The Red Project at The Coal Loader Centre of Sustainability in Waverton is going to be huge... here is a sneaky peak preview of an exhibition of pollinators made by my younger friends within the Coal Loader tunnel 1 during the first half of March.

for details of exhibition and upcoming events.. check here

Freeloader at Art on the GreenWay

detail of Freeloader in the GreenWay 

Unfortunately it's the end of the Art on the GreenWay show of 6 temporary environmental art works presented by Leichhardt Council and supported by NSW EPA Waste Less, Recycle More initiative funded by the waste levy, as part of the annual event LOST. A fab initiative supporting local artists who provide an innovative approach in questioning our ways with waste through a new view along the GreenWay, at the Iron Cove end.

MINING: gouging the country

Articulate project space  December 1  at   2 - 4 pm

for the launch of the latest Artlink issue 

and the last day of LEAVE IT IN THE GROUND

The world is hungry for minerals and fuel. Is Australia's preparedness to gouge its (sacred) earth any different to that of any other country? The land's value in spiritual as well as economic terms has led to some of the most debated legislation of contemporary times – from Australian Aboriginal ownership and land rights to mining, coal seam gas extraction, the value of the land; who owns it; who has the rights to use it; to sell it; to exploit it; to act as custodian of it. Initially defined as "Terra Nullius" this country is now recognised as an ancient, mineral-rich continent of hotly contested territories.

This issue digs deep into the seen and unseen impact of big mining and its greed for the rapid and ruthless exploitation of fossil fuels. It comes at a turning point for the community in relation to climate change. With the carbon level in the air now reaching 400 ppm, coal mining can never be ‘clean’ or sustainable; 350.org, an urgent global public campaign to keep coal in the ground is growing.

Artists, artists' alliances and arts writers join with environmentalists to raise consciousness about the dangers of mining operations on farmlands, rivers, in remote areas, deserts, and coastal areas, as well as in the depth of the oceans.

• Ken Mulvaney writes on the ancient rock art being damaged by proximity to mining operations on the Burrup Peninsula.

• The tension around funding for arts, science and community enterprise from mining companies which commonly exploit the prestige of arts projects to varnish their image. Arts patronage is used as a wedge to buy off the potential community opposition and the custodial burden is getting heavier for Indigenous land holders in many regions.

• During the mining boom has support to the arts from mining companies been minimal relative to their profits?

Artists include Fiona Hall, Cai Quo-Qiang, Craig Walsh, Jan Senbergs, John Gollings, Ah Xian, and Raymond Arnold. 

Writers include Daniel Thomas, Sam Cook, David Hansen, Michael Taussig, Judith Blackall, and Jane Deeth.

PRESS RELEASE

Ornitho-logical

as invited artist-in-residence this month for the temporal Pop In Space at 124 Marion St Leichhardt, artworks are up and installations are made including a great interactive No Honeyeaters by Kirsty Collins (detail pictured). 

The all bird exhibition runs until the 26th Oct and is open on Weds - Sat 11am - 4 pm  

is now in its second month and has plenty of great workshops/events, please check out the program here.

Animal Welfare League fundraiser

at Pier 2/3 Walsh Bay

2013 Sydney Writers Festival    20-26 May

The Sydney BAG (Book Art Group) makes art from discarded books and non-traditional materials. 

'Lifecycle' is an installation of reborn text and Australian domestic imagery. With great images seen here

This free exhibition will be featured in the Foyer of Pier 2/3 for the duration of the Festival.

Planting Cheer with IWEG

ARTcycle residency at INDEX project space

lots on during ARTcycle's residency 

on until the 11th August 

and for all the details please look here

GreenWay Arts Prize

Above is my rejected version of along Hawthorne Canal made for the 2012 Greenway Arts Prize Exhibition. The opening was on last night  with another full house at Art Est and tomorrow I will be there again to guide a free art workshop with a nod towards sustainability from 10am to 1pm. This is for our first GreenWay Hub Day...  

GreenWay festivities coming soon

Saturday 23 June  GreenWay Hub Day from 10 - 1pm at Canal Road Leichhardt near Cafe Bones


free activities: 
Bike skills training and tune ups
Kids blinging up bikes
GreenWay Food with Bike Tour
Walking tour - dog friendly - to the GreenWay Arts Exhibition at Art EST  
Sustainability art workshop at Art EST 


bookings and more details here

Insight Out of Sight

Last night was the announcement of the winners of the  Insight Out of Sight competition - a Leichhardt Council initiative with their Community Development Officer Bronwyn Tuohy. First place winner captured above at Birchgrove Oval was by the charming Neil Tomkins. The idea is to invite artists of all sorts to bring colour and interest to traffic signal boxes that are often covered in snoresville tagging. Why I know so much (my reward on left) was because I was given the honour of being one of the judges for this year and I have always been such a fan of this fun approach to liven our streets. Please have look around or at the link above.... and maybe you would like to enter next year?

