Heritage Trail and Conservation Walk with RDHS Students

Friday 12^th September saw grades 6 & 7 from Ravensthorpe District High School took part in a Conservation and Heritage walk along a small section of the Heritage Railway Trail in Kundip.

They were led by Ainsley Foulds (RRAC), Jessica Wright (RAIN) Sue Leighton (Garden Gossip) Teacher: Miss Nagu

The walk has been organized and supported by the Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council, RAIN and the Heritage Trail committee.

Jessica from RAIN led the charge with a discussion on the Coastal Corridor and how we as walkers are responsible in keeping the area die back free. All participants cleaned their shoes prior to starting the trek.

After a discussion about the Coastal Corridor and how important it is to preserve it for future generations of flora and fauna we set off to walk the 4kms along the railway trail in a loop back to the Kundip Town site.

Along the way students got a real feel of how hard the pioneers had to work and the difficulties they may have faced during the construction stage of the railway from Ravensthorpe to Hopetoun in 1800s

With Sue Leighton leading the trek through the waters of the Steere River and along the way found where the Halfway Pub was located they crossed railway bridge ruins and mastered the art identifying some of the plants on the trail, checking out animal droppings and basically listening to the bush.

On arrival back to the historic Kundip Town site the students set off with maps of the old own and went exploring, discovering where buildings and houses once were, finding relics of a past era. As conservationist we all picked rubbish keeping in mind the rubbish left by past inhabitants is considered historic in value.

Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council is now overseeing the restoration upgrade and continued maintenance of the Heritage Railway Trail. If you wish to be part of the maintaining of the trail contact Ainsley Foulds on 0427 383 078

This trek was made possible through the support of RAIN, South Coast Natural Resource Management and Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council.

Art on the Catwalk

For the enjoyment of those attending the Ravensthorpe Wildflower Show Gala Dinner on Saturday 19^th September, the Ravensthorpe District Art Group presented their Wearable Art Exhibition.  This included a static display and a fun catwalk presentation. Entries were based on the theme of Our Natural Environment and judged on relation to the theme, Aesthetic Beauty, Workmanship, Design and Originality .

Compered by the delightful Sabrina Hahn, decked out in a vivid cape created by the RDHS Art Students specifically for her to wear at this occasion, the entries showcased the creative talents in the community.

Milena, Chloe & Taylah Wisewould were inspired by their family farming background and their outfits were made from "wool packs". With branding representing the description of the wool and the girls accessorising their outfits with ear tag jewellery.

Lilly Button was a vision in her pink Hibiscus creation and Rachel Daw was inspired by the iconic Qualup Belle.

A number of entries were the result of the felting workshop held earlier in the year and included Brenda Caelli’s elegant Fringed Lilly Collar in a vibrant blue and Jen Biddulph’s Flutterby.

We were awed by the beautiful Owl Dress by Melissa Daw and the Queen of the Blue Mallee, a very avant -garde creation by Tracie Chambers. Wildflowers, paperbark, mallee and salmon gum themes shone through in the designs with recycled, natural and found materials used in the creations. Judy Harp’s beautiful waistcoat “After the Rain” featured  front panels made to represent the trunk of the tree outside Jude’s Kingsmill Street house when shedding its bark and wet from the rain.

Madeliene Norman used wool alpaca and sisal to create Paperbark vest; Jessica Wright used stamps to created black and white botanical prints and Wildflower Show Coordinator Jeanette Denham glimmered in mallee leaves.

A flickering fish bowl crowned The Great Escape, an eye catching, fiery, entry by Jodi Edwards..  Also noted for its “attitude” was Summer in Hopetoun, the static entry by Pat Meadows and Mary Robinson. This mannequin certainly caught the eye, a woodland nymph on the loose in the Ravensthorpe Town Hall. Mystique Monique also travelled up from Hopetoun for the event as did Life’s a Beach.  These beautiful entries helped create the atmosphere for the evening and their natural theme complemented the Gondwana Link series of photography which was locally presented by the Ravensthorpe CRC.

All the entries were highly commended by our judges with the overall winner being Red Flowering Gum by Judy Harp.  “A Beautiful garment meeting the overall criteria of the exhibition and capturing  the artist’s feel for the local environment”. Various types of yarn were sewn between washaway to represent the colours of the bush. It was decorated with leaves and flowers of the red flowering gum tree.  Sabrina Hahn is now the proud owner of this lovely shawl.

 
A big thank you to all the participants of this exhibition and congratulations to the Ravensthorpe Wildflower Show for this excellent event.

The Ravensthorpe District Art Group would also like to acknowledge the support from the Ravensthorpe Regional arts Council for this event with the sponsoring of the Felting Workshop and the use of the mannequins.  We are currently planning a further felting workshop for 2016 and a textile workshop.  Please contact Jenny Chambers for more information . Ph. 0429 381018.

Sabrina Hahn rocking the frock made by RDHS students.

Madeleine Norman and Jen Chambers wearing their amazing creations!

 

 

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