1
FROM RIVER BANKS TO SHEARING SHEDS:
THIRTY YEARS WITH FLYING ARTS – 1971 to 2001
Chapter 1: Introduction
This thesis traces the history of a unique Queensland art school, which began as
‘Eastaus’ (for Eastern Australia) in 1971 when Mervyn Moriarty, its founder, learned to fly a
small plane in order to take his creative art school to the bush. In 1974 the name was changed to
‘The Australian Flying Arts School’; in 1994 it became ‘Flying Arts Inc.’ To avoid confusion
the popular name ‘Flying Arts’ is used throughout the study. The thesis will show that when
creative art (experimental art where the artist relies on his subjective sensibility), came to
Brisbane in the 1950s, its dissemination by Moriarty throughout Queensland in the 1970s was a
catalyst which brought social regeneration for hundreds of women living on rural properties and
in large and small regional towns throughout Queensland.
The study will show that through its activities the school enhanced the lives of over six
thousand people living in regional Queensland and north-western New South Wales.1 Although
some men were students, women predominated at Flying Arts workshops. Because little is
known about country women in rural social organizations this study will focus on women, and
their growing participation within the organization, to understand why they flocked to Moriarty’s
workshops, and why creative art became an important part of so many lives. The popularity of
the workshops, and the social interaction they supplied for so many, is a case study for Ross’s
argument that the cultural role of the arts is to provide personal and social re-generation.2
In 1994 Griffith University published a report on women’s participation in the Arts and
Cultural Industries, they observed that women’s attendance at cultural activities is consistently
higher than men and that very little is known about their patterns of participation and their levels
of satisfaction.3 The growth of women within Flying Arts in the thirty years under review and
the reminiscences supplied by students is a case study which adds to the knowledge of the leisure
activities of women in regional communities. Others have also commented on the lack of
knowledge of the leisure pursuits of country women. For example, Kerry James observes that
around seventy per cent of Australians live in cities, and have never experienced life in the bush
at first hand. Of the other thirty percent, one third of people living on farms are women whose
1
The figure put out by Flying Arts in 1994 was 5000 but as no accurate records are available prior to 1994, a
conservative estimate would be at least 6000.
2
Malcolm Ross, The Aesthetic Impulse, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1984, p. 9.
3
Gillian Swanson and Patricia Wise, Going for Broke: Women’s participation in the Arts and Cultural Industries,
Australian Key Centre for Cultural and Media Policy, Griffith University, Brisbane, 1994, p. 22.
.
2
interests have been largely unrecorded;4 these women are the subject of this study. Although
research on the lives of country women has increased over the last decade, many of the published
articles are written from a feminist viewpoint, and tend to show them as being exploited. They
are the carers - the unpaid labour for their husbands, their children, the farm, even the local
community.5 This thesis, however, by tracing the history of Flying Arts, questioning why so
many of its students were women, and documenting the changes it brought to their lives,
suggests that, to compensate for the cultural deprivation of living in regional centres, or on
lonely properties, women embraced the creative art workshops provided by Flying Arts, often
leaving their families to travel hundreds of kilometres over poor roads to participate because they
found creative art workshops were a challenge. The stimulating discussions with practising
artists/teachers and fellow students with similar interests helped overcome their mental isolation.
Fostering their own creativity gave these women a focus which fulfilled their inner needs.
Lesley Warner6 wrote of the educational needs and opportunities for rural women. She
highlighted the difficulties Flying Arts encountered when she described the problems associated
with supplying education to a state as large as Queensland. Covering 1,728,000 sq. km., an area
equivalent in size to Western Europe, Queensland is the most decentralised state in Australia.
With significant regional centres evenly spaced along the coast from Cairns in the north, to
Brisbane and the Gold Coast in the south, about 38 per cent of the population live outside
Brisbane and the south-east corner.7 These Queenslanders are scattered over a vast area, and
research for this thesis supports Johnson’s argument that, until the 1960s, their education and
cultural needs were a low priority. 8
Kay Thomas, in her study of women’s health and welfare in remote Queensland, has also
compiled data describing Queensland, with several areas of high population away from the
capital city, as being unique in relation to other parts of Australia. In latter years the Queensland
coast, from the NSW border to Cairns, has experienced a high growth rate. Following the
downturn in rural Queensland, population has decreased in smaller inland towns, but larger
4
Kerry James, ed., Work, Leisure & Choice: Women in Rural Australia, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 1989,
p. xi
5
Margaret Alston, ‘Feminism and Farm Women’, Margaret-Ann Franklin, Leonie M. Short and Elizabeth K.
Teather, eds., Country Women at the Crossroads, University of New England Press, Armidale, 1994, p. 25.
6
Lesley Warner, ‘Educational Needs and Opportunities for Rural Women: The Queensland Experience’, Country
Women at the Crossroads, p. 116.
7
Australian Bureau of Statistics 1971 figures.
8
W. Ross Johnston, The Call of the Land: A History of Queensland to the Present Day, The Jacaranda Press,
Brisbane, 1982, p. 196.
3
inland towns like Toowoomba, Emerald, and Longreach have been steadily growing at the
expense of smaller communities.9 With young people seeking work in larger towns there is an
ageing of the population with retirees being over-represented in many areas. Reminiscences in
Appendix III show that they are among the women who benefited from the Flying Arts
Workshops.
With Queensland’s immense distances and wide population distribution, in 1971
government-run organisations did not supply satisfactory art education for those living in remote
areas. Although young people attended boarding school in the more populated coastal towns, art
was only part of the curriculum; there were no opportunities for further tuition in the visual or
performing arts. Those who could went to Sydney or Melbourne for further training, not to
Brisbane. The reason for this will be discussed in chapter two.
Older people living in the bush were committed to their families and their farms. They
had no opportunity to travel to coastal centres for art or craft classes as a diversion from their day
to day chores. When Mervyn Moriarty overcame distance by flying his art school, not only to
the coastal towns of regional Queensland, but to towns and properties in the far west, he was
welcomed by many.
To understand why creative art was different and why it attracted women the arguments
of Pen Dalton, who taught art at girls’ schools in England from the 1970s, are useful. Dalton
begins with a description of the nineteenth century South Kensington School and the way its
academic methods of teaching art were exported to the colonies in the late nineteenth century.
Dalton describes the art being taught in Australia in the early part of the twentieth century when
she wrote that: ‘English culture and its fragmented, classed, gendered and colonial outlook
became part of the structuring forms of art education for the United States, Canada and
Australasia.’10 With its emphasis on technique and skills, over the following decades the English
model for art became stilted and rigid. However, by the mid-nineteenth century many French
artists began to challenge similar academic art being taught in France, and by the early twentieth
century Australian artists who could travel to Europe adopted a more creative approach to their
work. Although creative art was introduced into Melbourne and Sydney in the early 1930s
through schools operated by artists, it was not brought into Queensland until the 1950s, and did
not become a significant force until the 1960s. Chapter two discusses, against this backdrop, why
Queensland art education remained with the South Kensington School model. The Central
9
Kay Thomas, 'Women's Health and Welfare in Rural and Remote Queensland', Country Women at the
Crossroads, p. 99. Census figures how that between 1954 and 1971 the population of Townsville grew from 75,699
to 111,963. Far western Queensland dropped from a high in 1961 of 6,107 to 4,336 in 1971.
10
Pen Dalton, The Gendering of Art Education, Open University, Buckingham, 2001, p. 4.
4
Technical College, Queensland’s premier art training college, did not have accreditation for
creative art courses until the 1970s.
In the 1950s artist/teacher Jon Molvig, and others who came to settle in Queensland
during and after World War II, began a cultural shift. The rise of Hitler’s Germany was a
significant factor. European art practices were taken to the western world when many artists and
intellectuals fled German occupied territories – they became known as the ‘Hitler émigrés’. For
example, Snowman cites prominent people who fled to England – among them were Otto
Klemperer and Carl Ebert, masters in music; art historians Ernst Gombrich and Nikolaus
Pevsner; and architect Walter Gropius11. Highly educated in their field, the Hitler Émigrés
influenced the culture of England, America and Australasia. The third chapter discusses Drs.
Gertrude and Karl Langer who fled Vienna in 1938, and the contemporary European culture they
brought with them to Queensland.
The influence the Langers exerted on visual art practices in regional Queensland began in
1961, when Karl and Gertrude reconstituted the Queensland branch of the Arts Council of
Australia and Gertrude Langer became its first president. As honorary president, from 1962 she
employed contemporary artists to conduct creative art workshops at the University of
Queensland. She especially targeted country students and by the mid 1960s, through the Arts
Council, she was promoting ‘demand’ workshops in country towns and sending artists to hold
creative art workshops in regional centres. Following requests from many students who sought
extra tuition, one artist tutoring at Langer’s regional workshops, Mervyn Moriarty, saw their
need and provided them with more workshops by taking his own art school to the bush. It was
the beginning of Eastaus, his Flying Art School.
The fourth chapter analyses Moriarty’s impact when he flew to towns along the coast and
to small towns and properties in the west. Wherever he went, it appears people welcomed the
school. The case studies in this chapter examine the influence his workshops made on the lives
of women who needed the mental challenge they presented. Despite the popularity of his
workshops, three essential ingredients were necessary for the school to survive: the enthusiasm
and the passion of artists and students; adequate finance; and sound administration. Only the
first of these was fully achieved during Moriarty’s years. From early 1974, when, through lack
of finance it seemed the school would have to close, the Federal Government came to the rescue
with funding through the Arts Council of Australia. However, a change of government in 1975
caused that money to be withdrawn. Without funding, by late 1977 the school was again in
11
Daniel Snowman The Hitler Émigrés: The Cultural Impact on Britain of Refugees from Nazism, Chatto &
Windus, London, 2002, p. xvi.
5
trouble. Country women made headlines after hundreds lobbied their local politicians to keep
the school open.12 Prominent among them were women who, by this time, had become key
figures in Flying Arts. They were the ‘Centre Reps’ working from small towns dotted throughout
the state who kept numbers up so that art and craft workshops continued to come to their areas.
Following their intensive lobbying, the Queensland government agreed to fund the school
on condition it integrated with the Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education (KGCAE). The
college-trained administration at KGCAE gave stability to Flying Arts and the fifth chapter
describes the growth of the school during the twelve years the school worked out of KGCAE.
Moriarty’s 1970s romantic vision of teaching creative art to a network of artists throughout
regional Queensland suffered a setback when he left the school in the early 1980s and coastal
classes were discontinued, nevertheless, under the guidance of new artist/teachers, many of them
women, creative art retained its popularity when these workshops were reinstated. In the 1970s
artist/teachers had been male; by 1983 the balance had shifted. During the 1980s many
artists/teachers were women; the chapter discusses the problems that confronted them.
In December 1989 the Australian Labor Party came to power in Queensland under the
leadership of Wayne Goss. With it came the push for higher learning and professionalism
initiated by the Commonwealth government through the Dawkins Higher Education reforms.
KGCAE now became part of the Queensland University of Technology and Flying Arts was
transferred to the Toowoomba based University College of Southern Queensland (UCSQ),
although, for easier access, its offices remained in Brisbane,
When the Goss government introduced new funding policies in 1991 which required
more professionalism in the Arts it affected the students of Flying Arts, testing the ingenuity of
all personnel to keep the school flying. The survival of the school was again challenged when
hobby artists (the students of Flying Arts) were not part of the new funding guidelines, and
chapter six examines the growing participation of women in the school during these difficult
years. Under its new name, Flying Arts Inc., the Chief Executive Officer recruited in 1994 was
Christine Campbell. Changes had to be made to meet the new criteria, and with assistance from
its management committee and UCSQ, Campbell kept Flying Arts active throughout the state by
submitting successful applications to Arts Queensland for grants to keep the school operating. To
augment government funding she won the support of corporate sponsors. In the 1990s the three
essential ingredients for the school’s survival came together when Flying Arts successfully
12
There was a Student Association operating from Eagle Street. The fight to keep the school open originated from a
letter to students by its president, John Walters.
6
combined Moriarty’s vision with an active administration and a perceptive management of its
finances.
With administrative records between 1971 and 1978 lost, despite every effort to locate
them,13 the only sources for early history are oral interviews, questionnaires and stories
supported by newspaper clippings. Since its inception oral history has been important in
documenting Flying Arts, but for this period it is critical. While some historians are wary of oral
history as a reliable method of obtaining information, Peter Donovan defends its use:
Oral history is not only important as an alternative source of information for use in written history but it
can also be used directly to provide a sense of immediacy. People are fundamental to history and their
reminiscences frequently enable readers to identify more easily with the points at issue. Moreover,
appropriate quotations can make the work more interesting, frequently highlighting the issues more clearly
than the historian who has paraphrased the source.14
As very little has been published relating to Flying Arts, apart from its in-house Gazette,
various primary sources have been used in this study. Interviews have been supplemented by
questionnaires and contemporary newspaper articles. Annual reports and Gazettes from the
archives of Flying Arts Inc. have been researched. Direct observation and interviews conducted
while attending workshops held in Baralaba and Rolleston have also been invaluable. From
1979, when the school came under the control of the KGCAE, annual reports and Gazettes have
been a rich source of information on personnel and events. These have been incorporated into a
Timeline appended to the thesis (Appendix I).
The writer and a professional oral historian employed by Flying Arts conducted over
forty-three interviews.15 In addition, over 120 students have written their own stories (see
Appendix III), but as these reminiscences are generally of a similar nature only a few have been
cited. All interviewees gave generously of their time so that the story of Flying Arts could be
told.
The focus of the thesis is to argue that by using the best available contemporary
artist/teachers to take creative art to the bush, Flying Arts brought personal and social
regeneration to country women when it supplied friendly and relaxed workshops which
encouraged the exchange of ideas. Stimulating discussions that centred on being creative helped
to reduce the feeling of mental isolation in rural communities. They gave purpose to the lives of
13
Helen Moriarty. Personal interview, Brisbane, 21 March, 2004.
She recalled that many of the early administration records were destroyed when they left
their Mt. Nebo home. Records from the Eagle Street premises were said to have been passed on to KGCAE but
extensive searches have failed to locate them.
14
Peter Donovan, So, You Want to Write History? Donovan & Associates, Blackwood, SA, 1992, p. 52.
15
In 2003 Flying Arts gathered oral histories through a professional historian for its website.
7
many country women (and some men) living in remote areas and coastal towns throughout
regional Queensland. The Flying Arts workshops encouraged them to express their sense of
place in their environment when, through distance, family commitments, or economic
circumstances, they were unable to travel to the city. It accords with Dalton’s argument that art
lessons, particularly Fine Art – painting, drawing, and crafts – are seen to be the place where
people can express themselves and develop their own interests. ‘It is taught in relaxed,
colourful, playful, and creative environments, a place where, with sensitive teaching, the
authentic and transparent expression of women’s thoughts, feelings and experiences can be
unproblematically encouraged.’16
16
Dalton, The Gendering of Art Education, p. 6.
8
Chapter 2
1930-1950: THE STAGNANT YEARS
To understand why the cultural changes Flying Arts took to regional Queensland in 1971
were so innovative, it is necessary to take a brief look at earlier decades in Sydney and
Melbourne to discover the strength of creative art and why Queensland had not embraced the
modern creative art practices introduced to students in Victoria and New South Wales in the
1930s.
Before the 1970s art education in the southern states of Australia was recognised by
young aspiring artists from Queensland as being of a higher quality than that offered by the
Central Technical College in Brisbane, and those who could went south for their training.
Bernard Smith, a prominent Australian art historian, wrote that both Sydney and Melbourne
began to show signs of a new vitality in the 1930s.1 Geoffrey Serle noted that changes in the
south were made by artist/teachers working privately2. In Melbourne George Bell started his
school in 1931 when, after a sojourn in Europe, he was drawn to the contemporary art being
produced in France, Germany and Italy, and after observing the work being exhibited in those
countries he totally rejected academic realism. Although there were later dissenters such as
Albert Tucker, Leonard French and Noel Counihan, who attacked George Bell and his School as
arid formalists,3 Robert Hughes described Bell as ‘arguably the most influential single teacher
who had ever worked in Australia’.4 Basil Burdett, Bernard Smith and Joseph Burke all found
Bell’s influence as a teacher to be of major importance for the development of art in Melbourne
and Sydney.5 Bell’s work came to fruition in Sydney in the 1940s after Russell Drysdale, Sali
Herman, and many of his Melbourne students, moved interstate. Peter Purves-Smith and Fred
Williams, other successful Australian artists, were also students of George Bell.
It was not only in Melbourne that creative art was taught in artist operated schools.
Private art training in Sydney also placed an emphasis on creativity. Rah Fizelle and Grace
Crowley’s school, which began in 1932, paralleled Bell’s in Melbourne.6 In the wake of the
success of these private schools, by the late 1940s the New South Wales education department
1
Bernard Smith with Terry Smith, Australian Painting 1788-1990, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1991, p.
205.
2
Geoffrey Serle, The Creative Spirit in Australia: A Cultural History, William Heinemann Australia, Melbourne,
1987, pp.160 -162.
3
Joseph Burke, The Postwar Years in Australian Art: some lessons for the future, The Sir William Dobell Art
Foundation, Sydney, 1982, p. 18.
4
June Helmer, George Bell: The Art of Influence, Greenhouse Publications, Melbourne, 1985, p. 9.
5
Helmer, George Bell, p. 9.
6
Serle, The Creative Spirit in Australia, p. 162.
9
were using artists to teach creative art, and contemporary artist/teachers such as Godfrey Miller,
Ralph Balson and John Passmore (artists who were soon revered by students7) taught at the East
Sydney Technical College from 1948.8 John Olsen, who held a joint exhibition with Moriarty in
the Johnstone Gallery in Brisbane in the 1960s, was a successful artist taught by Passmore. Jon
Molvig, whose influence became so important to Brisbane in the mid-1950s, received his
training from Godfrey Miller.
When describing art in the southern states during the 1930s, Smith drew particular
attention to the vitality it engendered when people were creative. Artists began encouraging
their students to experiment, and the formation of creative art schools, centres and societies in
Sydney and Melbourne generated a sense of excitement and interest in experimental art among
local art students. In Melbourne, contact with contemporary European art was firmly established
in these years. The reactionary opposition and criticism by art figures such as J.S. Macdonald
was challenged and overturned by a new generation of artists who broke completely with the
traditions of academic realism. A lively curiosity among artists and the public began to replace
the complacency that prevailed during the preceding decade. The return of a new generation of
students from abroad keenly interested in contemporary work, and the arrival of artists and
scholars escaping Hitler’s Europe, widened its appeal.9 In support of creative art Melbourne
formed the Contemporary Art Society in 1938, it spread to Sydney in 1939. It would be 1961
before Brisbane formed a Contemporary Art Society.
After travelling to Europe, in 1935 two leading Queensland women artists attempted to
introduce fellow Brisbane artists to creative art. Vida Lahey and Daphne Mayo displayed prints
showing the work of Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Paul Cézanne to other members of
the Royal Queensland Art Society (RQAS).10 Their efforts were controversial. Vincent Sheldon
expressed the view held by many members of RQAS:
… the more one asks the less one seems to find out and the title given to this freak is “Modern Art”. It is
neither “modern” nor “art”. The only modern touch about it is that the present day jazz has gone to our
head and they are “go-getters” enough to take advantage of our weakness and the “art” they use. Is there
any art in doing what the crudest people could do? I think not … All art is beautiful in some form …
11
bah!
7
Jennifer Phipps, I had a dream: Australian Art in the 1960s, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1997, p. 25.
Phipps, I had a dream, p. 25.
9
Serle, The Creative Spirit in Australia, p. 161.
10
Keith Bradbury & Glenn Cooke, Thorns & Petals: 100 years of the Royal Queensland Art Society,
Royal Queensland Art Society, Brisbane, 1988, p. 48.
11
Bradbury and Cooke, Thorns & Petals, p. 56.
8
10
In 1945 a further attempt was made to introduce modern art to Queensland when an
exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art was brought to Brisbane by the
Queensland National Art Gallery.12 Young artists from the Royal Queensland Art Society
formed the Miya Studio to gain recognition for an art which moved away from the skills-based
academic realism taught locally, to a more imaginative approach to painting. In 1949 John
Cooper, a private gallery owner, displayed contemporary Australian art, notably the work of
Sidney Nolan.13 However, without a strong support group of progressive artist/teachers and
critics, attempts to broaden the traditional base of Brisbane art were unsuccessful, and the young
Miya Studio artists moved interstate.14
The failure of ‘modern’ art in Brisbane demonstrated the conservatism of Queenslanders
and in 1984 Fitzgerald explained the reason for this:
The historically low value placed on education (especially marked during Labor’s long term of office),
coupled with low level of overseas migration in the last four decades means that Queenslanders have been
15
less exposed than other Australians to the clash and challenge of new and heterodox ideas.
A brief history published by the Queensland Department of Education, also in 1984,
described the problem: ‘how to provide basic education to a scattered population with a limited
education budget’.16 Unlike Victoria and New South Wales, geographically smaller states whose
economies came primarily from a manufacturing base, the Queensland economy rested on
primary industries and mining. The State government placed an educational emphasis on
vocational subjects to further the development of its primary industries; it reflected the idea held
by many educators that economic growth was essential to the progress and strength of the state
and for an economically driven developmental culture – skills were paramount; manual training
and agriculture were taught to boys while girls were trained in home management and
needlework.17
This educational environment, and the low level of migration, stifled the visual arts.
Moreover, with art teachers coming from within the college, art training in Queensland never
12
Glenn Cooke, A Time Remembered: Art in Brisbane 1950-1975, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane,1995,
p. 34.
13
Peter Skinner, “John Cooper and the Moreton Galleries”, M.A. Thesis Queensland University, Brisbane, 1984, p.
37.
14
Cooke, A Time Remembered, p. 34.
15
Ross Fitzgerald, History of Queensland: From 1915 to the Early 1980s, Queensland University, Brisbane, 1984,
p. 632.
16
Greg Logan & Eddie Clarke, State Education in Queensland: a Brief History, Department of Education,
Queensland, Brisbane, 1984, p. 2.
17
Logan and Clarke, State Education in Queensland, p. 3.
11
progressed. Through its pupil to teacher policy,18 training at the major Queensland art school, the
Central Technical College (CTC) in Brisbane, stagnated; it appeared that students were not
encouraged to experiment with the new ideas coming into Sydney and Melbourne. The skillsbased realism of English traditional art was taught to local artists, and with no creative art
training available in Queensland, it was the only art understood by the public.
Peter Skinner wrote that the reason for the shortcomings of the CTC was that the college
focussed on producing teachers for the Queensland education system, not professional artists.
Students with an aptitude for teaching trained for a Diploma in Applied Art with passes required
in Painting II and Perspective II; if they achieved these standards they were placed within the
school system as art teachers.19
Braben suggests that conservatism and insularity20 were the hallmarks of both art training
and art teacher training at the college:
The Central Technical College Art Department saw the training of the student in art as its major function.
Over time it developed an emphasis upon applied art and suffered consistently from the lack of autonomy.
Departmental interference manifested itself in staff appointments which were invariably local and from
within the Department. As a consequence neither quality nor new ideas could be guaranteed to the student
struggling to find his artistic identity ... Self-expression and development of the creative potential took a
21
back seat to form and technique.
Their observations have been confirmed by a number of local artists, including one of
Queensland’s most successful artists, former CTC student William Robinson, who was awarded
a diploma in drawing and painting by the College in 1961. He considered the College was
entrenched in a conventional tonal training (the college taught chiaroscuro and form by copying
from plaster casts) with students submitting work to the sole arbiter, the chief instructor, Cyril
Gibbs. Robinson recalls:
I was left in this strange position with technical information but not knowing very much about the
development of contemporary art although I knew what things looked like.22
18
Eddie Clarke, Technical & Further Education in Queensland: a History 1860-1990, Department of Education,
Queensland, Brisbane, 1992, p. 43.
19
Skinner, “John Cooper and the Moreton Galleries”, p. 14.
20
D.Braben, A Survey of Teacher Education in Queensland 1860-1976, M.A. Thesis, Birmingham Polytechnic,
1981, p. 12.
21
Quoted in Skinner, “John Cooper and the Moreton Galleries”, p. 12.
22
Helen Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, Queensland Branch, Boolarong
Publications, Brisbane, 1991, p. 109.
12
Little had changed since 1945 when artist Laurence Collinson wrote in his introduction to
the catalogue for the first Younger Artists Group Exhibition:
Queensland art today is practically sterile. Year after year after year the same pretty still-lifes, the same
pretty landscapes, the same pretty figure studies are disgorged in their hundreds. Technically pleasing
many of these paintings are, but the ability to make a good representation of a natural object on canvas is
no proof that the craftsman is also the artist. . .Although several of its members are still under the harmful
23
influence of local training institutions - the use of the word ‘art-school’ is unjustifiable.
In her study of Molvig Betty Churcher described the formal art being produced in
Brisbane prior to Molvig as ‘being predictable as lamingtons, a tame art which recorded a
comfortable and for the most part, complacent world.’24 In the early 1950s, winning a
scholarship allowed her to travel overseas to complete her training. For her, only Ian
Fairweather – who lived on Bribie Island, an artist who did not welcome visitors and was
accessible only by boat – seemed able to produce art which contained any vitality or
inventiveness. She remembered the courses offered by the College as rigid:
It was a three-year diploma course which required a two-year certificate course for entry... the courses dealt
almost exclusively with the craft of the profession, and because there was no particular style or mannerism
of a charismatic teacher to tempt and beguile, the curriculum seemed to hold students in a state of
suspended animation.’25
It was not until the introduction of Associate Diplomas in both Graphic Design and Fine
Arts in 1970 which were accredited courses, and later the appointment of Alan Warren as
principal of the College of Art in George Street26, that art education supplied by the CTC began
to progress.
Endorsing the new courses at the CTC in 1970, Courier Mail journalist David Cox wrote
that the art school previously functioned more as an instructional than an educational centre. Fine
art was largely neglected. The main purpose of the CTC was to turn out commercial artists
sufficiently proficient for the local advertising industry. He commented: ‘Looking fine on paper,
it is to be hoped that the new syllabus will inject new vigour into the school, also into Brisbane’s
attitude in general to the visual arts.’27 He wrote that artist/teachers were essential and he hoped
that Brisbane would follow the English lead and employ professional artists as opposed to
23
Bradbury and Cooke, Thorns & Petals, p. 85.
Betty Churcher, Molvig: The Lost Antipodean, Penguin Books, Melbourne, 1984, p. 1.
25
Churcher, Molvig: The Lost Antipodean, p. 45.
26
Helen Fridemanis, Contemporary Art Society, Queensland Branch, 1961-1973, M.A. thesis, Queensland
University, 1989, p. 159.
27
David Cox, ‘Art School’s new courses welcome’, Courier Mail, 11 Feb. 1970.
24
13
professional teachers as this had brought about a vital and noticeable lifting of standards in
England. He hoped that a similar policy would improve standards in Brisbane.28
The policy referred to by Cox was introduced following a UNESCO seminar on the
teaching of visual arts at Bristol in England in the early 1950s. In 1954 a similar seminar,
‘Education Through Art in Australia’, was held in Melbourne. Its primary function was to
discuss changes in art training and art teacher training in Victoria, and representatives from all
states were invited to attend. New ideas were investigated at the seminar, especially the
importance of fostering creativity rather than teaching skills to art students. At the conference
Dr. L. Hirschfeld Mack, (who taught at the Geelong Grammar School), a former pupil of Walter
Gropius at the Bauhaus School in Germany, suggested using an extension of the Bauhaus
principles ‘to help bridge the gulf that divides creative art education from the uninspired, stereotyped teaching of craft that is still permitted in so many Australian schools.’29 Although Cyril
Gibbs from the CTC attended, changes were not made to the Queensland curriculum until after
he retired.
Conclusion
This chapter has shown that through its educational policies, structured for an
economically driven development culture, and its isolation from major world centres, art training
in Queensland before the 1950s was sterile. Prior to World War II shipping was the major
means of leaving Australia, and a world wide economical recession in the 1930s meant very few
Queenslanders travelled. Communication with other cities, both within Australia and overseas,
was slow. It led to the State becoming isolated from developments occurring in other parts of
the world and this, coupled with its narrow system of State education, meant new ideas were not
well received by the majority of Queenslanders, the result was cultural stagnation. The next
chapter will describe how Flying Arts grew from changes that occurred following World War II
when outsiders began to settle in Brisbane.
28
Cox, ‘Art School’s new courses welcome’.