Sea Shepherd

A good story for Christmas.... Sea Shepherd :: Sea Shepherd Intercepts the Japanese Whaling Fleet with Drones

this is coming after this weeks sad news about the loss of a great man and world leader, the former czech president Vaclav Havel - who led the peaceful 1989 Velvet Revolution. RIP

playful conclusions

My good friend Gail popped round to the gallery for some playtime.

A walk along the Hawthorne Canal end of the GreenWay is a good way for time out from city life for me. This Sunday there is an open day at Art Est Gallery and Art School 2-5pm found through the mozaic tunnel at Lords Rd.

many hands, many tags

Claude Jones at work... (her beautiful artwork is also starring in Monkey Business at Artereal only a few doors down..check out her blog)  ....firstly we need to master the ladder.

Back to the opening night to show off some of the yummy food provided and arranged by Nic and Samira. 

Creativity continued all night as people rolled in to discover their favourite pieces and then add their own work. 

In the Greenway Playhouse we now have one by our local MP Jamie Parker who had time to talk and express his ideas via the swingtag.


Several of us stayed late into the evening discussing much about life. Most enjoyable.

Thank you to everyone who helped put the show together so far.... special mention to Nic and her posse, Claude, Gail, Nis, Samira, Brian, Flic, Ali and Kerry 

Thanks also to the suppliers of all the donated paper and card offcuts:  Amazing Papers, Monica of Bibliotheca Librorum apud Artificem (!), Australian natural Timber Framing and Andrew Bassett Fine Framing  (local and generous framers)

take notice

If you would like to join the team of volunteers, you can make contact  at take.action@friendsofthegreenway.org.au.    Read more here

Best to see in the real Cathy Abadie's winning Miniature I at the GreenWay Arts Exhibition,  Art Est Studio and Art School on until the 30th. 

Art Est and Paper Plane

Last night was the opening of the Greenway Arts Exhibition at Art Est Art School in Leichhardt. The detail above is from one of my entered works and the lovely director Jennifer McNamara gave me an area during the night to invite people to draw for Greenway Playhouse... here is a couple of favourites. They are now hanging at Paper Plane Gallery  waiting to be viewed by their creators at the opening tomorrow night.

festive plus

What a huge day and a scorcher! First artist of the day is poking through our magnificent display of Kangaroo Paw and Red Bottlebrush from our gardens - they are incredible Aussie plants! 
A great turn out of art makers joining our tables in the GreenWay Eco Village (first day of the GreenWay Festival) at the Summer Hill Grand Food Bazaar. Thanks to my bestie for either being me or my sidekick. Photo 3. (below) I have named Mr & Mrs Recycled who are often seen glamouring up sustainability Fests. 
There were many works and words made expressing feelings about the GreenWay and it would keep me up all night to blog every one here... so posting a small sample off the top of the pile...... and will try to do some more in following posts. Thanks everyone for your beautiful contributions!!! and I look forward to seeing you all at the opening!

A Curating Cities Project

Slow Art Collective

at Object :

Try This At Home

8 OCTOBER 2011 – 8 JANUARY 2012

In October, Object’s Project Space is transformed into a cosy yet unusual lounge room for Try This At Home, which invites us to consider the way in which we are each designing the future by our everyday actions – from the products we use to the resource-use patterns of our daily life, and the truly confronting notion that the key material we are designing with is time itself. Artists, designers and collectives including CO2penhagen (Denmark), Haque: Design + Research (UK), Magnificent Revolution Australia, Makeshift (Australia) and the Slow Art Collective (Australia) present examples of adaptive practice in which existing resource use is re-directed for more sustainable outcomes.

Margaret Farmer from the National Institute for Experimental Arts curates as part of the Curating Cities project.

Utilising abandoned objects left by local residents for council pick-up, the Slow Are Collective (Dylan Martorell, Tony Adams and Chaco Kato) present an installation made from household refuse and document the hidden world of fellow jumble scouts, who collect and repurpose these discarded items. Some of the result shown above...

read more here and please take a look as Makeshift for example have a few other related projects around Sydney that may tickle your fancy.....

and another interesting show that is touring:         click here for link

Eco Annandale exhibition and book launch

some for you some for me  2011

Ecologically Sustainable Annandale 2011 exhibition 
and book launch of 1890s Annandale: A Short Walk by Marghanita da Cruz

Officially open by Jamie Parker, the Member for Balmain Sat 8th October  1.30 - 3.30pm

Exhibition on 1 - 29 October

Leichhardt Library, Italian Forum, Norton St

Eco  Annandale is an annual exhibition, artists and their works can be seen on the website via here

Not only is my art practice concerned with sustainability, I have a personal connection to Annandale with recently sighting my great grandfather's picture up on the wall of the Annandale Town Hall amongst many other past mayors.

Program Launched

The Festival celebrating the GreenWay features a week-long program of activities ranging from all of the above to lots  lots more ...click here