Council grant to help highlight Indigenous art collection
The University of the Sunshine Coast Gallery will embark on an exciting project early in 2007 that will be aided by a $5000 Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) grant from Maroochy Shire Council.
The grant will go towards a larger, ongoing project that will highlight the University's significant collection of Western Desert paintings.
Gallery curator Dawn Oelrich said the collection was mostly housed at the Innovation Centre on the USC Campus and was probably one of the few public collections of desert art on the Sunshine Coast.
"The collection consists of 18 paintings that have been donated over the past several years," she said.
"The paintings are by noted contemporary Pintupi and Warlpiri artists from the Kintore and Kirrakurra regions of Central Australia including Naata Nungurrayi and George Tjungurrayi.
"The council grant will enable us to employ two people – a specialist arts writer and a gallery educator/teacher – to prepare material for production as interpretive panels, a brochure/booklet and an education kit suitable for primary and high school children."
Ms Oelrich said the interpretive material would be used to develop activity sheets and experiential programs for primary and high school group tours, international school and university group tours, and self-discovery visitor tours of the University.
She said the Gallery also would produce wall-mounted interpretive panels to accompany each painting and an explanatory booklet/brochure for visitors to the campus.
"Tours and brochures will be free to visitors and presented as part of the University's community engagement goals and to encourage life-long learning," she said.
The University of the Sunshine Coast Gallery will be closed over summer and will not re-open until 1 March 2007 due to landscaping and the installation of a sculpture in the gallery courtyard.