Herbert Read, Introduction, Bernard Smith, ed., Education Through Art in Australia, University of Melbourne,
Melbourne, 1958,
29
14
Chapter 3
1950-1970: THE CREATIVE YEARS IN POST-WAR BRISBANE
Queensland, along with the rest of Australia, was affected by increased local and
overseas migration during and after World War II. Drs. Karl and Gertrude Langer, who played a
significant role in bringing about change, arrived in Brisbane in the late 1930s after fleeing
Europe. Following the defeat of Japan, people from Sydney and Melbourne were also on the
move and artists, who may have passed through Queensland on their way to New Guinea as
soldiers, began visiting the north. This chapter discusses the changes initiated by these
newcomers. Artist Jon Molvig and art historian Dr. Gertrude Langer, were prominent as
disseminators of creative art. Along with others who came to settle in Brisbane in the post war
years they began a cultural shift. Although it took many years to overcome entrenched
conservatism, these new arrivals to Queensland fostered a cultural revolution which, through
Flying Arts, would alter the lives of hundreds of women in regional Queensland.
As had happened in the south twenty years earlier, it was exposure to private art teachers
that first introduced young Brisbane students to creative art and, by the early 1960s, privatelytrained students were experimenting with new ideas and approaches. This chapter argues that,
although cultural changes were a world wide phenomenon – partly the result of rising affluence
in the western world, advances in technology, and faster global communications – in
Queensland, the catalyst for change from the nineteenth century skills-based art being taught at
the CTC to creative art, was brought about by social changes engendered through the energy and
motivation of newcomers to Brisbane.
Creative art was first introduced into Queensland in the early 1950s. Molvig began
teaching in Brisbane in 1955 and Mervyn Moriarty, the founder of Flying Arts, was a student of
Molvig from 1958. Because Molvig was crucial to the growth of creative art in Queensland, the
chapter will begin by looking at the circumstances which led to his arrival in Queensland, and
the background which impacted on his teaching.
When Molvig arrived in Brisbane in the mid 1950s cultural changes were already
beginning. Both Glenn Cooke and Helen Fridemanis described the Brisbane scene from the
early 1950s when creative art was first introduced to the state by private teachers. In 1951
Richard Rivron, an artist trained in England, came to Queensland. He taught at the School of
Arts in Ann Street before transferring his classes to more suitable studio space at St. Mary’s
Church of England hall at Kangaroo Point. Rivron’s method of teaching creative art came from
the ‘free’ drawing techniques described by European writer Kimon Nicolaides’ in his book The
15
Natural Way to Draw (1941), and he soon attracted a number of young students. Rivron left
Brisbane late in 1952, too short a time to establish a true alternative school. His classes were
taken over by Margaret Cilento who had trained in New York. She introduced her own
innovative methods to students but departed for London in 1954, passing her classes over to John
Rigby. Rigby had trained at the East Sydney Technical College and was already working as a
commercial artist. He soon found the classes too time consuming for his other commitments so
asked fellow artist, Jon Molvig, if he would take over the ‘school’. Molvig agreed, and began
teaching in 1955.1 Over the following decade Molvig became a leading figure in the Brisbane art
community. He was a powerful teacher and mentor during one of the most exciting periods for
the visual arts in Brisbane.
Crucial to his art was his reputation for being an independent thinker – Molvig always
rebelled against authority. Katrina Rumley described Molvig as ‘one of the most colourful,
temperamental and rebellious characters in Australian painting from the 1950s until the time of
his death in 1970.’2 Born in Newcastle in 1923 his father was a merchant seaman and his mother
died when he was two years old. As a young child he was ‘farmed out’ to various relatives. He
attended a number of schools at Newcastle, Quirindi, Sydney and Cessnock. Abandoning formal
education before his fourteenth birthday he worked as a mechanic in a Newcastle garage and as a
‘rouseabout’ at the steelworks.3 When war broke out he enlisted in the army and was sent to New
Guinea. He went absent without leave on a trip from Melbourne to Canungra when his unit
transferred back to Australia in 1944. After three months he offered himself up to the military
police and returned to the army. It was then he met a fellow soldier with a talent for drawing and
watercolour painting. This renewed his childhood interest in art and after his discharge from the
army he attended an art course at the East Sydney Technical College’s annexe at Strathfield
where war veterans were trained under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme. At
Strathfield he was influenced by fellow students Stan de Teliga, John Rigby, John Coburn and
Charles Doutney. His training in creative art came through Roy Dalgarno, Godfrey Miller,
Wallace Thornton and Frank Hinder.4 In the following three years Molvig travelled to Europe to
experience contemporary art first-hand, and two years after his return to Sydney in 1953 he
accepted Rigby’s invitation to live and work in Brisbane.
1
Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society p. 65, Cooke, A Time Remembered, p. 35.
Katrina Rumley, Jon Molvig Expressionist, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, Newcastle, 2003, p. 3.
3
Rumley, Jon Molvig Expressionist, p. 3.
4
Rumley, Jon Molvig Expressionist, p. 5.
2
16
In his description of Australian painting from 1788-1990 Bernard Smith spoke scathingly
of the Brisbane art scene in the 1950s. He described it as provincial even by Australian
standards, ‘where the Art Gallery of Queensland, in its impoverished and out-of-date condition,
could not be compared favourably with many of the active little galleries in Victorian country
towns.’5 At the same time he praised Molvig’s teaching, describing the work of Molvig and his
Queensland students as a late flowering of figurative expressionism.6 Molvig always taught his
students to express themselves by using their own ideas, they were never to copy the methods of
others. His own art was described as violent, savage and sombre, closely related to German
Expressionism; he was the master of a very free painterly method of figurative painting, refusing
to follow international trends coming into Australia, notably American abstract expressionism.7
Betty Churcher wrote of Molvig’s antipathy to abstract expression. Although he supported their
motives he did not join with southern painters (Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd, David Boyd,
John Brack, Bob Dickerson, John Perceval and Clifton Pugh) when they formed a group in 1959
called the ‘Antipodeans’ to protest against the mass conversion of artists and critics to American
abstract expressionism…
One of the most remarkable aspects of his career was the tenacity with which he remained firm and true to
his convictions, when much of Australian painting was conforming to an international style of first abstract
expressionism and then hard-edged abstraction. Throughout the late fifties and sixties his work remained
8
figurative, and content continued to be its most urgent priority.
Cooke suggests that Molvig supplied the environment for students to learn.9 He argues
that it was by the example of his total commitment, and the integrity of his art, that he dominated
art in Brisbane between 1955 and 1970.10 Gertrude Langer, who became art critic for the Courier
Mail in 1953, also championed Molvig's teaching. She wrote that his method of teaching was
liberating for young aspiring painters: ‘Without imposing his own manners on his students, he
seems to help them in developing their own ideas.’11 Other Australian critics also noted the
strength of his teaching. Patrick McCaughey described him as a ‘wild man who drew others to
him and made people feel and think differently’.12 Robert Hughes made the observation that the
5
Smith, Australian Painting, p. 407.
Smith, Australian Painting, p. 407.
7
Smith, Australian Painting, p. 408. It exemplifies Molvig’s independent thinking.
8
Churcher, Molvig: The Lost Antipodean, p. 2.
9
Cooke, A Time Remembered, p. 36.
10
Cooke, A Time Remembered, p. 102.
11
Cooke, A Time Remembered, p. 36.
12
Patrick McCaughey, Jon Molvig Expressionist, p. 17.
6
17
energy of his imagination proved to be a rallying point for younger artists in Brisbane.13 Like
Bell before him Molvig ‘aimed at creating the creative mind in his students’.14
Students attending Molvig’s early classes at Kangaroo Point from 1955 to 1957 said there
was nothing out of the ordinary about his teaching.15 However, Joy Roggenkamp recalled his
wonderful sort of charisma that wove a magic spell over the art scene.16 Jenny Ramsay, who
partnered John Aland, remembered Molvig’s stimulating life classes, ‘it was so different from art
school where one stood for hours drawing a piece of plaster of paris.’17 Among those taught by
Molvig at St. Mary’s studio in the mid 1950s who went on to become well known Queensland
artists were Ann Thomson, Joy Roggenkamp, Bronwyn Yeates, John Aland, Maryke Degeus, Gil
Jamieson and Nevil Matthews.18
When Molvig was teaching in Brisbane it was seen by the rest of Australia as a large
country town: conservative, reactionary, unadventurous and staid.19 Betty Churcher called it ‘a
rigid, colonial gentility’ that placed enormous importance on hats, gloves and protocol.20
However, the hot and steamy sub-tropical summers, and the recent patronage of the American
army, meant that Brisbane was also host to an unusually high number of hotels, brothels,
nightclubs and dance halls. For men whose social life revolved around hotels and the
consumption of alcohol, it encouraged an easy-going lifestyle. It appealed to Molvig, and
provided him with a catalyst for his major works.21 Betty Churcher, who returned to Brisbane
from London in 1957, wrote of Molvig:
Despite his fastidious nature, Molvig loved this seedy underground tide that washed through the hotel bars
and brothels (of Spring Hill), where every night there was the threat of violence and the possibility of
seduction and intrigue. Their tawdry shoddiness, and the flashy, meretricious behaviour of their habitués
held an irresistible attraction for him. . . . (and) he began to drink heavily.22
13
Robert Hughes, The Art of Australia, Penguin Books Ltd., Melbourne, 1970, p. 218.
Helmer, George Bell, p. 15.
15
Cooke, A Time Remembered, p. 64.
16
Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, p. 31.
17
Fridemanis, M.A. thesis, p. 74.
18
Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, p. 38.
19
A description often expressed to the author by people living in Melbourne and Sydney.
20
Churcher, Molvig: The Lost Antipodean, p. 2.
21
Churcher, Molvig: The Lost Antipodean, p. 2.
22
Churcher, Molvig: The Lost Antipodean, p. 43.
14
18
Moriarty first met Molvig in 1958 while attending Andrew Sibley’s life classes in
Fortitude Valley…
When I walked in [to Sibley's studio] we got into a philosophical discussion after the class. I found out
later that it wasn’t appropriate to disagree with Jon and I had disagreed with him on something and had an
argument about that with him and I think I presented a fairly good argument…later both Andrew and Jon
became very close friends [of mine]… Molvig was so generous to me, they both were. Molvig took me to
Sydney with him as a companion and introduced me to Rudy Komon and to the art scene in Sydney. I
didn’t have much money and he paid for things. He had an old car. He bought another car so he gave me
23
the old car and just generally showed immense generosity.
When he began attending Molvig's life classes in 1958 Moriarty lived in Petrie House
with Andrew Sibley, John Aland and Gordon Shepherdson. The run-down building they
occupied at 238 Petrie Terrace was a temporary stop-over for Robert Dickerson, John Perceval
and Robert Hughes.24
Following Molvig’s move into Corroboree House in Hartley Street, Spring Hill in 1958 a
bohemian sub culture quickly developed around his studio. Fridemanis wrote of riotous parties
where alcohol flowed and art was discussed during the late 1950s and early 1960s when Molvig
lived and worked at Corroboree House. His studio was a favourite meeting place where southern
artists visiting Brisbane to exhibit at the Johnstone Gallery mixed with Molvig’s students.
Molvig’s expressionist art was attracting notice in Sydney. It was eye-catching enough
for Sydney art dealer Rudy Komon, an immigrant from eastern Europe, to travel to Brisbane to
sign him up as the first artist in his ‘stable’ of artists to exhibit at his new Paddington gallery in
Sydney. With an initial payment of £1500, followed by a retainer of £50 a month, Komon
wanted to exhibit all the work Molvig produced.25
When Molvig travelled to Sydney he invited Moriarty to accompany him and while there
he met Sydney's art community: Drysdale, Passmore, Doutney, Klippel, Herman, Olsen,
Rapotec, Rose, Upward and Meadmore who had their studios within a few blocks of the wellknown McElhone Stairs leading down the cliff face to Wooloomooloo and the docks.26 In
23
Mervyn Moriarty. Personal interview. Monaro NSW, 1 Sept. 2001. Tape 1, side A, OH112 John Oxley Library.
Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, p. 30.
25
Fridemanis, M.A. thesis, pp. 74, 76.
26
Laurie Thomas, The most noble art of them all, Queensland University, Brisbane, 1976, p. 105.
24
19
Sydney Moriarty became familiar with abstract art. It influenced his preference for abstraction
from the mid 1960s to the early years of Flying Arts.
Although Cooke wrote that Molvig’s teaching was too short to be an alternative school27,
in 1963 Komon featured the work of Molvig and his students as ‘The Brisbane School’. When
reviewing the exhibition the Sydney Morning Herald wrote:
It is only since Jon Molvig’s invasion of the northern capital that Brisbane can be said to have a school of
painting. Molvig and his several followers have made some mark in Australian painting...’ Molvig is a
man with a true painter’s passion and courage...he remains a leader capable of considerable
28
developments.
It can be argued that Molvig did have an alternative school when he taught his students to
think creatively. Although they were never to copy, or be influenced by others – not even his
own work – he inspired his students. Betty Churcher noted the lack of such a teacher at the
CTC.29 Paul Klee, who taught at the Bauhaus in the 1920s, gave a description which
encapsulated the success of Molvig’s teaching when he said: ‘Ideally a tutor is a catalyst. Your
spirit stimulates the spirit of the other person. You can’t teach anyone anything. All you can do
is shine a little light on something that’s within the student, then they go off and teach
themselves. You can only be your own teacher, you can only be your own master.’30
Two years after his death in 1970 Phyllis Woolcock, art critic for the Courier Mail, and a
former Molvig student, wrote:
This is post-Molvig time in Brisbane. There is no other way to describe the creative gap and, for some, the
leaderless limbo in the art scene in Brisbane since the death of Jon Molvig two years ago. No other man so
dominated a city’s art scene as Molvig did in the sixteen years (1954-70) in which he lived, painted and
taught in Brisbane. Even in his last few years when he no longer taught and his painting output dwindled,
he was there both as reference and guide, his unflinching honesty in all matters pertaining to art giving
value to what he had to say. 31
27
28
29
30
31
Cooke, A Time Remembered, pp. 36, 41.
“The Brisbane School”, Sydney Morning Herald, 19 June, 1963. Moriarty’s work was included in the exhibition.
Churcher, Molvig: The Lost Antipodean, p. 45.
Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, p. 78.
Cooke, A Time Remembered, p. 63.
20
During this time other people were bringing creative art to Brisbane. English artist Roy
Churcher and his Brisbane-born wife, Betty, made a significant contribution to the growth of
contemporary art. Roy Churcher had trained at the Slade School of Fine Art in London.
Fridemanis wrote that it was the French flourish of abstract colour which moved him, not the
English style of painting: ‘Colour was an expressionist tool and the sensation of colour became
the structure of his painting.’32 Certainly, to look at the later work of Churcher is to be reminded
of Matisse and the Fauves.
When the Churchers arrived from England to settle in Brisbane they began teaching at
‘The Studio,’ Kangaroo Point – taking over Molvig's creative art classes following his temporary
departure to central Australia in 1957. In 1962 Churcher began teaching ‘hobby classes’ (no
official recognition in the form of certificates or diplomas were awarded) in fine art at the CTC.
The lack of any accreditation for fine art demonstrated that throughout the 1960s the priority of
Brisbane’s official art college had not changed. Churcher continued teaching at the college until
1971 when he received a travelling scholarship and temporarily left Brisbane.
Churcher was an informed speaker and writer who, through his Slade training, introduced
his students to European master paintings and a broader appreciation of western art.33 Although
he was not as dominant as Molvig he had a lasting influence through his teaching, and was
tireless in his efforts to promote creative art in Queensland: he was a founding executive member
of the Contemporary Art Society when it began in Brisbane in 1961, and was its president from
1964 through to 1971. When the Contemporary Art Society disbanded in 1973 he was one of the
artists instrumental in setting up the Institute of Modern Art in 1975.34 Later, in the 1980s, he
taught with Flying Arts.
There was no exchange between the two alternative ‘art schools’ of Molvig in Spring Hill
and Churcher at Kangaroo Point. Although Molvig and Churcher were both successful teachers,
they were socially opposites. Molvig, always a rebel, clashed violently with Churcher who
preferred to work within establishment society to make changes. Their violent relationship was
remembered by Maryke Degeus when she recalled the night Molvig broke a chair over
Churcher’s head during an argument.35 Despite their differences, the presence of these two
stimulating artist/teachers played an important role in changing the way the visual arts were
taught in Queensland.
32
33
34
35
Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, p. 31.
Cooke, A Time Remembered, p. 71.
Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, p. 33.
Rumley, Jon Molvig Expressionist, p. 5.
21
Gallery developments were also important… In 1952 Brian Johnstone, another newcomer
who had initially arrived in Brisbane as aide de camp to the Queensland governor, opened a
gallery, first in Spring Hill, then in the Brisbane Arcade. He exhibited works by leading
Australian contemporary artists from Sydney and Melbourne. In 1958, following an illness, he
closed his gallery in the city and re-opened it in a wing of his own home in Cintra Road Bowen
Hills. Until it closed in 1972 the art community of Brisbane gathered at the Johnstone gallery
every three weeks for his Sunday morning exhibition openings. People came to talk with artists,
and see the latest work from contemporary Australian artists working in Sydney and Melbourne.
Johnstone also exhibited the best local contemporary artists, and works by John Rigby, Ray
Crooke, Margaret Olley, who was living in Brisbane at this time, and Jon Molvig could be seen
at the gallery. Work by a number of Molvig’s students: Joy Roggenkamp, Gordon Shepherdson,
John Aland, Andrew Sibley, Nevil Matthews and Mervyn Moriarty were also exhibited.36
In these years the Queensland National Art Gallery was also making changes. Although
it remained in its inadequate 1897 Victorian building next to the Exhibition grounds until 1974,
the Gallery gained new vitality from 1951 when Robert Haines became Director. Using his
experience at the National Gallery of Victoria he expanded its activities to broaden the outlook
of Brisbane’s art-lovers. Haines was interested in early twentieth-century European art and,
although his resources were limited, his knowledge enriched the Queensland collection and the
people of Brisbane. It was a major coup when he brought the largest exhibition of contemporary
French painting to come to Australia - French Painting Today - to the Queensland gallery in
1953. Other exhibitions of European art he brought to Queensland were: British Watercolours
1850-1914 in 1952, British Watercolours 1914-53 in 1953, Epstein-Sickert in 1954; Italian Art
of the 20th Century in 1956; Contemporary Canadian Painters in 1957; Recent Paintings –
Seven British Artists in 1959, Exhibition of French Art from Australian Collections in 1959 and
J.M.W. Turner in 1960. Haines resigned as Director of the Queensland Art Gallery in 1960
following disagreements with gallery trustees over the proposed new Brisbane art gallery.37
Following his resignation, another progressive director, Laurie Thomas, was appointed in
1961. His interest lay in contemporary Australian painting. Before coming to Queensland he had
served as Director of the Art Gallery of Western Australia from 1952-56. Although he resigned
in 1967 his friendly approach to local and visiting artists, and his encouragement to young
Brisbane artists, did much to stimulate their enthusiasm during the 1960s. Thomas also
championed Molvig’s work and promoted his art. Cooke wrote that Thomas supported Molvig
36
Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, p. 6. Molvig’s last exhibition at the Johnstone
Gallery was in 1959.
37
Cooke, A Time Remembered, pp. 43 - 45.
22
in the prizes he judged, awarding him the Perth Prize for Contemporary painting in 1963, the
David Jones Art Prize in 1965, the Corio Art Prize in 1966 and the Gold Coast City Art Prize in
1969. He also tried to persuade the Queensland Art Gallery Trustees to stage a retrospective
exhibition, but they considered Molvig too young to merit this honour.38
By the 1960s the visual arts were not the only cultural activities changing in Queensland.
With recognition of the benefits of creative expression growing stronger the Arts became more
professional. The Queensland Division of the Arts Council of Australia was reconstituted in
1961; the Lissner Ballet Company became the Queensland Ballet Company in 1962; the
Queensland Potters’ Association was formed in 1967 and the Queensland Opera in 1969. They
were followed by the Queensland Society of Sculptors. and the Craft Council of Australia, in
1970.39
Reflecting the heightened activity in cultural pursuits, in June 1968 the State Government
Ministry of the Department of Education appointed 51 year old Englishman, Arthur Creedy, as
its first Director of Cultural Activities. Creedy, a strong believer in the creative arts, had studied
and lectured at Cambridge before teaching English literature at the University of Leeds40 for
twelve years. In early January 1969 the Sunday Mail described Creedy as ‘paving the way for
our culture’.41 Until 1978, when illness forced his retirement, Creedy made a significant
contribution to the growth of the creative arts in regional Queensland. He was always an
enthusiastic supporter of Flying Arts.
Hitler émigrés, Drs. Karl and Gertrude Langer.
Karl and Gertrude Langer had grown up in cultures which already knew the benefits of
the creative arts. Gertrude played a significant role in its dissemination throughout Queensland
and her support was extremely important to Moriarty when he set up his flying art school.
The Langers came to Australia after fleeing Austria following Hitler’s invasion. Having
spent many years at the BBC Daniel Snowman described the impact of the Hitler émigrés in
England claiming that: ‘Britain’s artistic and intellectual life was greatly enhanced after the
Second World War by the presence of highly educated émigrés from Central Europe, mostly
38
Cooke, A Time Remembered, pp. 41, 67.
Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, p. 18.
40
‘Paves the way for our culture,’ The Sunday Mail, 5 Jan. 1969, p. 2. Leeds was the first British University to
create fellowships enabling it to have live-in creative artists of all kinds on campus.
41
‘Paves the way for our culture.’
39
23
refugees who fled from Nazism and, sooner or later, made their home in Britain’42 – the Langers
would make a similar impact on Queensland culture.
When Hitler annexed Austria in March 1938 the Langers became citizens of the Third
Reich. Unlike many others in the Austrian Jewish community they were able to leave Vienna. As
students they had seen a film Australia: The Unfinished Continent and believed Australia was a
land with a future;43 in September 1938 they began their journey to Australia via Athens.
Following their arrival in Sydney Karl Langer was interviewed by Professor Hook of the
University of Sydney on behalf of Brisbane architects, Cook & Kerrison who wanted extra staff
for a particular project. His application was successful, and they proceeded to Queensland,
arriving in May 1939. Their new life in Brisbane, a town which lacked the sophisticated culture
of Vienna, was very different from the life they knew in Europe. However, their extraordinary
artistic and cultural knowledge soon won them a band of loyal admirers and friends who
supported them during the difficult early years in Brisbane.
They were both highly educated. Gertrude had attended the University of Vienna,
obtaining her PhD. in 1933. She studied History of Art with Professor Josef Strzygowski, and
during her training she spent some time at the Sorbonne in Paris, studying with Henri Focillon.
Karl graduated as an architect from the master class of Peter Behrens who also trained famous
architects Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier.44
Following their arrival in Brisbane in 1939 the Langers soon began introducing
Queensland to the European culture flowing into other western countries following the German
invasion of Europe. Karl Langer stayed with Cook & Kerrison until 1940 when he began
working for the Queensland Railways Department as a draughtsman. In 1946 he opened his own
practice in Brisbane and was instrumental in expanding the knowledge of architectural students
by lecturing in Design and Town Planning at the University of Queensland in the late 1940s.45
Gertrude was also active, and in the 1940s she began giving lectures on ‘History of Art’ and ‘Art
Appreciation’ at their home in Coronation Drive, Toowong. When her talks drew large
audiences a friend, Professor MacFarlane from the University of Queensland, arranged for a
lecture theatre in his Physiology Dept. in William Street to be made available for her use.46
42
Snowman, The Hitler Émigrés, p. xvi.
Janet Hogan, In Memory of Dr. Gertrude Langer, O.B.E. 1908-84, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1985, p. 3.
44
Hogan, In Memory of Dr. Gertrude Langer, p. 3.
45
Hogan, In Memory of Dr. Gertrude Langer, p. 3. Karl Langer was a part-time lecturer at the University of
Queensland.
46
Patricia Ryan. Personal Interview, Brisbane, 10 December, 2004.
Dr. Gertrude Langer met Professor MacFarlane through his wife, Pamela MacFarlane, a member of the
Queensland Art Gallery Society.
43
24
In the following years their influence on Queensland culture was extensive. With a
background in art and architecture they joined the Queensland Art Gallery Society (QAGS) in
1952, the year after it was founded. Through their knowledge of European art they were asked to
serve on the Committee – Gertrude served from 1956 to 1981, becoming President in 1965,
1966, 1974 and 1975, and Vice President for seven terms. In 1960 Karl became Vice-President,
and was later President for a number of years; he continued to serve on the Committee until his
death in 1969.47 In 1953 Gertrude became art critic for the Courier Mail; it was an outlet to
express her views on creative art.48
Along with other Brisbane art lovers the Langers continuously campaigned for a new
Queensland Art Gallery. By March 1969 the site was selected, and Premier Bjelke-Petersen
approved a grant of $7 million for the building of the new gallery. However, it did not open until
1982.49 Following the death of her husband, in 1969 Gertrude gave many of his works to the
gallery; she also gave bequests for art purchases, and a number of contemporary Japanese prints
and ceramics collected during their overseas travels in the 1950s and ‘60s.50
Despite their substantial contribution to the visual arts in Brisbane, arguably Gertrude
Langer’s most significant influence on Queensland began when she became President of the
Queensland Division of the Arts Council of Australia which, along with her husband, she was
instrumental in re-constituting in 1961. With the Arts Council brief to take the arts to rural
Australia her first task was to appoint country representatives. They would be of great assistance
to Moriarty when he began Flying Arts.
To demonstrate the importance of the Arts Council to regional Queensland, a short
history will be useful. The Arts Council of Australia began its life in Australia in 1943 during
World War II as the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA). CEMA
was established by Sydney arts practitioners, without government support, to take culture to rural
towns. It was inspired by, and partially modelled on, the British CEMA, but unlike Great Britain
it was not a government initiative. The initiative and driving force behind the Australian CEMA
47
Hogan, In Memory of Dr. Gertrude Langer, p. 4.
Gertrude Langer review of French Art Exhibition at Qld. Art Gallery, ‘A Sensitive Person will Understand’,
Courier Mail, 10 April 1953.
49
Cooke, A Time Remembered, p. 47.
50
Hogan, In Memory of Dr. Gertrude Langer, p.6.
48
25
was Sydney born, and internationally acclaimed, lieder singer Dorothy Helmrich.51 From 1945
attempts had been made to set up the Arts Council of Australia in Queensland, but they were not
a success – lapsing due to Brisbane’s small, financially and resource impoverished, arts
community. Without private sponsorship, or government funding, the Arts Council could not
fulfil its early hopes for Queensland.52
In 1961, while giving a concert at the Brisbane Town Hall, Helmrich was introduced to
Gertrude Langer. She asked Langer if she would stand for president of the Queensland Division
of the Arts Council. Although reluctant, Langer was intrigued: ‘the ideal, the concept, the
breadth of concept’53 appealed to her own vision of expanding an appreciation of the creative arts
throughout Queensland. With this in mind she accepted the position, and in 1961 she became
president of the Queensland Division of the Arts Council of Australia which was being
administered through Sydney. She began with a small office in Brisbane, and the Council grew
under her guidance.
With ‘country culture’ as its prime objective, the Arts Council brief was to work in the
national capital and major cities to service the needs and aspirations of small rural communities
all over Australia.54 Following persistent lobbying from the Langers the Council received its first
State Government grant of £1,000 in 1962.55 Initially it followed the program established by the
NSW Arts Council. After receiving the State Government grant Langer began organising tours
of the performing arts throughout Queensland. In 1964 the State Government increased its
annual grant to £5000 in recognition of the Council’s valuable work in rural Queensland.
The organisation grew rapidly, and despite setbacks, by 1973 the Queensland Arts
Council had its head office at 33 Queen Street with forty-seven branches throughout the State. It
owned a fleet of buses that toured the State all year round with performances in opera, ballet,
drama, marionettes and other performing arts - catering for adults and children alike. As well as
generous grants from the State Government, the Queensland Newspapers and the Bank of
N.S.W. gave financial assistance.56 By 1974 the Queensland Arts Council was organising
twenty-two tours, among them was an impressive increase in adult tours. Adult audiences
51
Heather Ross, ‘The Queensland Arts Council and the exhibitions of “Queensland Artists of Fame and Promise,”’
Art Off Centre Seminar, Brisbane, 1995, p. 6.
52
Heather Ross, Art Off Centre Seminar, p. 6.
53
Ross, Art Off Centre Seminar, p. 4.
54
Ross, Art Off Centre Seminar, p. 3.
55
‘Government backing for “country culture”’. Courier Mail, undated, 1964 Queensland Art Gallery files.
56
Report on the Arts Council of Australia, 1974, Queensland Art Gallery files.
26
throughout Queensland that year were 103,030 (with a wide dispersal of people in regional areas
of Queensland it was more than any other state).57
The introduction of Arts Council Vacation Schools in Creative Art to rural Queensland – a
precursor to Flying Arts.
