospital reception area,” Ms York said. 

“There will be a minimum of two prizes for winners from each school.

“Ask your family and friends to come along to the Open Day from 10am to 2pm and vote for your artwork. 

“The People’s Choice Award will be voted by visitors to the health service Open Day on 16 September 2015 so it is an excellent opportunity to also have a look at how the health service operates.”

The Shire of Ravensthorpe Award will be selected by a shire representative during the Open Day.

“We encourage all young people from the area to get out their pencils and paint and start creating their healthy masterpieces.”

For more information contact Arnie de Haas on 9838 2211 or email Arnie.deHaas@health.wa.gov.au

Media Contact:

Arnie de Haas on 9838 2211 or email Arnie.deHaas@health.wa.gov.au

A MAGICAL EVENING OF OPERA

A small number of Hopetoun residents travelled to Esperance by bus recently to attend Opera Australia’s performance of Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’.  The bus was made available free through the generosity of the Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council. Jan and John Fields volunteered as drivers. Passengers were vocal in their appreciation of this generous joint effort which enabled them to enjoy a high quality performance not always available to small regional towns.

On national tour, the company adapted the Magic Flute to an Egyptian temple setting. The set design and costuming gave an authenticity to this choice and enhanced the performance. Of particular note was Regina Daniel’s role as Queen of the Night. Her breathtaking ability to maintain purity of sound while reaching the highest notes in opera was enthusiastically applauded by all. Nicholas Jones’ engaging characterisation of the comedy role of Tamino caused ripples of laughter, especially when he engaged with the ladies group played by Anna Yun Emma Casteller and Hannah Dahlenburg.

As is the practice of Opera Australia, a local group of singers, including schoolchildren, were given the opportunity to be a part of the performance. One of the schoolgirls was ex-Hopetoun student, Abbey Berryman. The orchestra was professionally conducted by Paul Fitzsimon. The orchestra pit was clearly visible to the audience and so, on various occasions, eyes were drawn to the skills of the different musicians.

 Adding to the enjoyment of the outing was the sharing of a delicious pre-ordered Banquet at the Golden Oriental As a result, the group arrived at the Civic Centre in great spirit to be met by Ross Becket, the Civic Centre Manager, who had alerted our group to this wonderful opportunity and given us the special discount ticket price. Hopefully there will be future opportunities for similar theatre outings. 

Fay O’Brien   

The Magic Fluters

 

 

   

The Lost WW1 Diary and Welsh Whales in Jerdacuttup

Despite half the Shire involved in sporting Grand Finals, Saturday 29^th August saw the Jerdacuttup hall filled to almost capacity with tables of eager audience there to see the talented Damian Callinan perform the Lost WW1 Diary, a one man show created and performed by Callinan, and directed by Tim Overton.  They were not disappointed!

The Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council (RRAC) presented this touring Country Arts WA and Act-Belong-Commit show in collaboration with the Jerdacuttup Community Association; responsible for setting up and catering for the night.

The hall was decked out superbly in camouflaged themed table cloths, camouflage nets, saddles, oils slicks and even a beautiful old rocking horse (although not so tiny and no emu feather in sight; it fitted the theme of the night beautifully!) The JCA also provided delicious gourmet platters to be enjoyed as well as running the bar prior to the show and a spread of deadly cake and slices for supper.

Damian took everyone on a journey of hilarity and tears as he acted out the diary of digger “Paddy Callinan” through his adventures, and misadventures of the First WW. We met delightful larrikins and laughed at their antics and broke our hearts at their losses. Playful banter with the audience peppered the story -who knew that our own “Ken Nomiddlename Norman” himself was part of the seventh? We won’t say why he was sent home in disgrace…Or that we had a fine pair of twin Welsh whales residing in Jerdacuttup? Callinan switched from character to character in the blink of an eye and portrayed each hilarious scene with limited props and amazing realism. He also demonstrated a fantastic memory and a bit of prior homework by injecting some local history and activity into the storyline.

Thank you to the volunteers of both the Ravensthorpe Regionals Arts Council and Jerdacuttup Community Association for working hard to make this a night to remember, to bus drivers Kerry and Ian Dickinsen for filling in last minute and our usual driver Robert Bawden for taking everyone out to the hall and getting them home safely. The RRAC would not be able to provide free buses for events without the funding from Lotterywest WA. As our last show of the year, RRAC would also like to thank the ongoing support of the Shire of Ravensthorpe, Country Arts WA and the Department of Culture and the Arts; without whom we would not be able to provide our community with such a diverse annual artistic program.

 

Platters by JCA were delicious!

...busy in the kitchen...

...no emu feathers here; and it's not so tiny either

Ross Beckett, Chairperson of the Country Arts WA Board of Directors, brought his family along...all the way from Esperance!

Tour Manager, Therese Mavros, introduces the show.



supper!

After the show, Damian mingles with the audience as we all enjoy some supper.