Langer was untiring in her advocacy of creativity in the visual arts. An article she wrote
in 1953, when reviewing the French Exhibition at the Queensland National Art Gallery for the
Courier Mail, is an insight into the culture she wanted Queenslanders to understand: ‘Since the
close of the nineteenth century, artists of all lands have come to rely less and less on nature, and
more and more on creative imagination.’58
In 1961 she broke away from the NSW Arts Council tradition of favouring the
performing arts and set up the first Vacation School of the Creative Arts in which visual arts
predominated. Her classes were modelled on the January summer school creative art classes in
painting and drawing held at the University of New England (UNE) Armidale for the NSW
Dept. of Adult Education. UNE had been conducting courses in the creative arts at its campus
from 1958,59 and Langer wrote to its chief advocate, J.W. Warburton, for advice, she wanted
Armidale instructors, artists Stanislaus Rapotec and Desiderous Orban, both immigrants from
Europe, as teachers for her first classes. Following correspondence with Warburton she wrote to
Rapotec and Orban in Sydney. They consented to be her first instructors at the Queensland
Vacation Schools.60
The art being taught at the vacation school was far removed from the South Kensington
School academic realism still being taught at the Brisbane CTC. Rapotec, who had studied at the
University of Zagreb,61 came to Australia from Yugoslavia in 1948 following the Second World
War. In 1961 he controversially won the Blake Prize for religious art with Meditating on a Good
Friday, a work of abstract expressionism. Religious art was traditionally figurative and when an
unorthodox painting won the prize at a time when little was understood about abstraction in
Australia, it was not only church dignitaries who were upset. Rosemary Crumlin, a Melbourne
art historian, recorded that the committee resigned over the decision which was followed by
heated public and media debate. However, Rapotec retained the prize when the first Blake prize
57
Queensland Branch Arts Council of Australia Annual Report, 1974, UQFL157, Langer File, boxes 24 and 25.
Gertrude Langer, ‘A sensitive person will understand’, Courier Mail, 10 April, 1953. Betty Churcher wrote that
the Exhibiton was not well received in Brisbane, Langer was attempting to educate her readers.
59
John Sprott Ryan, A History of Adult Education at and through the New England University College and the
University of New England, PhD thesis, University of New England, Armidale, 1989.
60
Langer File UQFL157, box 68.
61
Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, p. 9.
58
27
chairman, Dr. Felix Arnott, then Warden of St. Paul’s College, University of Sydney, defended
the decision.62
Aged 79 Orban was also a Hitler émigré, a Hungarian artist and art teacher who, at an
earlier time, had been a regular visitor to Gertrude Stein’s Salon in Paris, before founding an
Arts and Craft Atelier in Budapest.63 He fled Europe to settle in Sydney in 1939 where he opened
an art school in which the role of the creative imagination in the practice of art predominated.
He had a poor opinion of government controlled art schools, knowing they were bound to
operate under government regulations. He believed that only private artist/teachers had the
freedom to use whatever methods they deemed necessary to foster creativity in their students.64
With Rapotec and Orban as teachers, in August 1962 the Arts Council workshops in
creative art opened its first classes at the University of Queensland. Advertised as ‘The 1962
Creative Arts School at St. Lucia’, the workshops were designed to teach any who wanted a
broader art education. The school particularly targeted country students, and workshops were
heavily advertised in regional newspapers to encourage country people to attend during the
August school vacation. For example, an advertisement in the Rockhampton Bulletin in June
1962 described the courses as ‘an introduction to free expression’. Students had to be over
sixteen years of age, and would be taught the art of painting in still life, landscape and figure
sketching. The course, which catered for both beginners and advanced students, aimed to
develop a creative approach to painting. Film screenings, illustrated lectures and discussions on
art were to be held in the evenings.65
Langer described the purpose of the vacation schools as the provision of stimulating
creative thinking at ‘hobby schools’ for beginners and people with very little art training.
Although some very talented people were discovered through the vacation schools, and many
went on to become professional artists, the aim was to develop the personality of the student
through creative activities.66
The workshops ran for ten days in August, teaching drama (organised by Joan Whalley),
painting and pottery (the pottery teacher was local artist, Milton Moon, who had trained in
creative expression with Molvig). Fees were £15 for tuition only and £47 for board and
accommodation at the University colleges.67 With quality art education at a reasonable cost, the
62
Rosemary Crumlin, The Blake Prize: passion as well as art, National Library of Australia, Canberra, Volume
XIII, Number 12, September 2003, p. 2.
63
Letters, Langer File UQFL157, box 67.
64
Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, p. 9.
65
Rockhampton Bulletin, 19 June, 1962.
66
Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, p. 9.
67
Langer File UQFL157, box 27.
28
first school at St. Lucia was an outstanding success. Students wrote to thank Langer for her
initiative.68 Over the following years the vacation school in creative art retained its popularity;
the second year it catered for an increased intake of students in its painting classes with Roy
Churcher and Ian Syme joining Orban and Rapotec as tutors. Music was added to the courses
available.
The third vacation school in August 1964 drew students from all over Queensland. They
came from as far away as Southport in the south, Cairns in the north, and Goondiwindi and
Charleville in the west, students from NSW were among those who enrolled.
Roy Churcher rejoined other artists to teach at Langer’s next vacation school. The
following year John Olsen joined Rapotec as another contemporary southern artist to teach in
Queensland. 289 students were enrolled in 1967, with fifty students being turned away from the
painting course.69
The performing arts tours were also attracting large numbers of people. The tours were in
demand and costs were soaring, by 1968 the Queensland Division of the Arts Council was in
financial difficulty. The popularity of its country tours meant the Queensland Arts Council
needed extra funding to fulfil its program. Although the Vacation Creative Art School retained
its autonomy and remained profitable, the heavy overall deficit incurred through the performing
arts tours could not be sustained,70 and it appeared the Queensland Branch of the Arts Council
would once again be disbanded. It was now serving 41 centres throughout Queensland, and its
touring programs were reaching 98% of the State’s secondary school children and 60% of the
adult population. The Courier Mail reported that, despite the state government allocating only
$15,000 towards country tours, the Queensland Division of the Arts Council was the largest of
its kind in Australia.71 Langer was outraged, saying the Arts Council could not continue to serve
the arts in Queensland without extra funding.72 In its editorial the Courier Mail lobbied for
increased government assistance, publishing a number of complaints about funding cuts received
from the public. One letter argued that the Queensland Arts Council, at an administrative cost of
less than half a cent a head, had brought an appreciation of the spoken word to a quarter of a
million Queensland children.73 The public outcry brought results, and in 1970 the National Party
68
69
‘Vacation School Profitable’, Courier Mail, undated, 1969. Queensland Art Gallery files.
Langer File UQFL157, box 11.
‘Vacation School Profitable’.
71
David Rowbotham, ‘Backdrop of trouble for Queensland arts scene’, Courier Mail, 28 Nov. 1970.
72
Courier Mail, September 1968, Langer File UQFL157, box 21.
73
David Bray, ‘Money for the Arts’, Courier Mail, 6 October, 1968. Editorial, Courier Mail, 26 Sept. 1968. Letter
to the Editor, Courier Mail, 30 Sept. 1968.
70
29
government changed its policy, lifting grants to the Queensland Arts Council from $15,000 to
$240,000 for the arts in country Queensland.74
Despite funding problems for the performing arts, the vacation school in visual arts was
steadily expanding; in conjunction with the August school at St. Lucia, Langer set up one and
two-day ‘demand’ workshops for the benefit of small art groups in regional towns. In 1968
Mervyn Moriarty joined Rapotec and Churcher as a vacation school tutor at the St. Lucia
workshops. The following year he drove to country centres to teach at Arts Council workshops
being held during the April/May school vacation.75
Glad Cooney of Julia Creek, who later became a student of Flying Arts, described her
experience at a ‘demand’ workshop held by Moriarty. Following a visit to her home by Langer
in the early 1960s, Cooney was the north-western representative for the Arts Council of Australia
(Queensland Division):
I first met Mervyn when he conducted an Arts Council workshop at Townsville and then at Mary Kathleen.
The mine had closed down so the government allowed us to use the buildings for an Arts workshop. It was
about 300 odd miles away from Julia Creek but we had a wonderful time. As well as art they taught
pottery, ballet and drama. They even supplied a chef so we all ate together at the old mess hall, taking our
trays along to pick up our food. Some of the women had brought their children along so when they told
Mervyn that the children wanted to paint too he set up an easel outside and gave them some paints and they
76
painted a picture of Mervyn with his long red hair.
The description supplied by Cooney of travelling 300 miles to Mary Kathleen, and of other
women bringing their children, highlights the problems faced by country women in the 1960s, it
demonstrated the cultural deprivation noted by Kerry James.77 For country women, a cultural
event meant travelling long distances over bad roads. It also brought attention to the lack of
child minding facilities in the bush.78 Her story is an example of the cultural gap which existed in
the bush prior to the 1970s.
Langer expanded her activities and, in conjunction with ‘demand’ workshops, in 1969
annual vacation schools were held at Longreach and Binna Burra.79 Although school fees for the
workshops had increased to $21 for non-resident, and $6680 for resident students, they remained
within the range of student budgets, and the vacation schools continued to grow in popularity. In
74
Courier Mail, 13 March, 1970.
Langer File UQFL157, Box 27. Moriarty recalled that he taught at Barcaldine, Blackall, Townsville and Charters
Towers, as well as at the workshop described by Cooney.
76
Gladys Cooney, Julia Creek. Personal interview, Burleigh, 23 Aug. 2001. Tape OH112, John Oxley Library.
77
James, Work, Leisure & Choice, p. 78.
78
Flying Arts workshop Rolleston, 2 September, 2003. This was given as a reason most young mothers could not
attend the workshop, many more would have come if it were not for the children.
79
Langer took her holidays at Binna Burra. It probably influenced her to hold the workshop so close to Brisbane.
80
Brochure Advertising Vacation School August 1969, Langer File UQFL157, Box 27.
75
30
1970 there were 370 students enrolled in the Brisbane school with the painting workshop
tutoring 243 students.81
Conclusion:
This chapter describes the cultural revolution which began in Brisbane in the 1950s and
the contribution it made to the emergence of Flying Arts. The arrival of displaced people into
Queensland after World War II along with private art teachers from other states who settled in
Brisbane, brought change. Only a small group of people were teaching creative art in Brisbane,
but they changed the way art was taught in Queensland. Molvig, who taught Moriarty, was
outstanding. From the early 1960s many of his students were exhibiting in Queensland and
interstate. He was not a dedicated teacher, but through his own creativity, and his total belief in
individual expression, he fostered creativity in his students.
Recognition of creative art grew in Brisbane in the 1960s. It was not only artists bringing
change, Brian Johnstone was another newcomer who brought creative art to Queensland. When
he continually exhibited the work of contemporary artists from Sydney and Melbourne at the
Johnstone gallery he revitalised the art scene. His Sunday exhibition openings became a social
event. The gallery was always crowded on opening day – artists were in attendance and people
came to talk with them and buy their work. 82
Other innovators who brought creative art to Brisbane were Robert Haines from Victoria,
the new Director of the Queensland Art Gallery, who exhibited overseas travelling contemporary
art exhibitions in Brisbane, and formed the QAG Society to draw people into the Gallery; he was
followed by Laurie Thomas, a progressive director from Western Australia, who continued the
work began by Haines.
Gertrude Langer, a refugee from Hitler's Europe was another who introduced creative
art to Queensland when she launched the creative art vacation school workshops at the
Queensland University. By supplying workshops to country towns through the Arts Council of
Queensland, she took creative art to regional Queensland. In the 1970s Arthur Creedy, the
newly appointed Queensland government Director of Cultural Activities, with a background in
the creative arts, assisted the growth by promoting cultural centres throughout the State.
When Langer set up her Arts Council workshops in creative art in St. Lucia and regional
Queensland, traditional skills-based art was already being taught in Queensland towns through
adult education. However, Langer’s workshops proved far more popular. Their success could
81
82
Langer File UQFL157, Box 27.
A number of people have spoken of the Johnstone Gallery and its Sunday Exhibition openings.
31
only have come because her teachers were professional contemporary artists rather than
government art teachers. For people hungry for a cultural experience, tuition by creative artists
appeared to stimulate a desire for more. Although it took nearly twenty years to overcome
entrenched prejudice, by 1970 Queensland had a network of influential people advancing
creative art throughout the State.
In 1971, Mervyn Moriarty, an artist/teacher introduced to creative expression by Molvig,
and later employed by Langer in her vacation schools would, with the assistance of Langer and
Creedy, build on this experience when he took his own school of creative art to the bush. The
following chapter analyses the success of his venture. Not only did Moriarty’s vision help to
overcome mental and geographical isolation, it provided social regeneration for women living in
rural communities.
32
Chapter 4
1971-1982: MERVYN MORIARTY - THE VISIONARY YEARS
In August 1971 Brisbane artist Mervyn Moriarty took his ‘Eastaus’ creative art
workshops to towns and centres throughout the State. In the following years he flew artists north
to Thursday Island and the Torres Strait, west to Mt. Isa and Quilpie, and south to Inverell in
New South Wales. Four times a year for twelve years Moriarty flew to towns and station
properties along these routes to conduct his workshops. For many inland towns the arrival of the
small plane piloted by tall and lean Mervyn Moriarty with his flowing red hair and beard was an
event; he was often accompanied by his wife Helen and other artists.
Moriarty was an idealist. In many ways his dream of taking his art school to the bush
was unrealistic. Although it was a groundbreaking concept, welcomed by hundreds of people,
for it to be successful it needed money and an efficient administrative base. The school
established by Moriarty and his wife in the 1970s was outstandingly successful in attracting
students, but money was always a problem and by late 1973 the expense of flying a small plane
threatened its existence. The Commonwealth Government came to the rescue when Gough
Whitlam influenced the Arts Council of Australia to fund the school under a new name – ‘The
Australian Flying Arts School’. In 1975 a change of government in Canberra curtailed money
for the arts. Flying Arts was a victim and by 1977 lack of finance again made it impossible for
Moriarty to continue. However, the popularity of his workshops demonstrated the cultural
vacuum it filled for people living in regional Queensland, particularly women, and following
intensive lobbying by students, the state government agreed to fund the school. In 1978 an
alliance was entered into with the Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education. This chapter
will examine the years between 1971 and 1982 to argue that despite setbacks, Moriarty’s planned
art workshops (a two year course teaching creative art to beginners) helped to defeat both mental
and geographical isolation and provide social regeneration for hundreds of women. Case studies
in this chapter demonstrate how his workshops changed lives. To understand the impact of the
school, a brief look at art education available to adults living in rural Queensland prior to 1971 is
necessary.
Adult Education in the 1950s and ‘60s
Although art and craft workshops were sent to country towns before 1971 they were not a
success. Kevin Grealy, senior potter for Flying Arts from 1978 to 1982, taught at the early craft
workshops sponsored by the Education Department. He described these Adult Education
33
workshops as being poorly organised, sporadic and of little value.1 He was critical of the
disorganised way individual artists and potters were sent to teach in country towns, and cited the
lack of co-ordination when potters covered the same ground. By doubling up on educational
trips they achieved nothing and made the cost prohibitive.2
In a 1979 publicity article for Flying Arts Clair Joliffe, journalist for the Australian
Women’s Weekly, also wrote of the poor quality of the early adult education workshops. She
wrote that ‘with their grandstanding nature, they were more of a side show alley than an
educational initiative’.3 Government funds had for years assisted country towns to bring in tutors
from Brisbane, but these unplanned art and craft workshops were a costly failure. A prime
example was the sending of three different ceramic artists to one town to supply three similar
raku schools with no attempt being made to advance the local level of skill.4 These criticisms
highlight the failure of the Queensland Education Department to properly address the cultural
needs of people outside Brisbane.
When Dr. Langer began sending her annual Arts Council vacation workshops to larger
country towns throughout Queensland in the mid 1960s she solved the problem to some extent;
using contemporary artists to take modern creative art to the bush was welcomed by many and
her workshops proved popular. However, because teachers either drove or went by train,
travelling time curtailed the number of workshops that could be held. Although they were too
infrequent to satisfy students, their popularity proved that people in regional Queensland were
eager for cultural activities. Following student enquiries for additional workshops, one of
Langer’s tutors, Mervyn Moriarty, believed that by following the example of the outback flying
doctor – using flight to overcome distance – his own art school could supply students with four
workshops a year.5 The Eastaus creative art workshops he introduced attracted hundreds of
students, and in examining why they were so successful, the analysis will begin with Moriarty’s
background.
1
Kevin Grealy. Personal interview Beerburrum, 21 Jan. 2004.
Grealy. Personal interview.
3
Clair Joliffe, ‘When the Art School flies in’, Australian Women’s Weekly, 28 March, 1979.
4
Joliffe, ‘When the Art School flies in’.
5
Mervyn Moriarty. Personal interview Monaro, Snowy Mountains, 1 Sept. 2001. Tape 1 side B, OH112 John
Oxley Library, Brisbane.
2
34
Mervyn Moriarty – the man behind Flying Arts
To understand the art being taught at the Eastaus workshops we need to return to 1952
when Moriarty, at the age of 14, began his own art training at the Central Technical College
(CTC) in Brisbane with Melville Haysom. Although Haysom was a traditional artist he
encouraged his young pupil to find his own way. For Moriarty he was a fine mentor, teaching
him the basic techniques of drawing, preparing his canvas, and how to apply and mix colours.
However, Moriarty was young and enthusiastic, and was looking for something more – as he put
it: ‘I was trying to find my feet as a young artist. I was full of enthusiasm and confidence and I
was searching for a new way of thinking.’ 6
While attending the CTC Moriarty saw a ‘modern’ (figurative but not representational)
painting by local artist Jon Molvig in an art display panel at the Courier Mail offices in Queen
Street. It ‘blew him away’7 and he wanted to meet Molvig. Shortly afterwards, at an art camp at
Cunningham’s Gap organised by Haysom, a fellow student told him that creative art (after
Molvig’s style) was being taught by Andrew Sibley in the basement of Richard Tong’s shop in
Fortitude Valley. Moriarty joined Sibley’s classes and it was not long before he met Molvig who,
as a friend of Sibley, often came to the studio after classes. Although he began by arguing with
Molvig over art practices, they became friends.8 Moriarty was impressed with the emphasis
Molvig placed on creativity and individual expression, and he began attending Molvig’s life
classes at Corroboree House in Spring Hill.
When Moriarty joined Molvig at Corroboree House in 1958, it was a centre where
southern artists mixed with students while visiting Brisbane to exhibit at the Johnstone gallery.
The relaxed and easy lifestyle at the studio appealed to Moriarty, and he found that the numerous
discussions on art broadened his knowledge. It influenced him to follow Molvig’s methods when
he began his own school.9
Moriarty received his Honours Diploma from the CTC for colour, lettering and display,
while attending Molvig’s classes. During the day he worked as a window display artist for
Finney Isles & Co., a department store in Queen Street. Wanting to follow his preference for fine
art, he left Finney Isles in 1963 to return to the CTC as a part-time teacher. However, favouring
abstract art, he found he needed more freedom to follow his own ideas in teaching its
imaginative concepts. In September 1966 he left the college and opened a school at ‘The Studio’
6
7
8
9
Moriarty. Tape 1A. He trained in painting at the CTC from 1952-56 and Painting and Sculpture 1958-59.
Moriarty’s words. Tape 1A.
Moriarty. Tape 1A.
Moriarty. Tape 1A.
35
– the room under St. Mary’s Church hall Kangaroo Point where both Molvig and Churcher had
previously taught.10 Although he placed emphasis on creativity, technical skills were not
neglected, and students had ‘homework’ to improve their drawing skills.
In 1967 his teaching career was placed on hold when, through his association with
Molvig, Moriarty became one of Rudy Komon’s ‘stable’ of artists. Komon invited him to paint
a number of canvases for three solo exhibitions at his Sydney Gallery over the following three
years. Moriarty closed his school at Kangaroo Point to concentrate on painting. For an income
he taught fine art part time at the Department of Architecture, University of Queensland.
At this time Moriarty was regarded as a young upcoming contemporary artist. In 1962 he
won a number of local art prizes, including the Johnsonian Club Prize, and exhibited with
Fourteen Queensland Painters at the Johnstone Gallery. In 1963 he exhibited in a solo exhibition
at the Bonython Gallery in Adelaide, and in group exhibitions in Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney,
Brisbane and nearby country towns. In the same year he won the Royal National Association
Prize for ‘Industrial Modern’ at the Brisbane exhibition.11 In 1964 he again exhibited at Gallery F
in the Johnstone gallery – this time with John Olsen. 12 Over the years his exhibitions were
favourably reviewed by Dr. Langer in her capacity as Courier Mail art critic. In 1968 she invited
him to teach at the Queensland Arts Council vacation schools at the University of Queensland.
Along with the annual vacation workshops at St. Lucia in August, Langer was now
promoting her ‘demand’ workshops through Arts Council representatives in country towns.
Besides teaching at St. Lucia, Moriarty began tutoring annual workshops at Blackall, Barcaldine,
Mary Kathleen, Townsville and Charleville. It was at a workshop in Charleville in 1970 that a
student, Dr. Dorothy Herbert from the local hospital, introduced Moriarty to flying. She used her
own aircraft to visit patients in outlying districts and invited him to accompany her on a short
flight; while they were in the air she allowed him to handle the controls and get a feel for flying.
Moriarty found the experience inspiring. He knew the vacation schools were inadequate – his
students were always requesting more workshops, and there were a number of students with
talent who he knew would benefit from an on-going programme. He began to think of taking his
own art school to the bush:
I could see that people were coming to those workshops annually and more often than not they had a
different teacher on each occasion. Between workshops students had no contact at all, they were coming in
from country towns and they would have no contact with anyone between one visit and another . . . so they
10
Courier Mail 12 Oct. 1966. Article describing Moriarty’s school which had started at ‘The Studio’, St. Mary’s
Kangaroo Point three weeks previously; Moriarty interview, Tape 1A.
11
See Appendix V - Moriarty’s bibliography for exhibitions during the 1960s.
12
Gertrude Langer, ‘Olsen’s Net’, Courier Mail, 1964. Langer File UQFL, box 68.
36
were never really able to build on something from one position or one stage of their evolution of their
understanding of art and art activity, or were not able to add to that on the next occasion and I saw that this
13
would always be a problem.
Using the experience gained from the vacation workshops Moriarty now planned to reopen his Brisbane school after finishing his contract with Komon and extend its services to
regional Queensland. With his wife Helen as a partner, he registered the school under the name
of ‘Eastaus’ early in 1971,14 and began taking flying lessons. They were not as difficult as he
envisaged – he loved flying, and fortuitously his prizemoney for winning the 1970 Cook
Bicentenary Art Award with his painting Another Place paid for the lessons.
1. Mervyn Moriarty standing in front of his winning entry
Another Place
Courtesy Courier Mail 23 October 1970.
13
Moriarty. Tape 1B.
Helen Moriarty. Personal interview Brisbane, 21 March 2004. The Contract for ‘Eastaus’ was drawn up by
solicitor Ray Bradley.
14
37
Moriarty opened Eastaus Flying Art School in April 197115 at 207 Adelaide Street
Brisbane, and by the middle of 1971 he was ready to receive his pilot’s licence. However, a
setback came through the enthusiasm of Arthur Creedy, the Queensland Director for Cultural
Activities. Moriarty recalled that Creedy was so supportive of his venture he phoned the
Department of Civil Aviation in an endeavour to get the licence through quickly. Unfortunately
DCA officers objected to being pushed by someone they saw as a government bureaucrat and
delayed its issue. When Moriarty finally received his licence on a Wednesday in October, he
flew to his first workshop on the following Friday.16
2. Mervyn Moriarty gets ready for take-off
From the archives of Flying Arts. Newspaper and date unknown, the date would have been around 1971-2
While waiting for the licence Moriarty was assisted by the Arts Council through Dr.
Langer, and Queensland Cultural Activities through Arthur Creedy. Using information they
supplied he made contact with local Arts Council representatives in a number of country towns,
printed and distributed brochures outlining the ambitions of the school, and placed
15
‘Queensland Artist takes to the air’, Courier Mail, 27 Feb. 1971. ‘Mervyn Moriarty’s Brisbane classes start April
3, country as soon as possible after that.’
16
Moriarty. Personal interview, Tape 1B; Australian, 21 Oct.1971. ‘Mervyn Moriarty takes off in a hired 4-seater
Cherokee from Brisbane (Archerfield) bound for the outback and the ‘Eastaus’ Art School will have officially
begun…It cost $3000 to set up.’
38
advertisements in regional newspapers. During this time he taught in Brisbane and travelled by
car to teach at Ipswich, Toowoomba and Dalby.17
The first brochure advertising the school contained a foreword signed by Arthur Creedy
where he described the aims of ‘Eastaus’ School of Art:
A brilliant idea which harmonises with the basic plans to develop culture in Queensland country areas, with
stress on activity in its purest and most original form of creativity.
It is analogous to the Flying Doctor Service, Flying Cabinet Service, a rider and outrider to the Queensland
Art Gallery’s Art Train, which is being resuscitated.
Future developments of the school, which include the other creative arts and the performing arts, will help
to develop at least 50 to 60 cultural centres which are developing outside the metropolis in Queensland.
18
This will at last pump the blood into the frozen fingertips of Northern and Western Queensland.
The brochure listed Roma, Charleville, Blackall, Barcaldine, Emerald, Rockhampton,
Gladstone, Bundaberg, Biloela and Maryborough as the first towns to be visited. A flight to
northern Queensland – Cairns, Tully, Atherton, Mackay, Townsville, Richmond, Mount Isa and
Cloncurry – was planned for the latter part of the year. Visits to centres in N.S.W. were planned
for the future.19 Word of mouth, newspaper advertising, and the brochures brought in a number
of interested enquiries, and in the following twelve months the school was asked to fly to more
than twenty country towns. In November 1971 the North West Star at Mt. Isa announced that the
Flying Art School was ‘Off to a Flying Start’ with fifteen students from Mt. Isa.20
An undated map, Fig. 1, thought to have been produced in a newsletter around 1973,
shows the towns Moriarty visited. The more extensive northern tour took in twelve towns:
Bundaberg, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Mackay, Bowen, Ingham, Innisfail, Cairns, Mareeba,
Julia Creek, Mt. Isa and Winton. In north-western Queensland he held classes at Mt. Isa, Julia
Creek and sometimes at Richmond. The workshops were so popular Moriarty recalled that
students often travelled by car to workshops at Julia Creek after they finished at Mt. Isa. Others
drove from Julia Creek to Jo Forster’s property, ‘Trivaltore,’ near Richmond for a second
workshop.21 The southern route he flew, as shown on the map, was: Dalby, Inverell,
Goondiwindi, Roma, Charleville, Quilpie, Longreach, Emerald, Blackwater, Monto and
Kingaroy.
Students from many of the towns he visited have supplied their reminiscences (Appendix
III). As the stories contain a number of similarities, four have been taken from widely different
17
18
19
20
21
Moriarty. Tape 1B.
Brochure advertising Australian Flying Art School, Brisbane, 1970, James Hardie Library.
JHL Brochure.
‘Off to a Flying Start’, North West Star, Mt. Isa, 16 Nov. 1971.
Gladys Cooney Julia Creek. Personal interview Burleigh, 25 Aug. 2001.
39
parts of Queensland as case studies to examine the impact of the school on the lives of people
who attended the workshops. These are Bundaberg and Dalby in the south, Rockhampton in
central Queensland, and Julia Creek in the far north-west. In coastal towns such as Rockhampton
and Bundaberg students were generally townspeople, although there were people from rural
properties who travelled many kilometres to attend at the larger towns. In Dalby and Julia Creek
people came from surrounding properties – very few townspeople from country towns attended
the early creative art workshops. There is no clear reason for this but it is possible that the
contact network of Flying Arts representatives living on properties precluded outsiders.
Fig. 1. 1973 map of towns visited by Flying Arts
Courtesy Flying Arts archives
Dotted lines at the top of the map is the route flown
By Mervyn Moriarty and Clifton Pugh in 1973.
40
Bundaberg:
Coralie Busby from Bundaberg, a coastal sugar growing centre approx. 400 kms north of
Brisbane, was the first country student to enrol in the Eastaus flying art school. Mervyn and
Helen put her enrolment on the wall of their studio at Mt. Nebo as a memento. Busby recalled
that there were no cultural activities in Bundaberg in the 1960s – there were no art classes or art
galleries, not even a library. If the townspeople wanted books they travelled to the library at Gin
Gin as the Bundaberg Council believed that with the advent of TV people would stop reading.22
Busby began painting in the late 1960s when she joined a newly formed local art group.
Although most were beginners they were enthusiastic, and in 1970 the Bundaberg Art Society
held its first annual exhibition for members to exhibit their work. Brisbane artist Roy Churcher
was invited to judge and award prizes, but when he saw the Bundaberg exhibition he realised
they needed professional tuition. Soon after Churcher’s visit Moriarty contacted them and made
arrangements for their first workshop. Like many other students Busby praised the quality of
Moriarty’s teaching: ‘we learnt so much from him and people travelled for miles to take
advantage of the wonderful tuition he provided.23
Although the course was meant to finish in two years Busby remained with the school for
eleven years. She claimed that Flying Arts changed her life, she was the first representative for
the area, enthusiastically extolling the benefits of the school to everyone, and classes quickly
grew. She boarded Moriarty and Helen when they came to Bundaberg; her garage was the venue
for early workshops; and she opened the first art gallery in Bundaberg (Allamanda Gallery) in
the front section of her home for students to exhibit and sell their work.24
Workshops were only part of the services the school supplied. Busby spoke of the books
Moriarty used to complement his teaching. For the two-year course he provided a series of
twenty-three books for use by students between visits. They contained ongoing exercises to
improve drawing skills, and a colour wheel for students to learn to mix colours. Busby
remembers how invaluable the books were to her as a beginner:
While he was teaching Mervyn was writing art books for us. There were twenty-three books as the course
was meant to be finished in two years and he wrote the lessons just one step ahead of us all the time but
they were great books, they taught us so much and we stayed with the school for a lot longer than two
years.25
22
Coralie Busby Bundaberg. Personal interview Wynnum, 23 August 2001. Tape OH112 John Oxley Library,
Brisbane.
23
Busby. Personal interview.
24
Busby. Personal interview.
25
Busby. Personal interview.
41
When the school became established students enjoyed the newsletters put out by
Moriarty. These contained snippets of art history and reproductions of student work with a
critical analysis of progress. Students were encouraged to express themselves in their own way
and Busby described her choice of painting the wallum scrub which grew in the area as
‘abstracted’. In the next few years she won a number of local prizes and sold paintings to the
Bundaberg Council and the Bundaberg Sugar Refinery. Her life changed when she went to the
city to pursue a career in art following the death of her husband. Moving to Sydney she studied
art at the East Sydney Technical College. 1992 was a high point in her life when she attended a
workshop in New York, meeting and working with artists from all over the world.
Dalby:
Dalby is in the centre of a wheat growing area west of Brisbane and, unlike Bundaberg,
in 1971 it had a well established art group which met in Dalby once a month. The Dalby Art
Group began in 1958 when the Adult Education Department sent them their first tutor, Don
Featherston, a watercolourist from Toowoomba who came to conduct field days and instruction.
In 1962 he was replaced by Ron Murray, also from Toowoomba, who taught both oil and
watercolour painting. Over the years other traditional artists from Toowoomba came to teach
their local art group.26
The Dalby art group was well established by 1963 when the district staged its Centenary
celebration. To help festivities the group ran a competition with an open prize of £130. Laurie
Thomas, Director of the Queensland Art Gallery, came to judge. Brisbane artists were the
prizewinners – Thomas gave the first prize in open oil to Irene Amos and the watercolour prize
to Joy Roggenkamp; both Amos and Roggenkamp had trained with Molvig. With a view to
establishing a Dalby art gallery, the profits from the 1963 competition bought their very first
painting from Toowoomba artist, Herb Carstens. Following its initial success the town held a
similar event the following year. From 1964 the Dalby Acquisitive Art Contest became an
annual event; it remained unchanged until 1974 when it became an Open Purchase Prize Money
exhibition. 27 With their only training being in 19th century traditional art Dalby artists were not
early prizewinners. Moriarty’s creative art workshops changed this. Within a few years a
number of Dalby artists became successful regional artists, winning prizes at country art shows.
26
27
Jack Wilson Dalby. Letter to author containing a history of the Dalby Art Group, 7 Sept. 2001.
Wilson letter.
42
Jack Wilson, a leading figure with the Dalby Art Group from its beginning, was one who quickly
benefited from Moriarty’s classes. Today his colourful watercolours can be seen in the Dalby
collection and at the Ipswich Regional Gallery.28 Wilson wrote in glowing terms of the arrival of
Moriarty in the early 1970s and the way creative art, and talks given by guest artists such as
Clifton Pugh, stimulated their group:
When Mervyn arrived he opened our eyes to contemporary art and a new and exciting way of looking at
reality. He freed us from the narrowness of traditional painting as we knew it and we were now free to use
our imaginations. Mervyn came as a breath of fresh air and dragged us into the 20th century.29
Other Dalby artists wrote enthusiastically about the arrival of Flying Arts to their town
and the difference it made to their lives. Joan Gill wrote of how she continued her art training at
the Fremantle Technical College when her husband was transferred to Western Australia.30
Others, like Mabs Blackband, loved the creative art classes but were content to remain hobby
artists. An undated newspaper cutting she supplied (which appears to have been written around
1974) described Moriarty’s students as being made up of housewives, students and three men ...
‘through the Eastaus workshops Dalby was considered the most gifted country group in
Queensland and Dalby paintings were being exhibited in Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney.’31
Blackband’s work was amongst the paintings sent south.
Moriarty’s classes stimulated people of all ages and Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox was
only twelve when she accompanied her grandmother, already an accomplished artist and writer,
to the Dalby Flying Arts workshops. She described how Moriarty encouraged her to be creative
- for her it was a wonderful experience:
We would bring our paintings to the class and Mervyn or the artist he had with him would then discuss the
work, so three-quarters of the first day would be spent talking about each other’s work. This was great
because it provided an opportunity for self-reflection and getting really good feedback. In the classes we
were experimenting rather than producing a work. It was a cultural experience and the best were the
discussions on art. Art education at school was really fairly poor - it still is - particularly in primary school
and the books put out by the Flying Arts School were great groundwork towards my success as an artist. I
learnt a fair bit, there was a lot of [technical] information about the type of paints and about how to glaze
and what oils to use and how to mix them.32
28
Wilson letter.
Wilson letter.
30
Joan Gill Dalby. Reply to questionnaire. 10 Sept. 2001.
31
Mabs Blackband Dalby. Letter to the author. 15 Sept. 2001.
32
Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox Dalby and Goondiwindi. Personal interview St. Lucia, 10 Aug. 2001. Tape OH112
John Oxley Library, Brisbane.
29
43
Brimblecombe-Fox believed that ‘creative expression of the individual’ was the key to
Moriarty’s philosophy and she was mindful that if students saw his work they may try to copy it.
Other artists had unwittingly allowed this to happen. She stressed this point in her interview:
Eastaus wasn’t about how to do things, it was more about looking. Once you see it, how can you change it.
Mervyn was very careful not to influence the student with his own work. That was interesting because
later, as a 16 or 17 year old, I actually decided that I wouldn’t go to Seven Hills Art College because I
thought that a lot of the student work coming out of college was too much like the tutor’s, too much like
copying and I didn’t want that.33
In 1977, at age seventeen, Brimblecombe-Fox, who had no other training other than
Flying Arts, won the open section of the state-wide Queen’s Golden Jubilee Art Competition and
was awarded her prize by the Queen when she toured Australia. She recalled that there were
around fifteen students at the Dalby workshops. The group met in an old council building beside
Myall Creek which was also their local art gallery; it was so small paintings had to be stacked
against the walls. Kathryn became a professional artist and has exhibited in London and Dubai.
Apart from her work in Dalby’s Regional gallery she is also represented at the Ipswich Regional
Gallery, the Waggamba Shire Collection, the Stanthorpe Art Collection, and in private
collections in Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Dubai and New Zealand.34
Rockhampton:
Rockhampton, the beef capital of Australia, is situated on the Fitzroy River on the central
Queensland coast. It had the school’s largest classes, often numbering 30-40 students, with
many travelling from as far away as Gladstone and Emerald. The town had a well established art
group before Flying Arts arrived, it was a branch of the Brisbane-based Royal Queensland Art
Society (RQAS) which began in Rockhampton in 1950.35 Art was taught as part of Adult
Education at the Rockhampton Technical College and Rockhampton boasted a regional gallery.
Opened in 1968,36 it was one of only two regional galleries in Queensland in 1971. Rita
Kershaw, later to become a prominent Rockhampton artist, was the first local Flying Arts
representative. When writing of her experiences she described the inadequacies of the
Rockhampton adult education classes:
I started painting by going to adult education classes which eventually became TAFE, then I joined the
local RQAS, but it was Mervyn who really started all of us painting in Rockhampton. I was a student at his
first class in 1971. Mervyn said he wanted us to paint the way we wanted to paint, he didn’t try to force
33
34
35
36
Brimblecombe-Fox. Personal interview.
Brimblecombe-Fox. Personal interview.
Bradbury & Cooke, Thorns & Petals, p. 175.
Bradbury & Cooke, Thorns & Petals, p. 176.
44
any particular style onto us, I went abstract straight off. I had had a little bit of training in technique from
the adult education tutors but they weren’t very good. They were just people who may have done a little
bit of painting because there really wasn’t very much in Rockhampton in the early days as regards art.37
Moriarty conducted plein air classes when he could. He favoured riverbank settings and
Kershaw gave a description of the one near Rockhampton:
Our favourite outside drawing spot was at six-mile, a rather wild picnic spot on the Fitzroy River. There
were huge paper bark trees and there was plenty of shade in the hot Rockhampton summer.38
Not everyone liked Moriarty’s creative art classes; some members of the Rockhampton branch of
the RQAS preferred more traditional approaches to art. Kershaw described the split that resulted:
Eastaus first began with a group of RQAS members, however Mervyn and the president had a falling out as
their art was more traditional. After Eastaus became The Australian Flying Arts School (AFAS) the
Flying Arts students left RQAS and got space on the top floor of Walter Reid’s Art Centre. They now
called themselves the Central Queensland Contemporary Artists (AFAS) and paid rent to the Rockhampton
City Council. We did not charge rent to AFAS and all tutors, guest tutors and pilots were billeted. Besides
Mervyn, other tutors we had were Roy Churcher, David Aspden, Keith Looby, Pat Hoffie, Adam Rich,
Irene Amos, Beverley Budgen and others. One year Mervyn brought Clifton Pugh up and there were
crowds for that.39
She wrote that students drove in from outlying country towns to attend the Rockhampton
workshops for the support supplied by the school, social contact with people of similar interests,
and the mental stimulation of working with creative artists:
We had students from Comet, Emerald, Baralaba, Yeppoon and Gladstone and people would phone in to
ask when the plane was due before they began their drive to Rockhampton. As an artist we were supported
by Flying Arts and the group. The art culture has changed since then. In those days no-one understood our
creative art and we did not sell our work, people only bought representational art. Many of us are now
professional artists and all give praise to Mervyn and Eastaus school for giving us something that so
enriched our lives.40
Julia Creek
Workshops at Julia Creek in the Mitchell grass beef country of north-west Queensland
were instituted by Glad Cooney who, with Jo Forster, wanted to start art classes for local
children. She had trained as an art teacher at the Teachers’ Training College Kelvin Grove, but
knew her training was inadequate. She was a correspondent for ABC Radio when she first met
Moriarty at a Townsville Arts Council workshop and he told her of his flying art school. To
37
38
39
40
Rita Kershaw. Letter to author. Rockhampton, 3 Aug. 2001.
Kershaw letter.
Kershaw letter.
Kershaw letter.
45
bring the school to the north-west she announced it over the ABC at Longreach, and asked all
those wanting art lessons to get in touch with either Jo Forster at Richmond, or herself at Julia
Creek in order to set up local workshops. She found Moriarty’s workshops taught her to look at
her surroundings more deeply:
I felt that he brought culture to the region. Before he came we would look at this great, broad country of
ours that we thought was featureless, there were so few trees, but he made us see the seasons. In the wet
season the grass would be so beautiful and green but as winter came the green would disappear, yet as the
grass turned to other colours we found they were just as beautiful dancing in the mirages. At the Training
College we had only learned to paint watercolours but Mervyn taught us so much more. He would often
play Indian music while we worked and I remember looking at some old Noogoora burr and as I looked the
colours seemed to come to life and I thought ‘this is a painting’; I became so absorbed in it as I began
painting it – I wasn’t copying it, there was something more.41
Cooney spoke of one student living in the north-west who was instinctively creative, and
her talent was quickly recognised by Moriarty. She was not interested in a career, but joined the
workshops because she enjoyed discussing art with the visiting artists:
One of our group, a nun at the local convent, was a naïve painter who was self-taught. Mervyn loved her
work and was terrified that she would change her style. When he brought Clifton Pugh to us as a guest
artist Clifton fell in love with her work and offered her lots of money for a painting; however she wasn’t
interested in money and so gave him the painting. It had been painted when she was stationed up in the
Kimberleys and it featured a boab tree with some Aboriginals.42
Anne Lord, another student from the north-west, is now a professional artist teaching art
at James Cook University in Townsville. Lord grew up on a property outside Julia Creek and
first met Moriarty at an early workshop. She described him as ‘a dynamic person brimming with
enthusiasm and creative energy.’43 He influenced her decision to develop her interest in painting
by encouraging her to go to art school in Sydney (it is notable that he did not suggest Brisbane).44
It was he who told me that I should continue with my work and suggested I apply to the National Art
School, so I followed his advice and attended that school during the subsequent changes it went through
over the next few years. His faith in my ability was important to me and it probably kept me going to art
school when I was extremely homesick. Following his visits Mervyn always left me eager to progress with
my work and follow my dream to become an artist.45
Case Study analysis:
These case studies not only show Moriarty’s total commitment and dedication to his
school, but the enthusiasm and engagement of his students. He appears as a charismatic teacher
41
42
43
44
45
Cooney. Personal interview.
Cooney. Personal interview.
Anne Lord Julia Creek. Letter to author. 20 Sept. 2001.
Lord letter.
Lord letter.
46
who, when fostering creativity in his students, stimulated their desire to continue with their
studies. Lord described him as ‘a dynamic person brimming with enthusiasm and creative
energy’ who encouraged her to further her art training in Sydney. Brimblecombe-Fox spoke of
the stimulating discussions and experimentation in class rather than producing an artwork – she
continued with her art, becoming a professional Queensland artist in later years. Kershaw
described the difference between his classes and the adult education classes at Rockhampton,
and how she found the workshops fulfilling – she also became a professional artist. Most
students were like Busby – they found the creative art workshops inspiring and stayed with the
school long after completing the course. In a number of other instances the pursuit of art
activities changed lives, (see Appendix III).
In his study of creativity Malcolm Ross described the impact made by the workshops.
He argued that the benefits derived from the act of creation with a group is ‘the principle of
reciprocation; of reciprocity between teacher and pupil, pupil and pupil, maker and medium,
school and community. It is essentially the principle of conviviality, of inter-relatedness of the
members of a community, of man and environment.’46 Moriarty spoke of the reciprocal effect
when a student successfully expressed herself in a painting: On one occasion he arrived in Julia
Creek extremely tired; the constant flying and teaching over the last week had taken its toll and
he was struggling to keep going. When he walked into the room where the workshop was to be
held and saw a painting by Myra Beach the effect was instantaneous. It was such a strong picture
he knew she had put enormous hours of intense work into it –
It was an expression of her horror at a weed taking over the land she loved so much, those plains, and there
was this weed that had been introduced from South Africa taking over the land. It was a shrub, a small tree
that was turning the grass plains into forest. Her picture was about those weeds, and she had put so much
passionate love into the picture that it just instantly put vitality back into me and I was able to go off for the
rest of the day as though I had just had a charge. But the charge was in the picture and the commitment,
someone’s commitment to something.47
The reminiscences from the case studies show that bringing a group of like-minded
people together to discuss ways of expressing their thoughts through art was fulfilling for both
teacher and pupil. It was powerful enough for students to keep returning long after finishing the
course. The social interaction which came out of the workshops supports Ross’s argument that
the cultural role of the arts is to provide personal and social re-generation.48
46
47
48
Malcolm Ross, The Aesthetic Impulse, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1984, p. 42.
Moriarty. Tape 1B.
Ross, The Aesthetic Impulse p. 9.
47
Edward de Bono also wrote of the creative thinking that Moriarty’s workshops fostered.
For example, the phenomenon Cooney spoke of was described by de Bono: ‘…one can
deliberately turn away from what one would naturally pay attention to in order to see what
happens if one paid attention to something else…the important point here is not to feel that some
features are so trivial that they do not merit any attention.’49 Her experience supports de Bono’s
argument that using the mind to see something in a different way, no matter how small it is,
encourages creativity.50
However, the study also found that not everyone wanted to paint ‘modern’ creative art
and a few left the school because they preferred traditional art. Both Kershaw and
Brimblecombe-Fox recalled those who did not like Moriarty’s teaching, people who only wanted
to learn skills.51 Nevertheless, by returning to the workshops long after completing the course, it
appears the majority of students found creative art to be much more than that.
Although there were a few men with an interest in art, women predominated at the Flying
Arts workshops. An explanation was supplied by James. She found that the most popular
activities for women living in the country were cultural activities: painting, writing, singing or
playing a musical instrument; visiting museums or art galleries; and going to concerts or the
theatre. Lack of time and lack of money for trips to the city were among the reasons which
prevented them from enjoying these activities. Her study built up a picture of cultural deprivation
in country towns which the workshops helped to alleviate.52
James gave a second reason why it was women who found the workshops fulfilling. She
argued that being surrounded by women who do not care about activities beyond their home and
family caused frustration for many women in the country – they lacked a peer group with whom
to share their interests, or failing that, their frustrations. Having been educated in the city many
women married to property owners felt desperately isolated and alienated after they went to live
in the bush.53 These women were among those who flocked to the creative art workshops, they
were a place where people could exchange ideas and discuss their problems; often it was the
only real contact they had with each other for months at a time. As one student, Auda Maclean
from Baralaba, remarked: ‘the seminars bring us all together so we can share our art, our
dreams, our problems, and yes, sometimes even our recipes.’54
49
Edward de Bono, Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step, Harper & Row, New York, 1990, p.186.
50
de Bono, p. 11.
51
Brimblecombe-Fox. Personal interview.
Kerry James, ed., Work, Leisure and Choice: Women in Rural Australia, p. 78.
James, Work, Leisure and Choice, p. 76.
Auda Maclean, Baralaba. Letter to author. 26 Nov. 2001.
52
53
54
48
The popularity of the workshops is evident from a 1988 a survey of 14,000 rural women
carried out by the Office of the Status of Women in conjunction with the Country Women’s
Association (CWA) which found that long distances, lack of public transport, bad road
conditions, and the cost of telephones and postal services were among the biggest personal
concerns of rural women.55 However, the Flying Arts study shows that women gladly travelled
long distances over poor roads to drive to workshops because they filled a vacuum in their lives,
they supplied them with social and personal regeneration and a chance to get away from
pressures of life on the farm.
Living in the bush could not have been easy for women educated in the city. Due to its
high cost, even electricity was unavailable to many properties in central west Queensland before
1985.56 Some properties had generators, others relied on kerosene for lighting and refrigeration.
The study shows that many of Moriarty’s students came from these farms and properties; women
who were hungry for more than just daily coping with the heat and the dust. Those with very
young children found it difficult to attend,57 but when their children were older and more
independent and allowed them time for outside activities, many chose to attend the Flying Arts
workshops.
John Campbell, a member of the International Society for Education through Art, wrote
that art is one of the highest forms of expression and communication.58 His explanation is
another reason why so many women joined the Flying Arts workshops instead of being content
with CWA and other community services. They found the mental stimulation of expressing
themselves by discussing and creating an artwork with like-minded friends was more fulfilling.
A prime example of the type of woman attending the workshops is Gladys Cooney. She
was a girl from the city who trained as a school teacher before marrying and moving to the
north-west in the late 1940s. When she arrived she was appalled at the lack of provision for the
needs of women or children in the town. Determined to make changes she became the first
woman appointed to the local McKinlay Shire Council after her husband declined to be elected a
councillor. With an interest in cultural activities she became the representative for the Arts
Council in 1962 and Flying Arts in 1971. In recognition of her dedication; in 1992 she received
an OAM for her services to the local community.59
55
James, Work, Leisure and Choice, p. 3.
Rolleston workshops. Personal interviews. 2 September, 2003.
57
Rolleston workshops. Personal interviews. There are no child minding centres in the bush.
58
John Campbell, Arts Education: Report by the Senate Environment, Recreation, Communications and the Arts
References Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 1995. Appendix 7. p.2.
59
Cooney. Personal interview.
56
49
Other women who attended Moriarty’s classes were equally independent and
adventurous. By setting up galleries to exhibit their work they promoted a local interest in fine
art which led to regional galleries and other cultural activities. Elizabeth Hogan described the
powerful influence of workshops similar to Flying Arts when she wrote:
Bringing women together through networking and other activities inevitably means that they are embarking
on a journey of change. The process of planning events and activities in rural communities can mean
profound personal change for those women and their view of their place in their family, business and
community.’60
The growth of cultural activities in country towns following Moriarty’s visits supports her
argument, demonstrating that by bringing active women together, his workshops were a catalyst
for change. When Creedy began writing his Cultural Diaries in December 1972 there was little
cultural activity in country towns. However, by 1975, the interest in the visual arts following
Moriarty’s workshops combined with the activities of Langer’s Arts Council and Creedy’s
Cultural Affairs Department to bring about a proliferation of private galleries and regional
centres throughout Queensland.61
Nevertheless, for Moriarty’s concept to be a success money was essential. By 1973
student numbers in the school were steadily growing, but fees were not covering costs, and the
expense of hiring and fuelling a small aircraft was taking its toll. All Moriarty’s resources had
gone into the school along with $3000 from Helen. Over the previous two years, while
establishing the school, they saved on expenses by taking only $30 a week for living expenses,
relying on home-grown vegetables and eggs from their rented property at Mt. Nebo to
supplement their needs. A further saving was made by using volunteer help from Moriarty’s
Brisbane students to type and duplicate the books supplied to country students.62 Despite their
efforts, by late 1973 their resources were exhausted and they could no longer finance the school.
The Queensland Branch of the Arts Council of Australia had given the school whatever
help it could through Dr. Langer, but was unable to make a financial contribution. Arthur Creedy
from Cultural Activities supported Flying Arts with small grants i.e. in 1972 he gave $1500,
early in 1973 he allocated another $1000,63 but it was not enough. With over 240 country
60
Elizabeth Hogan, ‘Making Women Visible: Reflections on Working with Women in Agricultural in Victoria’, M.
Franklin, L. Short, E. Teather (eds.) Country Women at the Crossroads: Perspectives on the lives of rural Australian
women in the 1990s, University of New England Press, Armidale, 1994, p. 34.
61
Parliamentary Papers, Roll No. 61 1976-77. “Private galleries have now proliferated with tutorial services to
country groups being reinforced by Eastaus.” Appendix I: Timeline 1975 and 1976. Creedy’s Cultural Diaries
records the growth of a number of cultural centres in regional Queensland at that time.
62
Moriarty. Personal interview. Tape 2A.
63
A 1984 report from Past & Present Students of Flying Arts nominating Mervyn Moriarty for the BHP Award for
the Pursuit of Excellence; Moriarty personal interview. Tape 1B.
50
students dotted throughout eighteen centres64 the school needed substantial funding. Moriarty
wrote to the Arts Council of Australia requesting financial assistance; the Council replied saying
that as the school had no precedent it was unable to support it.65
However, 1973 was a time of dramatic political change in Australia. In December 1972
the Labor party won office, and the new prime minister, Gough Whitlam, who had been
educated at Sydney University – completing an arts degree before studying law – was known for
his fondness for the arts. In desperation Moriarty wrote directly to Whitlam and surprisingly he
received a reply.66 Whitlam stated that he thought the school was a great idea and he had a friend
whom he would ask to come to Queensland and go on tour with Moriarty to assess what the
school was achieving.67 When the ‘friend’ arrived Moriarty found he was well-known Australian
artist, Clifton Pugh, who had won the Archibald Prize in 1972 with his portrait of Whitlam.
Pugh came at his own expense.68 Moriarty spoke enthusiastically of his visit:
We got on extraordinarily well and he contributed enormously. He came back from that trip absolutely
exhausted because it really was a tough trip and he wasn’t well but he wrote to the Australia Council
recommending it very highly and the Council gave the school a grant of a few thousand dollars, that was
enough to keep us going until we could organise ourselves into a non-profit organisation and form a Board
and be registered as a non-profit organisation. When we did that they gave us a sizeable grant, a grant
which was sufficient to keep the school operating.69
Following Pugh’s visit Moriarty received his money, but before a larger grant would be
forthcoming, a Board had to be set up to manage school expenditure and Creedy again came to
their aid. He appointed retired politician, Sir Vernon Christie, who had been the Speaker in the
House in the Victorian Bolte government, as president. Other members of the Board were:
Monica Crouch – Secretary; Harold Munro – Treasurer; John Marshall; Wing Commander
Gordon Olive; and Russell Cuppaidge.70 With the establishment of a Board the school needed a
more suitable name and early in 1974 the name ‘Eastaus’ was changed to ‘The Australian Flying
Arts School’.71
64
‘Unconventional art teacher takes to the skies’, Journal, QU, 9, undated.
Moriarty. Personal interview. Tape 1B.
66
Moriarty. Personal interview. Tape 1B. Correspondence between Moriarty and Whitlam cannot be confirmed as
all early records were lost, but events appear to verify his claim.
67
Moriarty. Personal interview. Tape 1B.
68
Moriarty. Personal interview. Tape 1B.
69
Moriarty. Personal interview. Tape 1B.
70
Catalogue from the Moriarty file, Queensland Art Gallery.
71
Moriarty file, Queensland Art Gallery.
65
51
Moriarty understood that grants from the Arts Council of Australia would be ongoing72
and he expanded the activities of the school. In April 1974 under the heading, ‘Wanted: Artist
with Wings’, the Sydney Sun Herald advertised for a pilot/artist to assist Moriarty with his bush
tours, applicants to be screened by Clifton Pugh.73 The successful applicant was Bela Ivanyi, a
young refugee from the Communist invasion of Hungary who, on arrival in Australia, had
trained in art at the National Art School in Sydney. Ivanyi tutored in Sydney before moving to
Cairns in northern Queensland.74 He became the second pilot/artist with Flying Arts, flying the
northern route when Moriarty flew west.
Although Moriarty, with his gruelling workload, desperately needed help from a second
artist, he also believed that, to produce their best work, students needed a different viewpoint. He
could now implement this philosophy and taught at three of the four annual country workshops
in western towns while Ivanyi taught at the northern centres. For the fourth workshop they
changed over. The changeover for one of the four yearly workshops supplied variation for his
students. As Vince Bray from Mt. Isa remarked, ‘Mervyn sowed the seed, Bela let it grow.’75
Moriarty also believed that guest tutors Clifton Pugh, Keith Looby and other Australian artists
who visited his workshops were important. He knew that guest tutors often held an entirely
different position to his way of thinking and working, and that the difference was necessary for
the development of the student.76 However, along with variation he believed in continuity.77 The
dominant tutor was responsible for building student confidence:
If you take away the continuity, the tutor that they can relate to for a long time, you take out of it a link
between tutor and student that I believe has been tremendously important historically. A fairly long-term
relationship enables the learning process to be as much coming from the student as from the tutor. It is the
relationship between student and tutor that supplies continuity and security.78
With funding in place Moriarty was eager to seek new outlets and other avenues were
explored. Flying Arts workshops were available wherever they were requested, and Moriarty
was teaching a class of Europeans and Torres Strait Islanders on Thursday Island when he was
invited by a visitor from Yorke Island to bring the school to his village. For Moriarty it was a
new experience. When he went to Yorke Island he was impressed with its beauty and neatness
72
Moriarty. Tape 1B. No paperwork has been found, but the school appeared to have money until November 1975
when the Whitlam government fell
73
Nancy Berryman, ‘Wanted: Artist with Wings’, Courier Mail, 7 April, 1974.
74
Bela Ivanyi. Telephone interview with author. September 2001.
75
Vincent Bray Mt. Isa. Flying Arts Inc. interview through Lesley Jenkins for Australian Art Stories, 2001.
76
Moriarty. Tape 2B
77
Moriarty. Tape 2B.
78
Moriarty. Tape 2B.
52
and the happy lifestyle of the islanders. Classes were held during the day, in the evening the
islanders gathered together to sing. Everyone sat for hours singing in a way Moriarty thought
was similar to a Gregorian chant as they shifted from hymns to traditional native sounds. He
found the people hospitable and friendly –
On Yorke Island I learned immensely more than I taught. They were the happiest, most beautiful people I
have ever been amongst, I taught the kids and later I taught the adults. The adult class couldn’t start until
the tide was right because they were all out fishing, so when the tide was right – when it was the wrong
time to fish, right time to do something else – they would all come in. When I asked how many people
would be coming to the class my friend said ‘everyone’. And everyone did come. It was chaos of course
but they didn’t care, no-one cared. They wanted to learn about mixing colours so they could paint their
houses in these new and exciting colours.79
When Clifton Pugh travelled to Yorke Island with Moriarty he was also impressed; he
described the houses as ‘freshly painted in bright colours – neatly side by side in rows like a
paint manufacturer’s colour chart.’ He noted the natural creativity of the islanders who ‘had a
sense of design and colour and a freedom which could, with encouragement, develop into
something else.’80 However the workshops on Yorke Island did not continue. Materials to paint
or draw were not available to the islanders and their only tradition of the visual arts were small
sculptures in pumicestone. Moriarty believed that singing and dancing was the creative outlet
for these people.
Their next stop was Mornington Island. Moriarty wanted to explore whether the
workshops could benefit Aboriginal people. The visit was not a success. In a series of articles
with sketches for the Melbourne Age Pugh described their stay on Yorke Island and recounted
the flight to Mornington Island. They found that four visits a year were not enough for the
people on Mornington Island, a resident artist was needed. Different tribes had been herded
together on the island and Pugh saw it as a tragedy: ‘there is an air of despondency. A feeling of
disquiet too, for among Mornington’s 700 islanders are three major tribal groups and they are not
compatible; they never were.’81
Despite the failure to establish workshops for indigenous people Pugh wrote
enthusiastically about the work the school was doing in a series of articles for the Melbourne
Age. He believed that Moriarty was filling a cultural void in Queensland. In the first article he
likened Moriarty to a prophet in a non-profit enterprise: ‘the pleasures of his life are not success
or failure but trying to do something that needs to be done.’82 During the flight Pugh visited
79
80
81
82
Moriarty. Personal interview. Tape 3A.
Clifton Pugh. ‘Islanders nail their politics up on the coconut trees’, Melbourne Age, 31 Dec. 1973.
Pugh. ‘It’s a long sad wait for the dawn on Mornington Island’, Melbourne Age, 27 Dec. 1973.
Pugh. ‘Art school of the Air: one man’s initiative’, Melbourne Age, 26 Dec. 1973.
53
Moriarty’s other workshops enlivening his stories with anecdotes. In his story of Normanton he
drew on his own creativity to describe the scene when coming in to land: ‘looking down on
Normanton, marooned in tidal clay flats through which the waterways coil, you can see why the
Aborigines tell of the rainbow serpent who made the rivers’.83 When he wrote of the school’s
achievements on Thursday Island for his Melbourne readers, he coloured it with an exotic
background story of a solitary white man staying at the local hotel: ‘he is straight out of
Somerset Maugham – a figure surely planted there to convince the romantic tourist that the tales
they read and the films they saw about the decaying gentility of the long gone Empire were
true.’84 Finally he wrote of the vast distances the school covered in the far west and described the
enthusiasm of people living in the remote Mitchell Grass country of Julia Creek and Richmond
who attended the workshops.85
Not only did Pugh’s enthusiasm obtain funding for the school, by writing entertaining
and highly descriptive articles, he gained Australia-wide recognition for the school and its
achievements.
Consequently, following the tour with Pugh and receipt of the Australia Council funding,
the Queensland government now provided funds. In 1974 the school received $10,000 from the
state government through Creedy, and $20,000 from the federal government through the Arts
Council. With the extra funding, in June 1975 Flying Arts moved from Adelaide Street to larger
premises at 72-76 Eagle Street. The Education Minister, Val. Bird, opened its new offices which
contained teaching areas for Moriarty’s Brisbane school as well as a spacious art gallery to
exhibit student’s work. The first exhibition opened on 19 June 1975 and students from all over
Queensland had the thrill of seeing their work on view at a public space in Brisbane. At the
opening the Minister announced that the artworks being exhibited would go on tour to Sydney
and Melbourne.86 Following official recognition of the school, the Queensland Art Gallery
loaned Moriarty small artworks from its collection to give his bush students the opportunity of
viewing good quality original artworks.87
Student numbers had doubled from 240 in 1973 to more than 700 by 1975 and in 1977
numbers were closer to 900. Added to this, the school was teaching creative art to over sixty
students in Brisbane.88 Funding, so essential for the continuation of the school, was made up of
83
Pugh. ‘Shadow over the place of the rainbow serpent’, Melbourne Age, 28 Dec. 1973.
Pugh. ‘It was just like every day’, Melbourne Age, 29 Dec. 1973.
85
Pugh. ‘Beyond the Black Stump’, Melbourne Age, 1 Jan. 1974.
86
‘Art School gets big’, Telegraph, 31 May 1975; ‘Education Minister, Mr. Val Bird, opens new premises in Eagle
Street,’ Courier Mail, 1 June 1975.
87
Courier Mail, 1 June 1975.
88
David Tickell, ‘Sky’s no limit to art’, Telegraph, 27 June, 1975.
84
54
50% from the Commonwealth government through the Australia Council, 25% from the State
government through Arthur Creedy’s Cultural Activities and 25% from student fees. At the new
Eagle Street premises a small printing press, operated by Ric McCracken who had previously
given his time to Flying Arts on a volunteer basis, was installed to print newsletters, catalogues
and art instruction books.89 Moriarty was pleased with the progress of the school:
We were taking education out into the country and it was, in a real sense, the first really innovative
approach to distance education that had happened for a long time. Correspondence courses existed but they
were nowhere near as good as the art education we gave to students living in isolated parts of the country
90
through our workshops.
Workshops were expanded. Moriarty introduced pottery workshops in conjunction with
his creative art classes. The first potter to travel with the school was Rex Coleman, a well-known
Brisbane potter who trained with Harry Memmott in Brisbane before working with Merv
Feeney. Later he studied in Japan, India and the United States. Coleman found teaching with
Flying Arts was ‘total pioneering; really a matter of picking up a lump of clay and putting it on a
bare table. There was absolutely nothing to work with and no-one knew anything.’91
Other benefits were introduced: While touring, Moriarty followed the precedent set up
by the early Arts Council vacation schools; he conducted evening seminars on art history and
philosophy during overnight stays at two-day workshops. To improve the quality of the
seminars he purchased a camera and hired a movie projector; he acquired film from Japanese and
French Embassies in Brisbane to show students work being done by overseas artists, and
obtained film of interviews with prominent Australian artists. With the new camera Helen took
colour slides showing work produced by groups in Queensland and the slide presentations were
accompanied by discussions on the technical and philosophical issues involved in their
production. At the evening seminars students supplied supper and brought their families along.
Moriarty found, when talking to husbands, that most were pleased with the school; it gave their
wives an interest, making them happier and more content with the hardships of life in the bush.
In contrast a few men were not so pleased; their womenfolk were now more assertive, 92 the
workshops had built up the confidence of many women and it appeared that some men objected
to social equity.
89
Moriarty. Tape 3B. McCracken used a Gestetner duplicator at his home in Taringa to printed books for Flying
Arts and the Contemporary Art Society.
90
Moriarty. Tape 3B.
91
Coleman was a tutor with Kelvin Grove College and the pottery history of Flying Arts came from a newsletter
(undated) published by Kelvin Grove.
92
Moriarty. Tape 2A.
55
3. Mervyn Moriarty instructing a bush class at Charleville.
Photo courtesy Flying Arts archives
Trouble in Brisbane
Despite its success in regional Queensland, Moriarty spoke of problems in Brisbane. The
administration of the school was not running smoothly, and there was a takeover bid by his
administrator, Audrey Robertson, who tried to overturn Moriarty’s Board and instal another
Board while Moriarty was away. To account for her actions she accused Moriarty of carrying
drugs on the plane. The accusation was defeated when Sir Vernon Christie asked for evidence.
When told that the Busbys of Bundaberg had made a complaint Christie visited Bundaberg to
verify the story. They were horrified and quickly refuted the suggestion.93 Moriarty justified his
own denial: ‘in his position as chief pilot and artist for the school he would never have been that
stupid as to risk his licence.’94 He admitted that some of the visiting artists may have had drugs,
93
Moriarty. Tape 3B. As Sir Vernon Christie, President of Moriarty’s board, died in 1995 and Coralie Busby in
2003, Moriarty’s story could not be substantiated. However, Andrew Busby, Coralie’s son, has said that he knew
there were problems with the Brisbane administration and Merv [Moriarty] was always welcome to stay at the
family home when he taught in Bundaberg.
94
Moriarty. Tape 3B.
56
but they had been told drugs were not to be brought onto the plane.95 It is significant that Busby
had only praise for Moriarty when being interviewed. No student made allegations of drug use
during the years Moriarty worked with them, and if drugs were aboard the plane while on tour
they risked being found while being serviced by local mechanics. The takeover bid failed and Sir
Vernon Christie’s Board was retained, but before changes could be made to the Brisbane
administration federal politics intervened.
In November 1975 the Whitlam government was dismissed and the Fraser government
took power in Canberra. Much of the money allocated to the arts via the Australia Council was
discontinued. One of the victims was Flying Arts.
Following the discontinuance of Commonwealth funding the State government also cut
its funding. Creedy’s Cultural Diary noted that Flying Arts received a grant of only $5000 in
1977.96 With the loss of government support the school was once again grounded. Faced with
the catastrophe the Board announced that all workshops were cancelled due to economic factors
beyond their control – it appeared the school would close. In August 1977 the Courier Mail
noted that Dr. Dorothy Herbert of Charleville suggested approaching mining companies working
in Queensland for assistance.97 John Walters, President of the Flying Arts Students’ Association,
wrote to members explaining that as the school had received only $30,000 in the last twelve
months it could not carry on. He sympathised with the 895 students who would suffer.98
With disaster threatening, Walters asked students to lobby their local politicians and
Flying Arts students throughout Queensland rallied around. Country women sent letters to
Ministers in Brisbane and contacted their local members. By September 1977 students had
written hundreds of letters in support of the school.99 The outcry caused the Bjelke-Petersen
95
Moriarty. Tape 3B.
Cultural Diary Vol. 5, No. 5, May 1977. 8. TAFE was launched in regional Queensland in 1977, this could have
had a bearing.
97
Courier Mail, 23 August, 1977. There is no record that her suggestion was taken up.
98
Duplicated letter to students, signed John Walters, Qld. Art Gallery files.
99
‘They wrote to give support’, Courier Mail, 30 September, 1977.
96
57
National Party government to make a decision to fund the school and keep it open. The state
government immediately allocated $18,000 to assist the school until the end of the year.100 It now
cost around $120,000 a year to operate and, with help from student fees, the Queensland
Education Department would provide for its future funding.101
Following the decision, the Education Department wrote to Moriarty informing him they
would fund the school only if it amalgamated with an existing college.102 Kelvin Grove College
of Advanced Education, (KGCAE) had recently entered the field of community arts education
through its new Principal, Dr. Peter Botsman. Shortly after receiving the letter Moriarty was
visited by Jeff Shaw, Head of the School of the Arts at Kelvin Grove.103 Moriarty accepted his
offer. Although he would no longer be a Director of his school, he understood he would receive
a senior lecturer’s salary, being employed by KGCAE when not touring.104 For eight years the
school had been Moriarty’s life and rather than lose it, he agreed to the proposal.
When Flying Arts began its operations from Kelvin Grove the key aspects of its
formative years were retained. Moriarty and Ivanyi flew with the KGCAE potters to country
centres to conduct workshops; Moriarty’s books remained in use; and the school relied on his
structure of personal initiative. The significant change was the support system of experienced
personnel working from Kelvin Grove who restructured the management and supervised the dayto-day operations of the school. Flying Arts appeared to have the other two essentials needed for
success – adequate financial backing and sound administration.
However, in 1979 problems surfaced. Bela Ivanyi left the school after his pilot’s licence
was revoked by the Civil Aviation Department following an unscheduled landing at the wrong
destination. With the school’s reliance on small planes, an AVGAS shortage from May to
October caused serious problems, and a decision was made to use cars to visit towns in the
south-west of the state. The downside was that extremely poor roads made distant towns like
Quilpie and Hughenden uneconomical and some inland towns were dropped from the tours.
People living in the far west became anxious that they would now be abandoned, and a western
100
101
102
103
104
CM. 30 September.
CM. 30 September.
Moriarty. Tape 3B. No correspondence has been found to support Moriarty.
Moriarty. Tape 3B.
Grealy. Personal interview.
58
politician echoed their concern when he drove over 200 kms. on bad roads to get to a workshop.
On arrival his first words were: ‘For goodness sake, don’t let the school collapse, we need it out
here. It’s the best thing after cactoblastis.’105
In June 1980 the school came close to a major disaster when Moriarty made a forced
landing near Toogoolawah. It was only his skill as a pilot that saved pottery tutor Kevin Grealy
and himself from what could have been their last flight. The Courier Mail featured the story
under the heading ‘Artist’s Plane Goes Down in Paddock’ and wrote that the plane owned by
Sunland Aviation had engine failure at 6000 feet due to a blown piston.106 Moriarty stated
afterwards that he was preparing to ditch the plane in Somerset Dam when he saw a paddock that
appeared smooth enough to land. While Kevin propped the door open for a quick evacuation he
was able, after missing tree stumps and rocks, to land the plane in the paddock; it came to a stop
among a group of very startled cows.107 The near miss proved Moriarty’s ability as a pilot.
During twelve years flying to the outback it was his only mishap.
Then came December 1982, a momentous date in the history of Flying Arts. Moriarty
left the school following a disagreement with the Kelvin Grove management committee. The
committee acknowledged the contribution he had made to art education in Queensland:
The highest standard of students’ work is reflected in the exhibitions and competitions throughout the State
and it can be suggested that Mervyn Moriarty, more than any other single teacher, has had state-wide
significance in the development of the arts.108
However, his leaving was not amicable.109 The details of his going were never made
clear, but the North Queensland Register printed the story of Moriarty’s sacking/resignation
under the heading ‘Flying Artist grounded – art gone from the west’:
Mervyn Moriarty, the man who brought art to thousands of outback Queenslanders through the Australian
Flying Art School (AFAS), is without a job. Moriarty and the flying art school were synonymous. The
105
Flying Arts Gazette No. 1, August 1979. The politician was un-named but he could have been William Hamline
Glasson who was the State member for Gregory in 1979.
106
‘Artists Plane Goes Down in Paddock’. Courier Mail, 25 June, 1980.
107
Moriarty. Tape 3B.
108
Moriarty. Tape 3B. Newspaper reports have come from the North Queensland Register and the Gold Coast
Bulletin. His sacking/resignation was not reported in the Courier Mail.
109
Flying Arts Gazette No. 9. November, 1982.
59
wild-haired, ‘flying artist’ was responsible for bringing art to the outback. Mr. Moriarty claimed his
employer, the Board of the AFAS, sacked him. The Board says the artist resigned.110
Shaw, as president of the board, declined to be interviewed, instead he sent a press
statement to the newspaper stating: ‘Flying Arts employed Moriarty for only twelve weeks of the
year and he left because he wanted a substantial increase in salary which the school was unable
to meet.’111
Sir Vernon Christie’s reply, also printed by the North Queensland Register, read in part:
‘the salary received by the artist for being a teacher as well as a pilot was “laughable” at only
$5000 per year.’ Christie stated that he had tried to persuade Moriarty not to take up the
KGCAE offer in the first place as he always doubted the move would be a satisfactory one for
him.112
The story was featured on Nationwide on the ABC, and a second newspaper wrote:
The great tragedy was that the matter under the spotlight, the parting of the ways of the legendary Mervyn
Moriarty and his brainchild, the unique Australian Flying Art School, should ever have been allowed to get
to this stage. Viewers saw an exasperated Moriarty thinly disguising his distress at the apparent loss of his
12-year association with an organization which has undoubtedly made the most valuable contribution, on
the widest possible scale, to Queensland’s art education.113
Another report stated that Moriarty had no say in the school he founded, as the Constitution
drawn up by Shaw kept paid tutors off the Board.114
His sacking/resignation was widely publicised in regional Queensland, and the loss of
Moriarty was deeply felt by students. After having taught them for so many years they were not
pleased to lose their charismatic mentor. Carol Curr from Winton, an original student with the
school, wrote to the North Queensland Register. It read in part:
He made possible the high standard of art and crafts being taught in the north, west and south today…The
creativity he helped us discover in ourselves, and the hinging together of people in the bush and towns with
the same interests gave us new horizons to reach for and added “colour” to our lives.115
110
The North Queensland Register, Friday 4 March, 1983.
The North Queensland Register.
112
The North Queensland Register.
113
John Millington, Gold Coast Bulletin, ‘The flying school’s sacking of Moriarty is still up in the air’, 19 Feb.
1983.
114
Harry Throssell, Gold Coast Sunday Bulletin, ‘Airborne artist may be grounded,’ 20 Feb. 1983. A copy of the
relevant Constitution has not been found.
115
Carol Curr. Letter to North Queensland Register, March 1983.
111
60
At Bundaberg a meeting of students called for a review of the situation; they wanted his
reinstatement. Students felt there should be a committee of enquiry into the affair with equal
representation being given to board members and students.116 There was no response from the
management committee at Kelvin Grove.
Money was certainly behind Moriarty’s leaving. With a wife and child to support
Moriarty found his income inadequate and the pressure was affecting his marriage. He asked
KGCAE for an increase in salary, but the request was rejected. Moriarty was paid for each
teaching trip at the same level as other tutors (it was not the senior lectureship he was promised)
despite being the school’s founder and pilot. With his country trips interfering with his Kelvin
Grove duties he was unable to augment his Flying Arts income by teaching at the college.117
Moriarty tried to return to his city school as a part time tutor, but again his country trips
made it impracticable. When transferring to Kelvin Grove Moriarty had resigned from the
Brisbane school he set up back in 1971 in conjunction with Flying Arts.118 Although it was a
struggle, the city school was kept open by his former tutors, and survived as a private art training
institution. Today it is still operating under the name of the Brisbane Institute of Art (BIA). 119
When things were at their worst Moriarty remembered a conversation with Prof. Leon
Cantrell from the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education (DDIAE) – now known as the
University of Southern Queensland. Toowoomba based DDIAE supplied distance education to
rural Queensland and Moriarty was given to understand the college would welcome the school as
part of their programme. A satisfactory salary was part of the package. Moriarty contacted
DDIAE and they were keen to negotiate. However, when being interviewed Moriarty recalled
that after the management committee at KGCAE heard of it there was a huge row with both
Flying Arts management and the Queensland Education Department. He was given notice that
his services were no longer required.120
When Moriarty left Kelvin Grove he tried to open a new flying art school. He flew to
Mackay and Rockhampton – towns which, following his departure, were no longer being
serviced by Flying Arts. He bought art supplies and art books to sell on the trip, but with no
financial support the venture failed. In 1983 he opened a new art school at Paddington in
116
Throssell. Gold Coast Sunday Bulletin.
Moriarty. Tape 3B.
118
Moriarty. Tape 3B.
119
Archives, Brisbane Institute of Art.
120
Moriarty. Tape 3B. Verified by Grealy who left Kelvin Grove when Moriarty was sacked. No additional
evidence has been found.
117
61
Brisbane.121 Stress over losing Flying Arts caused it to fail also, along with his marriage.
Shattered by his experiences Moriarty left Queensland in 1984 to start a new life as ‘Artist in
Residence’ at East Gippsland with the Arts Council of Victoria.122
Conclusion
Flying Arts was the product of a number of circumstances coming together in the 1960s
when the growing recognition of modern creative art in Brisbane coincided with the teaching of
Jon Molvig who was a major influence on young Brisbane artists – Mervyn Moriarty, the
founder of Flying Arts, was a student of Molvig. Subsequently Moriarty became a teacher with
Dr. Langer’s Arts Council creative art workshops. It was the number of requests by country
students for more workshops which influenced him to take his own art school to the bush.
From the popularity of the workshops it appears his creative art workshops filled a
vacuum neglected by the Queensland Education Department. Although Adult Education
teachers made visits to rural centres there was no continuity. Moriarty’s planned workshops
conducted by professional artists, rather than government art teachers, drew people, not only
because charismatic artists were teaching creative art, but because they provided people with an
opportunity to complete a course.
As the case studies show, the lives of people from Bundaberg, Dalby, Rockhampton and
Julia Creek (along with others in Appendix III) were changed when they found personal
fulfilment in art through Moriarty’s workshops. In many cases, despite travelling long distances,
people kept returning long after completing the course. Other reminiscences in Appendix III are
also witness to the social interaction and personal regeneration the workshops fostered and the
changes they made to the lives they touched.
The study also reveals that the enthusiasm of artists and students was not enough for the
school to survive. Moriarty’s vision needed strong financial support and a reliable
administrative base. During the years when Moriarty built the school, these failed him and it
appeared that, through lack of finance, his workshops would not be able to redress the
inadequacies of government-sponsored Adult Education.
However, the need for Flying Arts in regional Queensland was so strong that, following
a push from below, when hundreds of people lobbied government officials, in 1978 the State
121
Moriarty. Tape 3B. Also Courier Mail 16 August 1983: ‘Mervyn Moriarty opens art school in Brisbane at 98
Enoggera Tce., Paddington.’
122
Courier Mail, 30 November 1984.
62
Government came to the rescue and agreed to finance the school on condition it transferred to
the Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education. The following chapter will look at the
benefits that the administration at Kelvin Grove brought to the school.
63
Chapter 5
1978-1990 KELVIN GROVE – THE BUREAUCRATIC YEARS
This chapter describes the years at Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education
(KGCAE) between 1978 and 1990. At Kelvin Grove, Flying Arts was moulded into an efficient
distance education school through the management committee set up by Jeff Shaw. While
remaining autonomous it reaped the benefits of trained management from the college, and drew
on the resources of its host to gain maximum advantages from government funding. Under the
control of a committee largely recruited from the college, the school at KGCAE became more
involved with craft. The difference between ‘Art’ taught by Moriarty and ‘Craft’ as preferred by
Shaw is explained in Techniques of Modern Artists as ‘The difference between the artist and the
artisan is the difference between the everyday world and that of the intellect and the senses…we
expect the artist, whose aims are more ambitious and complicated, to be more experimental in
terms of technique.1 During these years in which creativity through painting appeared to take
second place to craft, women became more involved with the operation of the school.
When Moriarty left Flying Arts in 1982 the romance of pioneering adventure went with
him; however, in the twelve years since he opened the school it had expanded into every corner
of regional Queensland and was now an essential part of too many lives to be lost. This chapter
argues that the years at Kelvin Grove gave the school stability through the efficiency of a
government trained bureaucracy. Flying Arts also benefited from its association with other
government institutions through Shaw’s management committee. Despite the change in direction
towards craft at Kelvin Grove, these years reinforced the success of Moriarty’s original creative
art classes when, at the end of the 1980s they were still popular while, following little demand, a
number of pottery workshops were discontinued. Although bureaucratic efficiency provided
Flying Arts with structure and management, workshops were reduced. Whether it was an
education department directive that TAFE take over the role of teaching beginners, or merely to
stay within budget, many students were disappointed when their towns were dropped from the
tours.
To understand why KGCAE preferred craft, this chapter will begin with a brief look at its
history. In 1942 the college transferred from George Street to Kelvin Grove. Along with drama,
music and physical education, art was part of the curriculum for training Queensland teachers.
Apart from the war years when he was serving with the Australian army, Clare Van Homrig
1
Judith Collins, John Welchman, David Chandler, David A. Anfam, Techniques of Modern Artists, New Burlington
Books, London, 1987, pp. 17, 23.
64
was the Senior Lecturer in art from 1936 until his retirement in 1968. When Van Homrig began
teaching at the college, its major function was to train primary school teachers. As senior
lecturer for the Education Department, in the mid 1940s he produced a text book called Art &
Craft which became the syllabus for primary school art teaching in Queensland; later he
produced a similarly named book for years 8 and 9. For many years he was chief examiner for
both Junior and Senior art examinations and President of the Royal Queensland Art Society. As
he favoured teaching craft to children, he introduced weaving to the curriculum. To this was
added book-binding, basket-making, leatherwork, cutting-out work, elementary painting and
needlework.2
By the mid 1970s the college had been training high school teachers for a number of
years; however there is no record of the art department making any real changes until 1976
following the arrival of Dr. Peter Botsman as its new principal. Before his arrival KGCAE was
considered to be conservative.3 When Botsman became principal a major change was the
upgrading of the arts curriculum by appointing artists as teachers in the Arts Department. He
wanted to promote community training in the arts and no longer would the art department be
purely for teacher training. An Associate Diploma geared for personal development was
introduced using professional artists who were not ‘teacher-trained’ to foster creativity in art
students. Course content was constantly revised and Botsman encouraged college personnel to
expand their contact with the wider community. The college began conducting country
workshops and in-service seminars for Queensland teachers.4 However, Botsman’s changes
were too new to have an affect on Flying Arts’ management when KGCAE acquired the school.
When it relocated to Kelvin Grove, Jeff Shaw, Head of the Arts at KGCAE, appointed a
new Flying Arts management committee of which he was president. He retained office until
1990 when Flying Arts transferred to the University College of Southern Queensland. During
many of those years he served on the Craft Board of the Australia Council.5 Shaw was an astute
and ambitious administrator and the school grew under his guidance. Like Van Homrigh, he
preferred skills and craft. His credo was that: ‘It is good to have expression – but not if it is at
the expense of techniques and materials.’6 Coming from this background Shaw wanted craft to
become an important part of the Flying Arts workshops. However, the creative art classes
conducted by Moriarty and Ivanyi were retained and they continued to draw large numbers.
2
Susan Pechey and Paul Thomas, Telling Tales: An oral history of Kelvin Grove College 1942-1990, Queensland
University of Technology, Kelvin Grove Campus, 1992, pp. 9-13. Betty Grulke, p. 49.
3
Pechey & Thomas, Telling Tales, p. x.
4
Pechey & Thomas, Telling Tales, p. 51.
5
Pechey & Thomas, Telling Tales, p. 145.
6
Pechey & Thomas, Telling Tales, p. 141.
65
When Ivanyi left the school the following year he was sorely missed by students. Rita Kershaw
from Rockhampton expressed the regret when she wrote: ‘He and Mervyn were opposites with
the same feeling for art and we loved both of them, some used to say there were Bela centres and
Mervyn centres.’7
As president of the management committee, Shaw’s immediate priority was the
appointment of experienced personnel as administrators. The first was Bruce Scriven, Head of
the Department of In-service and Continuing Education at KGCAE. Scriven had considerable
experience in the provision of distance education and his knowledge was invaluable for the
successful operation of country services.8
Representatives from major arts and education groups based in Brisbane were invited to
participate in the operation of the school, either as members of the committee or as consultants.
By mid 1978 Shaw’s team of consultants included Dr. Peter Botsman from KGCAE (who was
Chairman of the Community Arts Board of the Australia Council); and representatives from the
Department of Cultural Activities, the Department of Education, and the Queensland Potters’
Association. Key people from community groups, political groups, education agencies and the
student body were also invited to contribute to the development of the school. David Spann
from KGCAE was executive secretary, setting up the office and systems needed for day to day
operations.9 Although the founder of the school, Mervyn Moriarty, went to the first meeting as a
consultant, he was not given a place on the committee, the Constitution drawn up by Shaw
excluded paid tutors.10 Possibly Shaw thought Moriarty was a ‘wild card’. He was retained only
as a pilot and art teacher.
Shaw’s management committee in Brisbane was impressive, with people from the
College of Art Seven Hills, Queensland Arts Council, the Central Western Queensland Cultural
Activities Association at Blackall, the Queensland Day Committee, and the Education
Department as members. KGCAE supplied the president, vice-president, and secretary/treasurer.
College lecturers in music and art were also on the committee (not being employed by Flying
Arts the Constitution did not exclude them). By 1981 the new Executive Secretary, Mrs. Beryl
Angus, had an assistant to help with day-to-day administration of the school.11 Through its
committee the school received assistance from all major art education agencies in Brisbane and it
7
Rita Kershaw, Rockhampton, letter to author, September, 2001.
Jeff Shaw, History of the Australian Flying Arts School at Kelvin Grove, unpublished paper, Flying Arts archives,
1982, p. 14. Appendix I for all management committee personnel.
9
Shaw, p.14.
10
Gold Coast Sunday Bulletin, 20 February, 1983.
11
Flying Arts Gazette No. 5, September, 1981. 1982 Annual Report.
8
66
resulted in growth in funding and services at a time when many arts organizations throughout
Australia suffered from funding cuts.
Fig. 2. 1979 Seminar tours of the Australian Flying Art School
from its new headquarters at Kelvin Grove
67
With the management committee in place the school planned to produce four newsletters
a year. The first Gazette was published in August 1979, the second in December 1979, and
Flying Arts began a drive for increased membership. A competition was set up among students
to design a new logo with a prize of $50 for the winner.12 An annual membership fee of $5 gave
members voting rights at Annual or General Meetings with each group membership carrying an
entitlement to three votes. Tour itineraries were woven around public holidays, local festivals,
show days, school holidays, local art competitions and harvest dates, any of which could
significantly lower the possible attendance in each centre. For the school to ‘pay its way’, twoday seminars required a regular attendance of fourteen pupils.13
To increase pottery and craft workshops Shaw turned to the Craft Association for
assistance. He planned new workshops in ceramics, spinning and weaving, batik and other
crafts. By 1978 pottery workshops were a major part of the school curriculum and Kevin
Grealy, Rob Hinwood and Rex Coleman (all from KGCAE) were its first tutors. The principal
potter was Kevin Grealy, a lecturer in ceramics at KGCAE. Grealy began his training with the
Central Technical College and had attended Molvig’s creative art classes before working and
studying in Canada. When he became a tutor with Flying Arts, he wrote a three-year pottery
course as an adjunct to Moriarty’s painting manuals. In the following years he flew extensively
throughout Queensland to conduct pottery workshops alongside Moriarty’s painting
workshops.14 They were both charismatic teachers and their joint classes were always well
attended. Through their close association Grealy developed a strong rapport with the school’s
founder. When Moriarty left the school at the end of 1982, Grealy believed that Moriarty was
badly treated and tendered his resignation.15
The new pottery workshops were welcomed by a number of towns. The Gladstone Area
Potters’ Group had been formed in March 1973 and was already active. It managed ‘The Potters
Place,’ a community craft centre opposite the Gladstone State High School. In an article on its
achievements, the Gladstone Observer noted that Gladstone ‘had a cultural asset which other
centres may well envy and the cost to the community has been comparatively minor because of
the dedication, determination and sheer hard work of a small group of people.’16 When Moriarty
12
Flying Arts Gazette No. 1, August, 1979. The logo design was not won by any student. It was drawn up
professionally.
13
Flying Arts Gazette No. 1, August, 1979.
14
Jeff Shaw, History of the Australian Flying Arts School, p. 14.
15
Grealy, personal interview.
16
‘Potters’ Group completes its busiest year’, Gladstone Observer, July, 1977.
68
brought Flying Arts to Gladstone in 1976 the first professional potter who came to teach was
Ivan Englund. Englund, head teacher of Art at the Meadowbank National Art School and
Technical College, was a highly qualified teacher who had taught in Canberra, Melbourne and
Wollongong. He was followed by Jacques Vaschalde. However, in her 1977 annual report the
retiring president of the Gladstone Potters expressed her dissatisfaction with Flying Arts through
cancelled workshops. She hoped ‘for better liaison and co-ordination with the school in
future.’17
Her hopes were realised after the school transferred to Kelvin Grove. In 1978 Grealy
supervised his first Gladstone workshop. Mary Norris, a leading Gladstone potter, supplied a
description of Grealy’s early workshops:
There was nowhere here to buy anything for pottery until we set up our own shop. When Kevin came there
was always hilarity in the group and there would be a function at night when he would play his guitar and
sing. He always stayed with one of the student families. We did our first salt firing with Kevin with a
funny little antiquated kiln. We now have a really large one which we fire with diesel and wood.18
4. Kevin Grealy taking a pottery class. Photo courtesy Flying Arts archives
17
Potters’ Group completes its busiest year’, Gladstone Observer, July, 1977. Cancelled workshops were due to
financial difficulties when the Commonwealth government withdrew its funding.
18
Mary Norris interview with Lesley Jenkins 2001 and Flying Arts Gazette No. 86, October, 2001.
69
A second pottery workshop in that year was conducted by Rob Hinwood. The Gladstone
Potters wrote to express their satisfaction with the new start at Kelvin Grove and were looking
forward to a further workshop in August.19 The Flying Arts pottery workshops remained popular
over the next two years and Ian Currie’s workshop was featured in the Gladstone Observer
where ‘local potters were working hard for their Easter Festival of Pots to be set up on the
waterfront.’20 In July 1980 the newspaper photographed Rex Coleman giving some helpful tips
to the group.21 At the same time the Bundaberg News Mail carried a photograph of Hinwood
teaching the Bundaberg Pottery Club.22
Mackay was another town to welcome the Flying Arts potters and Peg Horsnell from
Mackay Pottery (which began in 1975) wrote that they needed the continuing assistance
provided by Flying Arts. When Rex Coleman first came with Moriarty in 1976 his visit drew a
large attendance.23 Many of the students attending the Mackay workshops drove in from
surrounding towns: Marion, Gargett, Netherdale, Finch Hatton and the mining town of Dysart
200 kms. away. Maryborough Potters also wrote of the success of their first workshop held by
Grealy in 1978 at the Maryborough TAFE College.24 He set up another first with a three-day
workshop for the Weipa Potters. It was attended by twenty enthusiasts who used the local red
clay to decorate their pots.25
St. George, Monto and Cairns were other pottery groups who wrote of their appreciation
of Flying Arts. When St. George organised an Exhibition in the Balonne Creative Arts Group’s
room it was an outstanding success with all pots being sold.26 Monto Potters had a membership
of twenty. Their group began in 1976 with only six members; Flying Arts played a major part in
their development and members praised the training they received through the school.27 Cairns
Pottery also wrote thanking the school for recent workshops held in Cairns.28
19
20
‘Friends together Potters’ secret’, Gladstone Observer, July, 1978.
‘Art Pots take shape for sale’, Gladstone Observer, 18 March, 1980.
‘Community Crafts Centre popular’, Gladstone Observer, 18 July, 1980.
22
‘Rob. Hinwood, Australian Flying Art School, taking a class at Bundaberg Pottery Club.’ Bundaberg News Mail.
1980.
23
Flying Arts Gazette No 3, July 1980.
24
Maryborough News, 8 April, 1980.
25
Flying Arts Gazette No. 3.
26
Flying Arts Gazette No. 3.
27
Flying Arts Gazette No. 8, August, 1982.
28
Flying Arts Gazette No. 7, May 1982.
21
70
5. A pottery group working at Longreach. Photo courtesy Flying Arts archives.
Favourable comments from so many towns showed a similar enthusiasm for Flying Arts
pottery tutors that Moriarty’s creative painting workshops had experienced in the early 1970s; a
significant number of country women were attending the Flying Arts pottery workshops for
social interaction and support from others with similar interests. Mary Norris wrote of their
disappointment when Flying Arts workshops to coastal towns were discontinued in 1982:
‘When Flying Arts pottery tutors stopped coming to Gladstone, and Gladstone Pottery came
under the auspices of the Rockhampton TAFE College, some of the pottery tutors who came
then could not even teach.’29 Her comments show that many Flying Arts students found TAFE
disappointing. Another setback for Gladstone potters would be the drive to Rockhampton and
the loss of support from potters throughout Queensland. With workshops held in so many
different towns Flying Arts students could network with potters from other centres at annual
exhibitions held in Brisbane.
Other crafts were trialled. Fabric printing and dyeing workshops were planned for a
Central Western Textiles Tour.30 The first of these was held in 1979 when Jim Aitkenhead from
29
Interview with Lesley Jenkins 2001 and Flying Arts Gazette No. 86, 2001.
KGCAE management dropped the tours to coastal towns in 1983.
30
Flying Arts Gazette No. 1, August, 1979.
71
KGCAE organised a tour to Muttaburra, Longreach, Blackall and Augathella using the Kelvin
Grove College mini bus to take two College staff, an Art Department Lecturer, and the
Departmental Assistant (who acted as driver and administrator). Seven students from the
Diploma of Teaching Secondary Art, and Associate Diploma in Visual Arts Courses also
accompanied the tour. They covered 3,600 kms. The fees of $525 were paid by the Central
Western Division of the Country Women’s Association.31 A total of eighty-five students attended
the second Textiles Tour workshops in 1980 at Augathella, Blackall, Longreach and Muttaburra;
again it was led by Jim Aitkenhead who brought a group of Art Major and Associate Diploma
students from Kelvin Grove. A third Textiles Tour was held the following year with forty
students (a significant drop on 85) attending workshops in basic screen and block printing and
creative embroidery at Augathella, Charleville, Longreach, Muttaburra and Blackall.32
In 1980 Flying Arts also trialled a Theatre-in-Education tour which tutored schools at
Morven, Quilpie, Jundah and Windorah when Greg Rudd, KGCAE lecturer, and eleven drama
students provided the children with an opportunity for involvement in drama activities.33 The
following year a more advanced Theatre-in-Education class, once again co-ordinated by Greg
Rudd, went to Cunnamulla State High School, Dirranbandi State School, Surat State School,
Mitchell State High School and Injune State School.34 Alan Place, a lecturer in Graphics at
KGCAE and his wife, Rosetta, a professional photographer, conducted photographic silk-screen
printing workshops at Longreach and Blackall. Screen printing and sculpture were planned for
future tours.35 Shaw tried to create further interest by having the Crafts Council Resource Centre
supply Craft Resource Kits for people living in remote areas. Each kit contained information on
Ceramics, Jewellery, Spinning, Weaving, Machine Embroidery, Fibre, Fabric Printing, Glass,
Wood, Leather and Metalwork.36 Despite Shaw’s efforts to expand craft workshops, only
painting and pottery generated enough interest to remain viable. There is no record that any of
the other early craft workshops were continued. Creative painting remained popular however,
31
Flying Arts Gazette No. 3. Jeff Shaw, History of the Australian Flying Arts School at Kelvin Grove, unpublished
paper, 1982, Flying Arts Archives, p. 3.
32
Flying Arts Gazette No. 3.
33
Flying Arts Gazette No. 4, January, 1981.
34
1981 Annual Report.
35
1981 Annual Report. Flying Arts Gazette No. 3. These workshops did not eventuate.
36
Flying Arts Gazette No. 2, December, 1979.
72
and two-day seminars in Advanced Painting techniques were held in Cairns, Mackay,
Rockhampton and Roma. Guest artist Ian Smith was the tutor and his workshops attracted
seventy-six people, twenty-one from Rockhampton. Smith spoke to the Rockhampton group
extolling the benefits that only Flying Arts could supply:
Budding artists often face a lack of information about new ideas in creativity and styles and the advantage
37
of the Flying Arts is that its members can get together to exchange views and co-operate more fully.
In September 1980 Shaw, as a speaker at the National Conference for Teaching Crafts in
Geographically Isolated Areas held in Canberra, once again brought the work of Flying Arts to
the attention of other states. Before the conference, at the request of Shaw, Tim Moorhead,
Education Officer for the Crafts Council of Australia, toured with Flying Arts to assess the work
of the school. Flying with Rex Coleman and Mervyn Moriarty his report on the activities of
Flying Arts was highly favourable:
Both Merv and Rex are to be congratulated. Your program, in addition to those painting and pottery
groups, helps to promote a different kind of education which I like to refer to as ‘consumer’ education.
When talking about consumers we must keep in mind that this does not pertain merely to purchasers.
‘Things’ are consumed in many ways and it takes a greater number of consumers to support a relatively
few producers. The special workshop sessions, lectures, demonstrations, exhibitions, etc. all feed these
consumers. Your structured courses also help raise the standard and the Australian Flying Arts School is to
38
be congratulated for its efforts.
Through the people on its management committee Flying Arts was becoming recognised
as a major supplier of quality art education in regional Queensland. For example, Mrs. Len
Davenport, the Queensland Arts Council representative on the committee, arranged for Flying
Arts tutors Kevin Grealy and Roy Oorloff to join Arts Council artists Warren Langley and
Barbara Huxham in conducting ‘The Seaforth Experiment’. It was an experiment where thirtysix Australian painters and potters lived and worked for a week at a National Fitness Camp
within sight of the Great Barrier Reef.39 In a delightful setting the camp showcased the quality of
art teaching available in Queensland.
In 1981 Flying Arts expanded into New South Wales following a grant from the New
South Wales Arts Council to extend services into its north-western area. The grant was
37
38
‘Famous artist guest-tutor’, Rockhampton Bulletin, undated 1980.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 3. ‘Consumer’ is a strange word to use, it appears to refer to students as ‘consumers’ of
cultural activities which could be explained by Kerry James’ in her reference to ‘cultural deprivation’ in the bush in
Women in Rural Australia, p.78.
39
Flying Arts Gazette No. 3.
73
accompanied by an increase in funding levels from the Queensland Department of Cultural
Activities.40 The school was growing, and by the beginning of 1982 it was operating on a budget
of $123,594 to service 1600 students over a distance of 12,500 kms. Self-generated income
through student fees and other sources accounted for almost 40% of the total annual budget.41
The school was supplying the people of regional Queensland and northern NSW with art
education equal to any available in the city.
Although the figures were impressive, Flying Arts had been conducting workshops for
ten years, and growth in student numbers was slowing as older centres dropped out. Some
pottery groups remained high, but Gladstone, despite its early enthusiasm for Flying Arts tutors,
had now been taken over by Rockhampton TAFE.42 Creative art classes were always better
attended.43 It appeared that the need for pottery tutors declined when skills were learned; in
contrast, working with creative artists kept students returning to workshops long after completing
their course. Advanced painting students were re-enrolling for the stimulation of working with
professional artists from Brisbane.
Accreditation - an insurmountable hurdle
Bureaucratic efficiency could not solve every problem. Following a query by Biloela
student, Beverley Johnstone, the management committee investigated her proposal for the
provision of an academically recognised course, possibly with a diploma, to enable her to move
away from ‘hobby status’ and gain full recognition as a qualified artist. In response, a certificate
was designed with an embossed seal of the school. It was numbered and signed by a Flying Arts
officer with the student’s name, subject, and years of study, with the information being recorded
in a bound register.44 Flying Arts Certificate No. 0001 was issued to Phyllis Roberts of
Charleville - a foundation member of Moriarty’s original school still attending his creative art
classes. The certificates were popular with many students and during the year a total of twentyfour people requested and received their certificates.45 However, because they were not woven
around an accredited course they were not what Johnstone wanted. They could not be
40
Flying Arts Gazette No. 6, December, 1981. In 1989 it became known as ‘Arts Queensland’.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 6.
42
Flying Arts Gazette No. 6. Flying Arts Gazette 35, January, 1988: The Gladstone Potters withdrew from Flying
Arts because they found the one-day seminars introduced by the management committee were unsatisfactory.
43
From workshop attendance sheets in Flying Arts archives.
44
Flying Arts Gazette No. 4. January 1981. This register appears to have been lost.
45
Flying Arts Gazette No. 6; 1981 Annual Report.
41
74
recognised by other art institutions or the art industry; hobby classes were all that could be
offered without accreditation. Flying Arts classes were fun, they supplied quality art education in
strange places, from local showgrounds to a club hall, an old picture theatre or a disused
shearers’ quarters,46 but without recognised accreditation they could not give students a
professional standing. Training people to be mentally active through creative activities remained
Flying Arts’ strength. As late as 1988 Shaw complained about the lack of accreditation:
It has been a matter of continuing concern to members of the School that the high levels of achievement
and study evidenced by many AFAS students cannot yet be recognised by an accredited award. Such
awards which are available to city students can facilitate employment and also provide the key to further
and more advanced studies and qualifications. It is imperative that external awards should be available to
our isolated students whether in Cape York or Burringbar West, but so far, despite an apparent sympathy,
educational sectors and institutions have found themselves unable to provide this much needed service.47
In a bid to know whether it was the lack of accreditation behind the drop in student
numbers, Flying Arts conducted a survey to find reasons behind the decline. Results showed that
the interest was there, but with people travelling long distances students wanted a return to a
two-day seminar. (In its efforts to stay within budget Kelvin Grove often supplied only one-day
seminars and the evening talks Moriarty had conducted were no longer taking place.) Students
also wanted continuity with one tutor and visits by guest tutors whenever possible. They wanted
a return to the type of workshops Moriarty supplied them in the 1970s. Josephine McTaggart
described the dissatisfaction:
From the students point of view, I can’t stress it strongly enough that a tutor for the whole year (after all it’s
only 4 or 8 days a year) far outweighs the continual chopping and changing that goes on. A yearly based
tuition would be very beneficial to the students; progress will be made so much faster by the students
because they can expect the same one back and therefore do the homework; a good teacher/student
relationship builds up; confidence in ability by those more shaky students – the whole work program will
be one of consistency… one has to remember that out here in the country, the majority of students get
nothing whatever other than the Flying Arts School, so what chance have they got with four different
teachers in a year, telling them four different things.48
The Cooee Bay Art Camp was an outcome of student desire for the old 1970s style
workshops. When the Rockhampton group decided to extend their art activities into a 10-day
camp Flying Arts was asked to assist. When Kelvin Grove management declined Bela Ivanyi,
their 1970s tutor, helped them set up an annual ten-day workshop in creative art. It was open to
all Flying Arts students and other artists. In an effort to include students throughout Queensland,
46
Undated letter 1981 signed by Beryl Angus, Executive Secretary, Flying Arts archives.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 36, April 1988.
48
Flying Arts Gazette No. 12, May 1983. Artlink magazine put out by the Queensland Arts Council stated that at
that time the only visual arts workshops in rural Queensland were Flying Arts and the Annual Arts Council Vacation
School. Flying Arts Gazette No. 13, July, 1983.
47
75
the first workshop was held at Tinaroo in northern Queensland with thirty-six Flying Arts
students attending. As people from southern Queensland thought Tinaroo too far, the next year
they tried Toowoomba, but it was not popular with north Queensland students. Cooee Bay, near
Yeppoon, was the next choice and this time it suited all. The response from students was high
and over the years the Cooee Bay creative art workshops remained popular. In 1982 the group
sold their work through an exhibition in Brisbane held in the foyer of Her Majesty’s Theatre.
Ivanyi praised the work achieved at the art camp. He described how the best artists in Australia
came to teach the forty or fifty students who came from Cairns, Cooktown, Mackay, Mt. Isa,
Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Goondiwindi and Brisbane. A number of guest artists, including
Colin Lanceley and Kevin Connor, came from Sydney. Cooee Bay never needed to advertise,
‘word-of-mouth’ always kept numbers up.49
To stay within budget Kelvin Grove management could not return to Moriarty’s formula
of four tours a year. However, some changes were made. To complement the flying tour to
north Queensland, a flying tour to south-western Queensland was reinstated. A third tour
travelled from Southport to Maryborough by car; it also serviced towns on the Darling Downs
and north-west NSW. To defray the added costs the school looked for sponsors – sponsorship
could take the form of a guest tutor programme; a catalogue of the School’s audio-visual
resource material; or assistance in purchasing a car or even an aircraft. In return Flying Arts
offered sponsors a vast publicity network reaching students, not only in Queensland and New
South Wales, but those from Western Australia, Northern Territory, Victoria, New Zealand and
New Guinea enrolling into its new correspondence courses.50 Despite the efforts of KGCAE,
sponsorship was slow in coming, it would be several years before Flying Arts gained its first
sponsor.
A new programme initiated by Shaw was the Flying Arts correspondence courses. The
survey found that popular correspondence courses were Sculpture, Printmaking/graphics and
‘Fabrics and Fibres’ (screenprinting, batik, spinning and weaving.); there was also an interest in
Art History and Design. The new courses began with Ian Currie from KGCAE writing a
ceramics course in Stoneware Glazes for tutor Betty Crombie. Allin Dwyer supervised a
beginners course in Sculpture I; Screen Printing I was set up and supervised by Don Braben (a
lecturer in art at Mt. Gravatt CAE who had taught in Britain, Canada, Zambia and Nigeria);
pottery was supervised by Ian Currie from KGCAE; the batik supervisor was Thel Merry who
had trained at the East Sydney Technical College. Funding came through special grants from the
49
50
Bela Ivanyi, phone interview, 23 September, 2001.
1983 Annual Report.
76
Crafts Board. Initially the courses were successful, winning recognition and acclaim throughout
Australia among other groups and specialist publications. At a cost of $95 to complete a course,
by 1984 there were 88 students taking five correspondence courses with the school. Following a
grant from the Utah Foundation of $3375 for the development of a further correspondence
course to begin in mid 1984, Flying Arts tutor Pat Hoffie developed a course in ‘Painting and
Drawing’.51
Flying Arts also looked at Aboriginal communities. With funding from the Aboriginal
Arts & Craft Board, Shaw and Aboriginal artist Ron Hurley tutored at a nine-day exploratory
tour which flew to Weipa and three Aboriginal communities on Cape York - Aurukun, Edward
River and Kowanyama, and it was hoped the school could develop regular workshops in crafts
for the people of Cape York.52 The tours created interest, and depending on funding, future
workshops were planned. Unfortunately the necessary funding never eventuated.
From the evidence it can be seen that Shaw tried to promote a number of craft workshops
in conjunction with Moriarty’s creative art classes, using experienced teachers from his own and
other colleges as tutors; however results show that although other courses were trialed, only the
Flying Arts core workshops in creative art, pottery and the new correspondence courses drew
enough students to continue.
KGCAE also supplied Shaw with guest tutors. In 1982 Brisbane hosted the
Commonwealth Games and celebrations in conjunction with the Games made it a festival year
for the city. Among overseas visitors coming to Brisbane for the Games were a number of
experienced craftworkers. In keeping with its brief of giving its students the best possible
tuition, Flying Arts employed some of these as guest tutors. Dot Callender, a visiting weaver
from Edinburgh with the Victorian Tapestry workshop, accompanied Roy Churcher on the
northern tour (Churcher replaced Bela Ivanyi when he left in 1979 – see Appendix IV).53 Alison
Whiteford, a freelance drama teacher from Scotland, also flew with Churcher to work with
special schools from Cairns to Bowen; Evelyn Roth, a Canadian fibre artist, and English trained
Australian potter Gwyn Piggott, as a new potter-in-residence on the Kelvin Grove campus with
an outstanding record, (she is represented in galleries and museums in the UK, France, Holland,
Canada, Japan and the USA), also toured. Wilma Hollist, spinner, weaver and dyer from the UK
was sponsored by the Craft Council of Queensland to accompany Mervyn Moriarty on his southwestern tour.54
51
52
53
54
1984 Annual Report.
1982 Annual Report.
1982 Annual Report. Churcher was not a pilot; the school had to pay for an outside pilot.
1982 Annual Report.
77
With guest tutors, student numbers increased. For example, in that year Flying Arts
visited thirty-six painting centres and thirty pottery centres throughout Queensland. By
December there were 2092 students on the school mailing list; of these 1253 were financial.
New (and returning) centres opened at Mareeba, Baralaba, Chinchilla, Mitchell, Glenmorgan,
Moree, Tweed Heads, Walgett, Tenterfield, Emerald and Rolleston with most centres conducting
both painting and craft classes.55 The Committee noted that 1982 was a year of quiet but hardearned growth with surplus funds.56
Flying Arts employed their first female tutor, Pat Hoffie, in 1982. She toured with the
school while teaching at the Brisbane College of Art. Hoffie praised her country students when
exhibiting her own work at Galerie Baguette in Ascot, she told her interviewer of the essential
service which Flying Arts supplied:
The network of women artists out there who are doing good work is incredible, they are not painting
because they think it is fashionable: they are doing it because it comes from a real need. The artwork, as a
result, often ends up being very strong. . . . They have a lot of dedication to the life they lead in the country,
and that comes into their painting.57
By 1983 women began to predominate in Flying Arts, not only as students, but as tutors.
Pottery tutor Lyndal Moor was another early tutor to tour. Her work was featured in Women’s
Day in 1988 after the Queensland Art Gallery bought a number of her pieces. When interviewed
by Women’s Day she also spoke of the important service the school provided:
There is a definite need for the school in a place like Queensland. The distances are so great and all the
main cities are on the coast. It costs far too much for people to have to travel to the main centres. Many
people still have to travel hundreds of kilometres from isolated properties to the country towns to consult
with artists.58
Although the tutors who replaced Moriarty found that working with Flying Arts was
stimulating, they also found it extremely demanding. There was a high turnover of tutors during
the 1980s, and following are anecdotes which describe the problems tutors encountered and the
dedication of those who flew with the school. An article by Moor for Craft Australia gives some
indication of the unique difficulties of being a tutor with Flying Arts:
55
Flying Arts Gazette No. 7. May, 1982.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 7. In December 1982 the management committee declined to give Moriarty a rise in
salary. The reason given was that the school could not afford it.
57
Flying Arts Gazette No. 15. December 1983.
58
Flying Arts Gazette No. 18. July 1984.
56
78
As weight has to be kept to a minimum [when flying], the tutors have to be selective about the teaching
equipment they take. Most centres can arrange to have video recorders and slide projectors available to
show any films or slides the tutors have chosen. Tutors are selected first of all for their ability as practising
artists, secondly as teachers, and finally for their ability to get along with others and to cope with the
unexpected. Tours do not always go as smoothly as planned and disasters can occur along the way,
including flood and drought, cyclones and aircraft breakdowns. The climate can vary from the extreme heat
of summer in Quilpie to the cold winter nights of Glen Innes.59
She also described problems arising from different stages of student experience Each class has different needs and, within each group, students are at many levels of expertise and
enthusiasm, so the tutors have to cope with this during the course of the teaching day.
Each day is exhausting and also exhilarating because of the feedback of dedicated students who are
60
determined to make the most of their day with the Flying Arts School.
However, for Moor flying time had its rewards The flying time in the morning, ranging from 30 minutes to several hours, is a time the tutors, all visually
aware, find most inspiring and many have used the inspiration from these early morning flights in their own
artwork. Similarly travellers with the Flying Arts School (and there have been many guests over the years)
come to realise just how enormous Queensland is and how varied the terrain. The country changes
dramatically at different times of the day, and in different seasons and weather conditions. 61
Beverley Budgen (painting) was another popular early tutor as was Irene Amos.
Following her first country trip in 1985 Amos found the long hours and the constant travelling
and teaching was stressful for tutors, and she brought attention to the problem in a letter to the
school:
The one area of concern was that an eighteen day work load with twelve days prefaced by early rising to
permit periods of flying to arrive at centres and then begin a full day’s teaching, allowed for only half day
scheduled rest (the first half of that day being spent flying): It is inconsiderate to all concerned to program
twelve consecutive days without a break for any creative tutor, even understanding the unusual nature of
the circumstances prevailing on this occasion.62
59
‘Imagination takes flight’, Craft Australia, Winter 1988.
‘Imagination takes flight’.
61
‘Imagination takes fight’.It highlights the pressure on Moriarty who was the school’s pilot for 12 years as well as
being a tutor.
62
Dr. Irene Amos. Personal interview, Brisbane, 25 March 2004. Extract from copy of letter to the school dated 25
October, 1985.
60
79
6. Flying Arts’ workshop teacher Bonney Bombach supervises
Visual arts students (from left) Robbyn Surman and Carita Mueel
And professional artist and teacher Henry Breikers at Hervey Bay
Photo courtesy of The Fraser Coast Chronicle, Flying Arts Gazette July 2001.
7. Edith-Ann Murray explaining finer points to Kate Cullity at Barcaldine Pottery.
Photo Flying Arts archives.
80
Grealy described another of the disappointments tutors experienced when flying. ‘It’s a
terrible feeling when you are ten minutes away from a place like Cairns after flying for three
weeks and are forced to turn back because of bad weather.’63 On northern flights the weather
caused problems. Moriarty told the story of his plane being diverted from Mackay because bad
weather would not allow a small plane to land safely, traffic controllers directed him to
Rolleston, south-west of Rockhampton, where a hole in the high cloud bank would allow him to
land.64 Flying under these conditions disrupted workshops and must have worried some tutors.
Yet, unless it was impossible to fly, tutors always tried to keep to schedules. However, the
difficulties highlight what was possibly the reason for the high turnover of painting and pottery
tutors while Flying Arts was at Kelvin Grove. Over 70 artists were employed for short periods
during the years at Kelvin Grove (more than half of these were women) and although they were
enthusiastic, responding generously to the needs of their students, many stayed for only one or
two tours. Others stayed for one to two years, some for three (see Appendix IV). Only two
tutors travelled longer with the school – its founder Mervyn Moriarty, who was with the school
for twelve years, and Roy Churcher who stayed for five.
8. Roy Churcher (second from right) talking to students. Photo courtesy Flying Arts archives.
63
64
‘Brushes with Danger for Flying Art School’, Courier Mail, 1980.
Moriarty, Personal interview. Tape 2B.
81
Churcher is an outstanding example of the dedication of tutors. Although he lived in
Melbourne, he continually flew to Brisbane to travel with Flying Arts because he believed in
what the school was doing. In an interview for the Melbourne Age Churcher stated that the
people he taught were mainly women involved with the land - nurses, teachers and librarians.
He said that one of the aims of the school was to provide as much current information as
possible, but he also emphasized other needs:
A lot of the people (in the bush) have never seen what we’d call a decent picture. We’re trying to build up
quality judgement about painting generally and about their own painting. The real crunch out there is what
happens when you look at a gum tree. Their conscious life is spent in a natural environment and it’s the
one they undervalue most. I’m teaching them the qualities of the place where they actually are.65
Churcher believed creative art was an important learning tool in the city as well as the country.
He was critical of art education in Australia and drew attention to the talent of many of his bush
students, stating that creative talent should be nurtured from primary school:
Australia’s education system was ignoring the value of art as a learning and developmental subject in
schools . . . It’s not regarded as an intelligent part of the culture. Art is one of the lowest subjects on the
curriculum, rather than a central subject to the human being… art was an excellent teacher and helped
individual development as well. . . .Art also helped develop the person because it dealt with how he looked
at the world. Making a painting is an absolute extension of the self. People have to learn to open up and
accept new ideas.66
He was not alone, his sentiments were echoed by Lenton Parr who also wrote that
creative art was undervalued and not enough recognition was being given to the valuable
contribution of creative art: ‘For all the goodwill received from all the people that one associated
with, there was an attitude on the part of engineers and architects, and so on, that they were the
important ones and that the artists are at the other end of the queue.’67 A similar view advocating
the use of creative arts as a learning tool was expressed in a report by a Senate Committee in
1995:
On the one hand, the arts are regarded as expendable, at most cathartic or entertainment value, not serious
candidates for priority in education. Yet, on the other hand, the powerful possibilities for learning through
the arts are clearly conceded in the general nervousness about the arts characteristic of authoritarian
68
regimes.
65
66
‘Down from Banana Trees to Brunswick’, Melbourne Age, 18 July, 1980.
The Gladstone Observer, 30 March, 1984.
Lenton Parr, Director, and Founding Dean of the School of Art, Creating: The Victorian College of the Arts,
Macmillan Publishers, Melbourne, 2000, p 79.
68
Trish Meyer, submission 112 p1346, Senate, Environment, Recreation, Communications and the Arts References
Committee, Arts Education, October, 1995, p. 26.
67
82
Their views are outside the scope of this thesis but it does invite further research.
Demand Workshops:
With bureaucratic institutions trained to look at budgets, when Moriarty left Shaw began
to experiment with ways of saving money. Without consulting students the new tour itineraries
for 1983 announced that all tours to coastal towns were to be dropped. The school would only
service western towns. Despite their large classes Maryborough, Bundaberg, Gladstone,
Rockhampton, Mackay, Bowen, Ingham, Innisfail and Cairns would no longer receive visits
from Flying Arts. Instead of regular tours, coastal centres were asked to book a year’s
programme of four workshops with one tutor for a set price. Workshops were to be for higher
level students only and centres could set their own student charges. The new workshops would
be self-supporting on demand to complement local TAFE classes.69 Any groups who wanted to
supplement a tour programme at beginner level could also apply for ‘demand’ workshops.
No reason other than financial was given for the cutback, but TAFE was now well
established in coastal towns and it was possible a decision had been made for TAFE to supply
elementary art education. However, the response from students of Flying Arts was forthright.
Rene Macdonald (representative for Bowen Painting Group) wrote of her group’s dissatisfaction
with ‘demand’ workshops. She stated that their town was not large enough to pay for the
expense of bringing in a tutor four times a year.70 Other towns thought the same and the demand
workshops were not a success. In the first year only three demand workshops were requested:
Gwyn Piggott gave a seminar to Mackay Potters; Betty Grulke a seminar at Longreach Spinners
and Weavers; and Roy Oorloff took a painting class at Rockhampton. Due to the poor response
to demand workshops, in 1984 the committee reinstated the Flying Arts coastal tours.71
69
If it was a directive from Education Queensland, comments from Rita Kershaw and Mary Norris show how
unsatisfactory they found TAFE courses.
70
Flying Arts Gazette No. 12, May, 1983.
71
Flying Arts Gazette No. 12.
83
Fig. 3. 1983 map of towns to be visited by Flying Arts
following the cancellation of coastal visits after Moriarty left.
courtesy Flying Arts archives.
With a continuing reluctance by centres to apply for demand workshops, Flying Arts
made it clear that these workshops were not instead of existing painting or pottery tours, but
complemented them. Special workshops were available for groups wanting to further their
knowledge in screen printing, photography, paper making, sculpture, stained glass, oil painting,
water colour, pottery, weaving and/or spinning, leathercraft, drawing and sketching, and batik.
Under these conditions demand workshops were accepted by students.
Beth Tully from Quilpie described her first demand workshop, writing that artists from
Blackall, Yaraka and Quilpie banded together for a five-day watercolour school at the Clarendon
84
Woolshed near Blackall. Fourteen students lived in shearers’ quarters at Clarendon to paint
subjects around the property and along the Barcoo River. They worked a 12 hour day, starting at
8 a.m. with tutor Allin Dwyer, and finishing at 8 p.m:
With Joy Wehl, Char Speedy and Judith Kent we left Quilpie in a four-wheel drive packed to the roof with
bedding and painting gear. The shortest route to Blackall was 500 kms. through Adavale and despite the
bulldust and much dodging of kangaroos, we arrived at Clarendon shed to a warm welcome with much
laughter and talk. Most days we went in cars to different spots to sketch and paint but the “studio” in the
shearing shed produced many varied paintings on site.72
Despite cutbacks of its workshops, KGCAE management assisted students in other ways.
With members of a number of government institutions on its committee, in 1984 the Flying Arts
Exhibition For the Love of it was taken by Mrs. Len Davenport, Queensland Arts Council
committee member, to the United States as part of the 1985 Memphis in May Festival in
Tennessee. It brought international publicity and prestige to the school when all paintings were
sold. As Executive Officer, Catherine Hand reported:
Neither the Flying Arts School nor the Arts Council were prepared for the reception these works received.
Not only were all the works sold within days of being exhibited but most were sold before they arrived
after slides of the exhibition were sent and viewed by the exhibition organisers. Naturally, this was the
most tremendous compliment to our students, who rarely have the opportunity of exhibiting their work.
The American viewers responded warmly. As one American critic writes “an intimate and sensitive
portrayal of their land and culture . . . offering an enjoyable and quick trip to the Australian outback
73
through the eyes of those who truly know and love it.”
The American organiser (who had earlier seen slides of Flying Arts work) wanted to buy
Peter Heading’s outstanding entry Birds on a Swamp, but his painting sold before it left
Australia. Peter, at seventeen, was one of Flying Arts younger students. He worked on his
parent’s property outside Monto, and since leaving school after Grade 10 the only art tuition
available was Flying Arts. His big regret was that his time for painting depended on the seasons
- when it was planting time he had little time to paint.74 The workshops meant a great deal to him
and his story is an example of the way the school assisted young people unable to leave the
family farm.
72
Flying Arts Gazette No. 24, September, 1985. A prime example of women leaving farms to travel long distances
for a workshop.
73
1985 Annual Report.
74
Flying Arts Gazette No. 24. With all paintings being sold in America, the Arts Council was unable to tour any
Flying Arts work in Queensland that year. The Council vowed that any future tours would be shown in the State
before travelling overseas. Despite its success this was the only year the Arts Council took the Flying Arts
exhibition overseas.
85
Memphis in May brought other advantages. One of these was increased support from the
Queensland Art Gallery when Caroline Launitz-Schurer, Assistant Director; Susan Abasa, Senior
Education Officer; and Deborah Hart, Education Officer; travelled with Flying Arts to regional
centres. Dr. Stuart Collins, Principal Lecturer, School of the Arts BCAE,75 also flew with the
school. Two dance tutors, Sue Street and Sharon Boughen accompanied Flying Arts on a coastal
tour to teach dance classes. With renewed interest from regional areas, a ten-day Winter
Residential School for students was set up by BCAE in June with Roy Churcher teaching
painting and Johanna de Maine teaching pottery.76
Following the American success, the Queensland Arts Council toured two Flying Arts
exhibitions throughout Queensland in 1986: Kangulu Caves featuring artists from Baralaba, and
the school’s annual exhibition, Miniatures.
Although the year had not started well, with the first coastal tour leaving Brisbane amid
power strikes and threatening cyclones, the re-instated coastal centres with their two-day
workshops were booming. In contrast to the success in coastal towns, there was still concern
with low attendance figures at smaller inland centres. In an endeavour to supply these centres
with workshops, community groups were asked if, in the event they could not gather together a
minimum attendance, they would accept a higher base fee. The response from students was
supportive and most centres agreed to the fee, making future tours easier to plan.77 Myra Beach
from Julia Creek, who began with Moriarty in 1971, summed up the general feeling with her
comment: ‘please keep the school flying – you’ve brought us a wealth of knowledge and
awareness of art and I find an unquenchable thirst for more’.78
Shaw’s influence with the Craft Board of the Australia Council brought further benefits.
In 1986 potters living in Dubbo and Narromine attended a unique pottery workshop when
Japanese artist Mitsuo Shoji (trained in Osaka, Japan), travelled to western New South Wales
75
In 1982 the Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education became the Brisbane College of Advanced Education.
Although Jeff Shaw was retained, he lost his position as Head of the Arts Department to Dr. Stuart Collins.
76
Flying Arts Gazette No. 26, January, and No. 27, April, 1986.
77
1985 Annual Report.
78
Flying Arts Gazette No. 37, June 1988.
86
with the school. Other workshops he held were in Brisbane, Narrabri, Coonamble, Barraba
(NSW) and Dalby. When not tutoring with Flying Arts Mitsuo lectured at the Sydney School of
Arts where his students made pots, plates and tableware for exhibition and sale.79 A visit by an
eminent overseas trained tutor revived interest in ceramics in many towns.
However, textiles were becoming increasingly popular. Janet de Boer introduced
Spinning and Weaving workshops following requests from coastal spinners and weavers wishing
to augment their correspondence courses. Although she found flying up the coast in a small
plane and teaching wherever they touched down was tiring, the enthusiasm of her students
brought her a great deal of satisfaction. She found there was a ‘real thoughtfulness about
standards in the bush, and a sense of pride in what was being achieved – it gave a sense of local
identity.’80 Among the workshops she conducted was one for a new Fibre Arts Association
recently launched in Mackay. In the next few years textiles would replace ceramics - it should
be noted that textile designs are highly creative.
Found materials were another new avenue emphasising creative experimentation.
Modern trends in art practice encouraged the use of ‘found materials’ and Flying Arts tutors
showed students how to use local materials. Painters experimented with collage, and local clay
was used by potters to give their work local identity. As potter Gillian Grigg explained:
Because so many groups are reforming with new members, there needs to be a ‘Back to Basics’ approach,
with fresh input of information on raw materials and an early field trip to bring this aspect to life. The use
of found materials will be incorporated into projects wherever possible, to explore the characteristics of the
great range of clays, ‘openers’, pigments and glaze formers and to make effective use of them. Advanced
students will be encouraged to work in depth on some aspect of a local resource which seems to them
worthwhile, and to produce both a report and a body of work utilising results. . . . The active enthusiasm of
country groups for discovering and utilising their local resources was great to see. This includes the visual
environment as well as potential ceramic materials and fuels.81
Guest tutor, creative artist Chai Cheo-Hiang, also recommended ‘found materials’ and he
instructed students on how to use them creatively:
Lateral thinking is a way of solving problems by rejecting traditional methods and employing unorthodox
and apparently illogical means. Find a man-made object, do something to it (dismantle, tear, break, bend,
join, squeeze, fold, crumble, stretch, deface, repair, cut etc.) and do something to it again until you can’t go
any further. Record and describe visually each stage of change in as many ways as you can think of.82
79
80
81
82
‘Mitsuo Shoji visits Barraba’, Flying Arts Gazette No. 28, July, 1986.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 27.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 31, January 1987.
Flying Arts Gazettes Nos. 31 January, 32 April, 1987.
87
With found materials encouraging creative thinking, the workshops were popular; it seemed that
students loved interacting with overseas trained artists to create a unique local product.83
However, despite the brief resurgence, with no follow-up guest artists, interest in ceramics
continued to decline - only those classes which focussed on creativity, such as creative painting
and textiles, flourished.
By the end of the decade Shaw reported that the administration was operating smoothly
with touring programmes being supported by correspondence courses attracting both national
and international enrolments. Flying Arts worked with the Visual Arts/Crafts Board of the
Australia Council and the Board of Advanced Education Queensland to co-ordinate Pat Hoffie’s
special Exhibition Research Project – the Decentralised Delivery of Higher Education in the
Visual Art.84 The school was servicing 1500 students at approximately fifty centres in
Queensland and New South Wales - flying and driving over 50,000 kms. The optimism of this
report was premature.
Problems began in 1989 when the Arts Council of NSW cut its funding and notified
Flying Arts they would no longer finance tours into NSW. Shaw was devastated - the NSW
funding had been his initiative. He complained bitterly that after years of beneficial service,
NSW removed all support without prior warning.85 He offered to resign as president to tutor the
three 1990 tours already planned for NSW using his own vehicle and taking a living allowance at
considerably reduced tutoring fees.86 Shaw considered, as did other members, that to completely
cut field contact with NSW students would be damaging to both individuals and the
organization. Flying Arts personnel believed that neither TAFE nor any other educational
systems could adequately supply the needs of rural students in Queensland and New South
Wales. NSW centres agreed. They were willing to pay extra to keep Flying Arts coming to their
towns.87
However, the 1990 itinerary shows that for the most part students were only requesting
creative art and textile workshops. Flying Arts planned thirteen tours that year: three Western,
three Coastal, four South-East Queensland and three into New South Wales. Although all tours
would hold painting seminars, due to the steady decline in requests for ceramics workshops over
the past few years, these would not be offered on the SEQ and Coastal tours. A textile artist (yet
to be appointed) would replace the ceramics tutor on some tours. The few pottery centres with
83
Flying Arts Gazettes 31, 32.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 42, July 1989.
85
No reason was supplied for the cutback, possibly it was a general policy, as planning must have been underway
for the education changes following the Dawkins Report.
86
It was later resolved to send Ron Hurley. As President, Shaw remained in Brisbane.
87
Flying Arts Gazette No. 44, February 1990.
84
88
good attendances were: Goondiwindi Painting and Ceramics which was included on the NSW
tours, and Chinchilla, Kingaroy, Rockhampton and Bundaberg Ceramics which became part of
the western tour. Unfortunately, with massive flooding in the west in 1990, many of the planned
workshops that year were cancelled.88
With attendances at ceramics workshops in decline, Shaw, who had worked hard to
promote craft classes, now produced a set of four videos through Pat Hoffie for any groups still
requiring tuition. Called the ‘Ceramics Video Program’; its Co-ordinator was Edith-Ann
Murray. Featuring four well-known ceramics artists - Dianne Peach, Warren Palmer, Edith-Ann
Murray, and Marc Sauvage, the videos were accompanied by relevant teaching notes. Cost was
$180.00 for Flying Arts members and $220 for non-members. There is no record of sales, it was
reported that students felt they were too costly.89
The school was more optimistic about its future when it received an infusion of
Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission funds for the delivery of distance education
programs through TSN11 and Pat Hoffie.90 However in October Flying Arts was hit by crippling
fuel cost increases as a result of the Kuwait crisis. Without support from the NSW Arts Council
all future tours to northern NSW were cancelled. Even bigger changes resulted when the BCAE
became part of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) following the Dawkins Report
which recommended the expansion of Australian universities through forced mergers of
universities and colleges of advanced education.91 When QUT acquired the Kelvin Grove
campus it would no longer host Flying Arts. It was a devastating blow to Shaw when on 10
December 1990 the school was transferred to the University College of Southern Queensland
(USCQ).
Conclusion:
This chapter documents the expansion of the school between 1978 and 1990 when the
bureaucratic efficiency of trained administrators at KGCAE gave the school stability. It showed
that no longer was Flying Arts a vision fuelled by the efforts of just two artists. As a government
institution the management committee at Kelvin Grove gained support from other Queensland
88
Flying Arts Gazette No. 44.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 44.
90
Flying Arts Gazette No. 46, June 1990.
91
John Dawkins was Minister for Employment, Education and Training from 1987 to 1991. He brought in a series
of reforms for higher education. As well as expansion of Universities and mergers of universities and
colleges of advanced education, he was responsible for the re-introduction of university fees in the form of the
HECS scheme.
89
89
government agencies and art institutions; student numbers doubled and the school became an
organization able to arrange multiple workshops in arts and crafts. However, in the final years of
the decade Flying Arts at KGCAE lost its momentum after Shaw’s craft workshops lost their
popularity. Along with the failure of craft to generate continuing interest came the decline of
Australia Council grants for craft projects. A further setback was the withdrawal of NSW
funding. Added to this, the high turnover of tutors during the years at Kelvin Grove and the
cutback to one-day workshops, followed by the discontinuance of workshops in coastal towns,
resulted in student dissatisfaction. It brought about a decline in numbers attending workshops,
undermining the social benefits of creative activities in providing what Ross called the ‘social regeneration’92 of people in rural communities.
Craft workshops from KGCAE, pottery in particular, were popular initially, but there was
a steady decline in attendances during the twelve years at Kelvin Grove. It appeared that once
skills were learned craft workshops were no longer required. In contrast, creative art workshops
retained their popularity. Reminiscences of students have recorded attendances at workshops
long after training was completed. It appeared the social interaction of fostering their creativity
by talking with professional artists and fellow students kept people returning. It was noticeable,
however, that attendances were always higher, even at pottery workshops, when visiting tutors
from outside Queensland were teaching.
The increasing involvement of women, both as tutors and as administrators in Flying Arts
began in this decade. When the school was transferred to KGCAE both artist/teachers and, apart
from its executive secretary, the officers on its management committee were male. By 1983 five
members of the board were women and they dominated as students and tutors. Although many
women found teaching with Flying Arts exhausting, the enthusiasm of their students encouraged
them to continue, confirming James’ thesis that cultural activities are fulfilling for women.93
Shaw remained a controlling figure, but the Executive Officers of Flying Arts were women; a
few years after the departure of Moriarty the school employed a woman as its regular pilot and
when Flying Arts transferred to the University College of Southern Queensland in 1990
Associate Professor Robyn Stewart from UCSQ became the first female president of Flying Arts.
The strength which came from the twelve years in which KGCAE hosted Flying Arts was
the stability the school received through trained administrators from the college, and the
opportunity to liaise with other government arts organizations. The presence of these people on
its management committee brought a number of benefits – the outstanding achievement was the
92
93
Ross, The Aesthetic Impulse, p.9.
James, Work, Leisure & Choice, p.78.
90
sale overseas of all student work at an exhibition held in America. The next chapter will explore
the challenges which Flying Arts faced at UCSQ.
91
Chapter 6
1991-2001: THE CHANGING YEARS
Flying Arts was to face its biggest challenge when the Goss Labor government won
office in Queensland in December 1989 and demanded more professionalism from those
receiving arts funding. In the early 1990s both state and federal governments came to recognise
the value to Australia of advancing the creative arts. The state government began the shift with a
report Queensland: a State for the Arts, published in 1991; two years later the Federal
government followed with Creative Nation. Generous grants were available, but the funding
came with conditions. Because accreditation was still unresolved, the traditional Flying Arts
student base, country women between the ages of 25 and 55, were classed as hobby artists and
were outside new Arts Queensland funding guidelines.1 This spelt disaster for the school, and
over the next ten years significant changes were made to meet the new government criteria. The
chapter will discuss how Flying Arts responded to the challenge, and how it grew in the process.
The study will begin by looking at changes which began when Flying Arts moved to the
University College of Southern Queensland (UCSQ).
When Professor Leon Cantrell from UCSQ approached Moriarty for the school in 1982
he lost out to KGCAE; with the acquisition of the school in 1991, he was able to integrate it with
the distance education program of the Darling Downs university. Although ceramic workshops
were retained, because of their continued popularity, creative art workshops once again became
the centre of Flying Arts activities.
When Flying Arts joined the Toowoomba based university it was the largest provider of
distance education in the State. However, as at KGCAE, Flying Arts remained autonomous; with
its offices in Brisbane it was in control of its own destiny, the new relationship allowed it to
benefit from services provided by its host. Initially the management committee made few
changes to personnel. Jeff Shaw stepped aside to welcome a new president, Associate Professor
Robyn Stewart from USCQ, and a legal representative, Peter Pagliarino, joined the committee.2
Life Membership was given to Jeff Shaw in recognition of his efforts on behalf of the school.
Mervyn Moriarty, the founder of the school, was also awarded life membership.
1
The Queensland: A State for the Arts Report of the Arts Committee, Queensland Government, 1991. The Report
does not contain an age limit, but it did emphasise that funding would be for professional artists, young people and
older people. The Flying Arts Gazette No. 60 contains an article by Jane Haley (Temporary Research Office for the
compilation of the Report), ‘Queensland Government Priorities and Social Justice Objectives for Arts and Cultural
Development’. She uses the figures ’25 – 55’, p. 7.
2
Flying Arts Gazette No. 49, May 1991, p. 2. For all management committee members see Appendix I.
92
Financially, at the end of 1990 there was a deficit of $12,713.00; however, in 1991 the
Queensland Arts Division of the Premier’s Department granted the school an extra $30,000,
bringing its annual allocation to $172,000. Expenses had been steadily increasing every year,
but to the additional government funding Shell Company added sponsorship of $20,000 (up from
$5000)3; $10,000 came from membership fees; $14,000 from workshops; $4300 through
residential workshops; and contributions of $1250 came through collaboration with other
agencies. It was believed that by December 1992 the deficit could be reduced to $7000. This
carry-forward deficit was due to essential expenditure for increased pilot salary and living
allowance, increased plane expenses, and the setting up of a new office. Two new staff positions
were proposed – Program Co-ordinator and Tour Manager/Publicity Officer. To offset the added
expense, membership fees were increased slightly and new centres were encouraged to join.4
Student interaction continued to flow through the four newsletters published each year by Flying
Arts.
At UCSQ Flying Arts expanded its services. It began when Shell Company, with a
member now on the board of Flying Arts, increased its contribution to allow for the exhibiting of
work by students at the annual exhibition and its subsequent tour of Queensland. The annual
exhibition was an important service provided by the school; it gave students an opportunity to
showcase and sell their work outside their own town. To encourage students to show their best
work, the following year Shell extended its sponsorship to include a Shell Art Award of $2000
for the winning entry.
An urgent priority was the purchase of a car for the SEQ and NSW tours. With its own
car the school could continue holding workshops in north-western NSW despite the collapse of
funding from the New South Wales Arts Council.5 To cover costs NSW centres were happy to
pay ‘Demand Workshop’ rates of $200 for a two-day workshop for three tours per year which
were: ceramics only, painting only, and a tour combining both. Added to the cost of the car,
other expenses had to be underwritten. For example, following a recommendation by the
committee’s new legal representative, salary increases were implemented for the school’s pilot
and its correspondence course markers. At KGCAE, markers had been paid an amount well
below institutional rates of $16.35 per hour and the pilot’s salary was below the award of
$161.56 + $20.60. per day for additional allowances.6 The increases justified Moriarty’s
complaint in the early 1980s that, as a pilot/tutor, he was underpaid.
3
General Manager’s Report, 1990 Annual Report, p. 5. Shell increased its funding to $20,000 through its Flying
Arts Board member, Mr, Clark Newman. The first donation of $5000 was made in 1989.
4
1990 Annual Report and Strategic Plan 1991-1995, p. 12.
5
Minutes of Board Meeting 10 May, 1991.
6
Minutes of Annual General Meeting, March 1991.
93
The correspondence courses established at Kelvin Grove were having mixed results and
needed to be restructured. Although spinning and weaving remained popular, other courses were
experiencing difficulties, with many students having problems interpreting course requirements.
Thel Merry reported that batik was no longer being sought after and Gillian Grigg reported a
dwindling completion rate of assignments in stoneware glazes. There was little demand for
screen printing.7 In response to the reports, correspondence courses were discontinued with
Flying Arts courses being taken over by the Open Learning Network (OLN). OLN was a new
government funded education initiative accessing thirty centres in regional Queensland with
informative videos and visual arts discussion forums being transmitted through the Government
satellite telecommunications system. When OLN acquired its correspondence courses Flying
Arts became part of the proposed new development of a written program in three stages for the
network. The first stage, Foundation Visual Arts Course was a joint effort between Glenda
Nalder from Flying Arts and Arts Educator Karen Warnock. The second stage was Colour and
Design. The third stage, Specialised Courses, incorporated textiles and stoneware glazes – they
were two of the six Flying Arts correspondence courses.8
After talking with students UCSQ found there was dissatisfaction among long-term
members of Flying Arts; they complained of falling standards in recent years. One spoke of
‘high school art tuition’, insufficient time devoted to worthwhile critique of work, and the lack of
promotion of Flying Arts and its activities.9 The criticism pointed to a loss of enthusiasm by the
KGCAE management in the late 1980s, possibly this was caused by a declining student interest
in pottery coinciding with a cut back in government grants for craft.
To revitalise the school, in 1991 a publicity broadsheet was distributed throughout
Queensland - The First Twenty Years: Australian Flying Arts School. There were anecdotes
from the school and photographs showing tutors and students. It drew attention to the important
role played by the school in the lives of people living in rural Queensland and highlighted a
number of issues which Flying Arts workshops helped overcome. The major issue was isolation;
through its workshops students were encouraged to express the unique identity which isolation
gave them. The emotional appeal of their work was exploited, as Flying Arts tutors guided
students to remain true to their own convictions and experience –
It (the school) has been marvellous for the women of the outback. They have no cultural and artistic
stimulation other than what they find through the AFAS… The cities are not the only places where talent
blossoms. While isolation can be a curse in terms of stimulation and critical feedback, it can also contribute
to a strong sense of identity, even intensity… Artists in remote areas are relatively unaffected by short-
7
8
9
General Manager’s Report for period 1.7.91-31.3.91.
‘Status of Correspondence Courses as at September, 1992’. Flying Arts Gazette No. 49 May 1991, p. 2.
Program Co-ordinator’s Post-Tour Report, July 1991.
94
term fashion dictates of the art market, preferring to be guided by their own convictions and experience…
It takes tremendous dedication and courage to pursue an artistic pastime in the outback and for many
artists, the Flying Arts School is vital in bolstering that courage… They tend therefore, towards a naïve
approach that is very realistic at the same time. They look very closely at what they are painting and they
are, of course, very familiar with it. This is why the work’s emotional impact comes through so well… It is
this huge indifference towards art, this total lack of any conception of its magnitude and its potential to
enrich barren lonely lives that set Mervyn Moriarty on his curious crusade twenty years ago…10
Although the social aspects of Flying Arts were not emphasised, in the first nine flying
tours and six driving tours from USCQ in 1991 all tutors were women: three south east
Queensland tours with tutor Shelagh Morgan (painting); three far western tours with Bonney
Bombach (painting) and Edith-Ann Murray (ceramics); three coastal tours with Lani Weedon
(painting) and Edith-Ann Murray. The lone male tutor, John Fitzwalter (Qld. Potters Assn.), was
a guest on the first western tour. Only three demand workshops were held that year - one at
Ipswich with tutor Lani Weedon, and two at the Clermont High School with Bonney Bombach.
No special reason has been found for the high number of women tutors, but women appeared to
be more sympathetic to the needs of fellow artists in the bush.
Queensland: A State for the Arts:
In 1991 the new state government cultural policy was announced in a Report called
Queensland: A State for the Arts. Its emphasis was on professionalism in the arts. Funding was
available for young people and older people, the disadvantaged and professional artists, but not
for middle-aged amateur hobby artists – the category to which the majority of Flying Arts
students belonged.11 Suddenly, under these new rules, the school was not eligible for government
funding.
Planning for the Report had begun on 20 September 1990 when Wayne Goss, the Premier
and Minister for the Arts, announced the setting up of a committee to review Government
support for the arts in Queensland. His committee consisted of a thirteen-member panel to
enquire into and report on all aspects of Queensland Government support for the arts industry.
In the course of their enquiries: smaller groups met twenty-six times; they received 297 written
submissions, and travelled more than 10,000 kilometres throughout the State to consult with
10
The First Twenty Years: Australian Flying Arts School, University College of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba,
1991.
11
Queensland: A State for the Arts, p. 191. 7.5 ‘The Committee firmly believes that professional arts practice in
Queensland is in need of and warrants Government support. There was no similar argument to justify assistance to
amateur activity.’
95
individuals and organizations, sometimes using the services of Flying Arts. Issues which came
out of the enquiry were:
The need to shift the impetus for development to communities in regional Queensland areas; the belief that
the cultural life of the State is a vital and valuable resource; the glaring gap in arts support which clearly
had existed in Queensland for many years; new programs of State Government assistance for individuals
and arts organizations incorporating a greater emphasis on regional arts activities.12
The new policy promoting Queensland arts and artists was welcomed by all as providing
support for the development of a vibrant accessible arts industry in which all Queenslanders had
an opportunity to participate. The Queensland government emphasised its four primary aims,
which included more professionalism in the creative arts:
-
development of the creativity and professionalism of Queensland artists;
maintenance and development of focal points for high standards of creativity;
encouragement of the widest possible participation in creative artistic activity by all Queenslanders;
and
maximise the economic and social benefits of the creative arts.13
It heralded a new beginning, by its actions the State government had recognised the importance
of the creative arts.
By 1991 the new government policies were ready to be implemented and forums were
held in all major towns in Queensland to discuss future arts planning decisions for regional
communities.14 The outcome was that cultural activities would be planned by local councils who
then applied for funding through the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF). As well as
offering funds on a matching basis, RADF also provided opportunities for regionally based
artists and interested community representatives to participate in the formulation of a local arts
and cultural policy through the assessment of grant applications.15
The funding body, Arts Queensland, interpreted it as ‘in the interests of social justice, the
assessment of applications for people who were not professional artists would be primarily for:
people of non-English speaking backgrounds, e.g. people whose first language is other than
English; young people up to 25 years of age; older people over 55 years of age; and people with
12
Queensland: A State for the Arts, pp. 5, 22. Gazette No. 50, July 1991, p. 2.
Queensland: A State for the Arts Report, p. 14. Jane Haley, Snr. Policy Officer, Arts Queensland, State
Government Committee’s Report – policy principles, 1991. Flying Arts Gazette No. 60, November 1993. p. 6.
In May 1993 The Queensland Arts Division changed its name to ‘Arts Queensland.’
14
Queensland: A State for the Arts Report, p.5.
15
Queensland: A State for the Arts Report, p.53. Flying Arts Gazette No. 60, p. 7.
13
96
disabilities – incapacitated physically, mentally or intellectually by injury or disease, either
permanent or impermanent.’16
Although the needs of women were mentioned in the report, the people not included in
the above guidelines were country women living on isolated properties or in towns throughout
regional Queensland between the ages of 25 and 55 who wanted to remain amateur artists – the
people currently attending Flying Arts workshops. A further setback came when Arts
Queensland notified the school that they would not fund education, only professional
development and, if Flying Arts wanted funding, it could not be identified as a school. (‘The
Australian Flying Arts School’ was its name at that time). Despite the distances some students
would need to travel, it appeared that government policy was for beginners to attend TAFE
colleges for any elementary training in art.17
To receive funding Flying Arts needed to concentrate on the professional development of
regional artists and widen its activities to include Aboriginal and Islander peoples.18 The
government report had not taken into consideration the social aspect of the Flying Arts
workshops and students were devastated by the proposals. Most were hobby artists and fell
outside the guidelines; they believed Arts Queensland was being highly discriminatory. Robin
Bassingthwaite from Charters Towers wrote an angry letter stating that students were
geographically and artistically isolated people; although they were amateurs they were still
taxpayers…
What constitutes risk to a student in a city college who is surrounded by supportive peers, and has access to
galleries and art literature and criticism, is very different from what constitutes risk to an isolated country
person who has no support groups and limited access. Who is going to judge what constitutes risk to us –
the Arts Division, the Flying Art School or us?….we want and need AFAS, and I think in the name of true
equity, we deserve it.19
As a professional artist and teacher, Flying Arts tutor Kim Mahood voiced her own
reservations about the new Arts Queensland policy. She agreed with the concerns of the large
proportion of students wanting to remain hobby artists. The Flying Arts workshops were a way
of life for these people. She wrote that the mental stimulation of working with creative artists,
and the friendships they formed, gave them the support they needed to face the daily pressures of
life on the land.
16
Flying Arts Gazette No. 60. Jane Haley, ‘Queensland Government Priorities and Social Justice Objectives for
Arts and Cultural Development’, pp. 6-7.
17
April 1992 Report for meeting between John Stafford (Visual Arts, Crafts and Design Program Manager, Arts
Division) and AFAS Board. Unpublished.
18
Arts Division, Department of the Premier, Economic and Trade Development, letter, 6 September 1991,
19
Robbie Bassingthwaite, Letters to the Editor, Flying Arts Gazette No. 57, April 1993, p. 2.
97
Support for professional artists, on the other hand, “will only ever apply to a small number of people
producing art in remote and regional areas; and a proportion of those to whom it does apply will eventually
go to the city. City and region are different countries, different cultures and provide different
resources”…20
She also emphasised the injustice of the policy:
The group which is missing from this spectrum, and which from my observation as a tutor on the NW tour
last year and the Southern tour this year comprises the major part of the AFAS membership, is the group
for whom art is an essential part, but only a part of their lives. Most of these people have no desire to
become professional. Their lives are tied up with many things, raising children, running properties,
education. They are frequently very active members of their communities….Most of them are looking for
something that challenges them beyond the point they have reached….To disenfranchise this group is to
put ‘artist’ into the category of a product, a commodity which has no value until it has reached a certain
level of professionalism.21
She argued that although RADF was an admirable and highly successful scheme enabling
communities to identify their own needs as artists by funding workshops and projects to fulfil
those needs, there was no guarantee that future funding through RADF would be for creative art
classes:
All community groups must compete for a limited amount of money, from councils which may be
unsympathetic, broke, or both. The prevailing tastes in regional/rural art are conservative and traditional
and when a council is putting up a significant amount of money it expects results of identifiable benefit to
the community.22
Her argument emphasised that creative and imaginative work could easily be lost to a
form of painting which merely copied pleasant local scenery. When councils were encouraged
to fund their own tutors traditional art could once again become the dominant art form. Another
angry student, Therese Stuart, agreed with her:
Where does this (Arts policy) leave us? In a cultural time warp? Fossilised? If we are to successfully
market our culture will we have to concentrate on works which remind the purchaser of a ‘particular place,
event or emotion’. This is limiting us in a way which seems directly opposed to the previous guidelines for
23
creative art and to all serious Art philosophy.
Already the new Arts Queensland funding policies were causing significant changes to
regional art groups. Some had quickly ‘bitten the professional bullet’ to become eligible for
public funding. Contemporary art groups in some towns, many of whom were Flying Arts
students, were setting up their own local groups in response to the changing conditions. Among
these were the Umbrella Studio group in Townsville, Kick Arts in Cairns, Stack Arts Collective
in Mt. Isa and Jump-Up Arts in Goondiwindi. To participate in the funding policies, the network
20
21
22
23
Kim Mahood, ‘Professional Development and its Implication’, Flying Arts Gazette No. 57, April 1993, p. 5.
Mahood, p. 5.
Mahood, p. 5.
Therese Stuart, Letters to the Editor, Flying Arts Gazette No. 60, November 1993, p. 2.
98
previously known as ‘The Central Western Queensland Cultural Activities Association’, changed
its name to ‘Arts West’.24 Other groups were deserting Flying Arts to take up offers of joint
support from the RADF through local Councils and Arts Queensland.
‘Cultural Tourism’ was another policy capable of harming the Flying Arts creative art
workshops. Pretty paintings for tourists could easily over-ride creative work in country areas.
Mahood made cutting remarks about the part money played in the production of art for tourism.
As lifestyles become more and more difficult to maintain through traditional means, a strange phenomenon
is taking place all over the world. This is the emergence of the zoo culture, in which endangered groups are
subsidized and kept alive by tourism. Once culture becomes a form of entertainment its survival is assured,
and it is to this end that artists and arts organizations (a species high on the endangered list) are being
encouraged to explore the entertainment potential of what they do….and for the regional community with
its art political wits about it, rodeo could be examined as a site for post-colonial theoretical discourse.
(Rodeo as an example of American culture colonizing the already colonized landscape of the interior).
This would be a way of attracting the government funding which may soon be withdrawn from
organizations offering obsolete skills-based services.25
Her arguments sounded a warning. RADF presented a very real danger that local
councils might allow tourism to dominate the production of local art. By favouring the
emotionally pleasing depictions of ‘gum trees, kangaroos and local waterholes’ for tourists, the
role of experimental creative art for stimulating mental development could easily be lost. If that
happened, standards would fall.
The new guidelines were a challenge and to survive Flying Arts had to change. With
Arts Queensland reluctant to fund ‘education’, particular care had to be taken with nomenclature.
If the organization was no longer a school, careful wording of any description of activities was
needed, e.g. words like ‘students’ would have to be replaced by ‘members’; words like ‘course’,
‘tutor’, ‘one lesson’, etc. replaced by ‘seminar’, ‘artist on tour’, ‘workshop’, or ‘visual arts
experiences’. More emphasis had to be placed on providing opportunities at the higher end of
the membership scale in terms of ability, and Flying Arts had to find alternative funding sources
for teaching its ‘hobby’ students. Professional artists as tour guests could be funded by the
Visual Arts Council Board, or the newly formed Arts Industry Training Council. If Flying Arts
wanted to continue workshops for those who, from experience, they knew to be the most in need,
changes had to be made.26
24
Philippa Louise Hanrick, Policy or People – where should the focus be? A case study of Arts West, Griffith
University, Brisbane, 1997, pp. 50-52. From interviews she conducted Hanrick is critical of RADF. It has not
delivered on its early promise but has undercut the work of the Arts Council and Flying Arts as well as Arts West.
Lack of expertise by local RADF committees has resulted in a poor selection of tutors.
25
Editorial, Flying Arts Gazette No. 59, July 1993.
26
Report 13 September, 1991.
99
The first priority was the name change from ‘The Australian Flying Arts School’ to a
name more in keeping with ‘professional development’ rather than ‘education’.27 A more
collaborative approach with other organizations also had be examined. With every arts
organization in Queensland having a regional brief, future programs supplied by Flying Arts
must be seen to have come from the regions, and not from the ‘centre’ as had been the case in the
past.
In view of the major changes involved, Flying Arts asked its students to consider their
position carefully in relation to the tuition they were receiving, all future classes would have to
have a professional bias following the Arts Queensland Advisory Notice. Students were asked to
fill out a questionnaire to find out whether they wanted to remain with Flying Arts, or could the
new RADF scheme fill their needs. The result was overwhelmingly in support of Flying Arts:
74% felt that over the years the school had given them the highest level of support; 87% felt that
there was no overlap with any other services available to them; 89% felt that tutors supplied in
the past had been of the highest quality; 93% felt that without Flying Arts their work would
either go backwards or would not progress; 78% felt that the organization was unique in the
quality of its teaching against any other regional art education; 67% felt that through USQ the
school was supplying them with what they wanted.28 Their support gave Flying Arts the ‘green
light’ to seek ways of circumventing government guidelines.
Flying Arts’ first project under the new guidelines used RADF funding. Workshops were
planned for indigenous groups. Following the importance placed on ‘Cultural Tourism’ by the
Queensland Minister for Tourism who made particular mention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Island culture, the first workshop was a special request for Flying Arts at the Boulia State
Primary School on its next north-west tour – it was a huge success. The school community was
largely Aboriginal, and guest artists Judy Watson and Fiona Fell spent the day with 63 children;
they worked with clay and paint on themes relating to the children’s heritage and environment.
The workshop was the first stage in a planned RADF assisted project in Boulia involving the
creation of two murals.29 Following the success Flying Arts asked Aboriginal artist, Judy
Watson,30 to conduct its future north-western tours and it was planned for Aboriginal
communities in Cairns and Doomagie to be included in its itinerary. By this means the funding it
received supported workshops for traditional students.
27
General Manager’s Report, November 1991.
Survey form in Flying Arts Gazette No. 62, July 1994.
29
Flying Arts Gazette No. 62, p. 9.
30
Boulia Project, Flying Arts Gazette No. 57, April, 1993. Judy Watson has since become one of Australia’s
leading artists, being chosen to exhibit at the Venice Biennale.
28
100
To stay within Arts Queensland guidelines, Flying Arts’ coastal tours were changed to
residential workshops and Flying Arts targeted the 18-25 year group using accreditation as the
key. With accreditation towards academic qualifications as part of its curriculum, Flying Arts
could not be regarded as only teaching hobby students. In conjunction with USQ, a funding
submission was drawn up to develop an external module for a BA Creative Arts in Visual Arts to
give country students a recognised qualification through the Open Learning Network. The BA
course, with between-tour exercises for beginners through to more advanced members, was to
begin early in 1992.31
Residential workshops took the place of regular flying workshops in Cairns, Townsville,
Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Maryborough and Bundaberg. Flying Arts was no longer the
sole provider of visual arts tuition in these towns as it had been ten to twenty years ago. The new
workshops supplied services not available through local sources such as TAFE Colleges or
Universities. Isolation and ‘cultural deprivation’ as seen in western tours no longer existed along
the coastal strip. It now had a thriving cultural network, much of which had been set up by the
Queensland Division of the Arts Council in the 1970s and many students had reached a level of skill
where the ‘how to’ workshops previously supplied by Flying Arts were no longer relevant. What
students in the coastal towns lacked was creative art training by professional artists at an advanced
level. The professionalism of the new residential workshops ensured their eligibility for funding.
However, with few TAFE colleges in rural towns, the west was a different story. To
lobby the need for Flying Arts in the west, a letter sent to Leneen Forde, governor of Queensland
(patron of the school), noted that there were approximately 700 active members attending
workshops and of these 655 were women. It emphasised that for women living in the west the
pursuit of creative art was far more than mere recreation. Over and above homemaking their
daily schedules included mustering, cattle trucking, shearing, harvesting and driving hundreds of
kilometres each week to meet school buses. Despite years of drought these women always made
time to attend Flying Arts workshops, it indicated the seriousness of their need for social contact
with professional artists and like-minded fellow students.32
Certainly the drought in the early 1990s was crippling. Queensland was suffering what
was reputed to be the worst drought since Federation and the high attendance of women at the
workshops signified their real need for social regeneration. Many of those in the west
disenfranchised by the new Arts Queensland policies were of mature age and they welcomed the
31
Flying Arts Gazette No. 52, November 1991. Foundation Visual Arts Course, p. 3. Christine Campbell states that
Flying Arts did not receive funding for the accreditation course. Attempts to interest universities in setting up a
Flying Arts BA failed.
32
Flying Arts Inc. Letter to Leneen Forde, Governor of Queensland, 13 July, 1992. Sir Walter Campbell became
the first patron in 1985.
101
relief supplied by creative art. Mahood believed the people that Arts Queensland did not want to
fund were the stabilising backbone of rural communities. Her advice to students was serious but
humorous when she encouraged them to lobby politicians over government discrimination:
As long as the government-run urban bureaucracies (GRUBS) are policing the equity distribution in the
bush it might be worthwhile to identify your own position. It may turn out that instead of an equity group
you have a power base. Half a dozen rampaging MADGHOLS (marginalised amateur dilettantes or greyhaired old ladies) could surely be a match for a GRUB or two.33
Despite the debate about whether its students were eligible for funding in the early 1990s,
Arts Queensland continued to fund Flying Arts and the core program of creative art workshops
remained active. In 1993, 140 workshops were conducted in 41 centres throughout rural
Queensland. In its first years at USQ the new management committee made every effort to
revitalise the school.
The Australian Flying Arts School becomes Flying Arts Inc.
With Arts Queensland requesting the organization adopt a name which did not include
the word ‘school’– in March 1994 the name was changed to ‘Flying Arts Inc.’ It indicated a new
image in the changing policy environment. To emphasise its new direction a paper was drawn
up: Flying Arts Future Directions which outlined the changes being made. The core objective of
sending professional artists to students in regional and remote areas of Queensland remained
unchanged, but with a shift to a broader client base. This was defined in terms of limited current
access to professional development in the arts in regional Queensland rather than in terms of
geographical isolation. The paper was a new project based planning and budgeting structure
driven by client need allied with a market-oriented approach to staffing and administration. 34
To emphasise its change in policy, Professor Leon Cantrell35 became president of Flying
Arts and the committee welcomed a new General Manager – Christine Campbell. Although
Christine came from a background in performing arts she was chosen from the thirty-one
candidates who applied. The future was a challenge and it was believed she was the most
33
Flying Arts Gazette No. 60, November 1993, p. 2.
From the President, Flying Arts Gazette No. 60, November, 1993. Implemented at Board Meeting March 1994.
See Appendix V for the 1994 Strategy Implementation Proposals.
35
Professor Leon Cantrell, the man who tried to have Flying Arts transferred to UCSQ in 1982, later relocated to
UNE and The Southern Cross University. These universities assisted Flying Arts in future years.
34
102
suitable person to guide Flying Arts into a new era.36 In the following years their judgement
proved sound.
Diversity of tutors was another avenue being considered. In recent years Queensland
artists had been given employment priority, but in the interests of more professional regional
groups it was believed Flying Arts had to collaborate with other institutions and organizations to
supply national and international touring artists.37
As the drought continued it began to affect attendances. Allied with this, costs were
rising. With a deficit of $24,640.00, reducing accumulated funds to $33,036.00,38 the new
direction of Flying Arts paid off when Arts Queensland approved its annual grant of $172,000
for 1994 and Shell Company renewed its sponsorship. Their confidence in Flying Arts was
welcome, but for it to survive, only two workshops a year could be planned for future years
instead of the previous three.
If it were to continue to service regional Queensland Flying Arts needed to widen its
student base. In 1993 the State government formed the Queensland Indigenous Committee for
Visual Arts (QICVA) to unite indigenous groups throughout Queensland. With Aboriginal artist
Judy Watson on its team Flying Arts began working with QICVA to provide a comprehensive
touring program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island artists. The program was trialed on the
same basis as touring programs to other western centres39 and workshops were held at Boulia,
Burketown, Mt. Isa, Doomadgee, Normanton, Injinoo, Thursday Island and Darnley Island.
9. Students at Normanton High School. Photo Flying Arts archives.
36
37
38
39
Introducing the new Executive Officer Christine Campbell, Flying Arts Gazette No. 61, May, 1994
1994 Strategy Implementation Proposals.
1994 Annual Report.
AFAS Equity Initiatives, Flying Arts Gazette No. 60, 1993, p. 4.
103
Flying Arts was already teaching Europeans and Islanders on Thursday Island when the
State government requested more interaction with Aboriginal and Islander people and Lynette
Griffith, Thursday Island Centre Representative, wrote of the special need that the organization
filled for them.
We all wait anxiously for Flying Arts to arrive. Our contact with ‘those people from the South’ (everything
being south of here) is important to us. For two days people come together, often from outer islands, to
share creative experiences and generally have a great time. Not only is it an artistic experience but an
opportunity to yarn and catch up. . . .The Flying Arts tutors are always really helpful, leaving behind many
good ideas and setting people at the start of new pathways to explore. By making an effort to meet on a
regular basis people are more inclined to go down that path, explore their ideas, communicate new ideas to
others, with everyone feeding off each other.40
This story is a prime example of the social regeneration Flying Arts brought to isolated
communities and, along with its traditional workshops remaining critical for other isolated areas
of regional Queensland, craft workshops were still needed in some centres.
Craft fights for survival
Despite a drop off in attendances in the late 1980s, craft was important for many people
in regional Queensland. However, funding for craft was not favoured by government
institutions, and in 1987 the Australia Council’s amalgamation of the Crafts and Visual Arts
Board resulted in only one third of grants going to crafts. Since then industry support for craft
had diminished even more, both privately and publicly, at national, state and local level.41 Not
everyone agreed with the trend away from craft. At a conference at the Adelaide University
Japanese-born British potter, Takeshi Yasuda, spoke of the unfortunate decline of craft in urban
areas:
Visual arts have become simply visual. Painting, sculpture and crafts, in fact almost all aspects of our
lives, have been improverished by the primacy we place on the visual at the expense of the other senses,
especially the sense of touch.42
Flying Arts knew that people living in the west agreed with him. To many people craft
was an important leisure pursuit, particularly silversmithing, ceramics, quilting and woodwork
and their work was often creative, incorporating a unique local flavour. Added to this, a large
percentage of people in western Queensland could not justify a hobby or professional activity
that was unable to pay for itself, and with tourism becoming significant for the survival of small
40
Keeping up enthusiasm on Thursday Island, Flying Arts Gazette No. 63, October, 1994, p. 10.
41
‘Project Officer’s Update’, Flying Arts Gazette No. 62, July, 1994, p. 4.
42
Peter Timms, ‘Reactivating the Senses: Takeshi Yasuda’, Art Monthly, July 1993.
104
western towns, craftwork was a growth industry in some areas. Although craft had not always
been an ongoing success, Flying Arts knew that some workshops were needed. It applied for
RADF funding to host a craft residency at Creek Farm, Alpha, with workshops in silversmithing,
ceramics, woodturning and photography. Although the funding application was successful, to
stay within Arts Queensland guidelines, professional development seminars on the marketing of
work were also supplied.43 To demonstrate its support for craft, USQ acquired work from Flying
Arts ceramist tutors Fiona Fell, Gwyn Hanssen Piggott and Mary Lou Hogarth for its own
collection.
Technology comes to the west
Flying Arts sought other avenues. If funding for craft was in decline, technology was
booming, and satellite dishes now made TV available in the remotest part of the country. It
allowed a broad spectrum of popular culture to be accessible to outback communities and was
being heralded as the panacea for the problems of distance. The Open Learning Network had
grown to forty centres, twenty-five of which had a two-way electronic communication system in
place capable of transmitting images.44
In conjunction with its electronic communication system, the State government was eager
for electronic technology to be taken up by all rural centres and took responsibility for the state’s
arts industry policy – training and creative aspects as well as marketing of the multimedia
industry. Arts Queensland sponsored visits by internationally recognised multimedia artists for
people in regional Queensland and held a series of basic and specialised seminars. Computer,
modem and Internet access to multimedia-based arts community groups was available for all as a
new program initiative.45 Arts Queensland held evening forums to discuss the results of a report
on Multimedia and the Arts, they emphasised creativity as the key to the continued growth of
the multimedia industry and regional arts communities were encouraged to become more
involved in the creation of content, and the formation of policy in their area.46
Workshops on the use of technology, predominantly video and computer, were held in
Townsville and Cairns; and the creation of a non-material realm for art was embraced with
enthusiasm by a number of regional artists. Artists in Australia and overseas were using digital
communications systems such as ‘virtual’ classrooms, conference spaces, digital magazines and
electronic galleries. An Australia based electronic network especially for artists called ‘Artsnet’
43
‘Project Officer’s Update’ and ‘Creek Farm Residential Workshop’, Flying Arts Gazette No. 62, July 1994, p. 10.
44
Art, Technology and Distance, Flying Arts Gazette No. 61, May 1994, p. 4.
Editorial, Flying Arts Gazette No. 69, April 1996, p. 2.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 69.
45
46
105
was available and creativity was connected to technology and information: reproductions of the
landscape – not of the variety created with paint and placed in frames, but images from space
satellites and programs such as Landsat, were used in place of traditional representations.47
Through USQ Flying Arts embraced the new technology and began its own on-line
seminars in late November 1994, when Paul Brown, a consultant with Griffith University’s
Information Services, co-ordinated Flying Arts’ first Art and Technology workshops on two
Brisbane university campuses – Nathan and the Queensland College of Art at Morningside. It
gave students the chance to play around with Photoshop and image manipulation. Graphic
designer and educator, Paul Cleveland, showed students the potential of Photoshop for
artworkers. At the workshops Flying Arts launched its first online issue in full colour of the
Flying Arts Gazette. It was available to all members with access to a computer.48
With Telstra taking electronic communication to the west, from 1996 it was possible for
people living in geographical isolation to keep in touch with the outside world using email. Chris
Capel, living on a sheepstation 100 kilometres north-west of Longreach, was thrilled when she
became part of the first Telstra email trial. Rural women around Queensland were given Internet
facilities and asked to communicate with each other and researchers based at QUT.49 The Telstra
trial was a boon for Flying Arts members, it allowed closer contact with people on the Flying
Arts network. The downside was that members from remote communities in western or northern
Queensland paid upwards of $12 per hour for poor quality internet access via an AUSPAC
service. Responding to complaints Telstra offered them a $5 per-hour service. Although it was a
wonderful addition to life in the west, electronic technology was still rather more expensive and
less dependable than that which city people received. Nevertheless it led to exciting
developments for Flying Arts students. 50
Flying Arts became a provider in this new field and lobbied for funding from the
Australia Foundation for Culture and the Humanities to develop electronic communications
technology through a project named ReSiting: Regions Online with Flying Arts Inc. In
conjunction with its traditional methods of workshops and seminars, email and the Internet had
become its modern communication tool.
Despite the advantages of new technology Flying Arts tutor Kim Mahood had
reservations about the developments. She felt that traditional forms of artmaking would always
47
Art, Technology and Distance, Flying Arts Gazette No. 61, May 1994, p. 4.
Editorial, Flying Arts Gazette No. 64, November, 1994, p. 4.
49
‘The Rural Women and ICT’s Research Team’, The New Pioneers, The Communications Centre, QUT, Brisbane,
1999.
50
Paul Brown, New Media Consultant for – ‘ReSiting: Regions Online with Flying Arts Inc.’, Flying Arts Gazette
No. 73, Autumn 1997.
48
106
be more popular in rural areas and wanted artist conducted creative art workshops to remain at
the core of Flying Arts services. From experience she believed that ‘the cultures of regional and
remote Australia had a degree of rootedness which provided a significant counterpoint to the
information being received via communication satellite’51 .
Although the changes were significant, money remained a priority for Flying Arts’ core
program of hands-on workshops, with both State and Federal governments urging non-profit arts
organizations to create new funding sources. To hold workshops for its traditional members,
Flying Arts looked for corporate sponsors. Shell Australia was still a major sponsor. In June
1995 it was joined by Media Link International, a second sponsor which undertook public
relations, advertising and marketing services to the value of $1000 per month for twelve
months.52 Minter Ellison Lawyers was another new sponsor. An Australia-wide organization,
Minter Ellison became a permanent sponsor, assisting with legal services and newsletters.
Other sponsors quickly followed: through lobbying from centre representatives in
country towns the Gaming Machine Community Benefit Fund became a sponsor when it agreed
to subsidize a third touring exhibition in 1995;53 Centre representative, Rosemary Anderson from
Tabubil (the OK Tedi Mining centre), persuaded BHP (at its expense) to fly artist/tutors from
Horn Island to Tabubil in their executive jet to conduct two-day workshop for both expatriate
and indigenous people, it was the first Flying Arts tour into Papua New Guinea.54 In addition,
Diann Lui, centre representative for Thursday Island, advised that Uzu Air would sponsor Flying
Arts ceramist, Mary Lou Hogarth, for flights to Darnley Island for all three tours during the
year.55 The efforts of centre representatives in gaining sponsors demonstrated the enthusiasm
and determination of women living in remote towns who assisted Flying Arts. The dedication of
its country representatives was always the strength behind Flying Arts’ activities.
In 1995, owing to the generosity of more than twenty sponsors, the total cash and in-kind
contribution was more than $75,000 which enabled the school to supply three tours to all
centres.56 There was even a surplus of nearly $35,000 that year.57 Following the three 1995
tours, in 1996 members wanted a permanent return to three workshops. As Mahood predicted,
new technology was exciting, but nothing could replace the personalised contact and tutorial
support on which the organization had been founded 25 years previously.58 Members put a high
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
Kim Mahood, Catalogue Essay, Flying Arts Gazette No. 61, May 1994.
Flying Arts new sponsor, Media Link International, Flying Arts Gazette No. 66, June 1995, p. 2.
From the President, Flying Arts Gazette No. 66.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 66.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 66.
1995 Annual Report.
1995 Annual Report.
1996 Annual Report.
107
value on the unique opportunity the school provided for social regeneration through face to face
contact with visiting artists to challenge their artistic practice through lively debate. Although
Flying Arts agreed that three workshops were the most desirable form of art education, at this
stage government funding allowed for only two visits a year, and private enterprise could not
guarantee future funding.
1996 was a milestone for Flying Arts; twenty-five years had passed since Mervyn
Moriarty launched the organization back in 1971. To commemorate the event Shell Australia
sponsored a second touring exhibition, the 3x8+1 Exhibition. It consisted of works by 8 Flying
Arts tutors, 8 current members, and 8 emerging artists (representing post-graduate students from
the Visual Arts Faculties of four of the regional and metropolitan universities associated with
Flying Arts Inc.) The Universities that assisted in the exhibition were: QUT – Susi Muddiman,
assistant curator at QUT was a driving force behind the development of the 3x8+1 touring
exhibition; USQ as host to Flying Arts gave assistance through its Faculty of the Arts; Griffith
University Morningside Campus, and James Cook University of North Queensland were other
participants. In addition, Southern Cross University (Lismore) made available its Art Museum
Director to act as professional curator, conducting workshops in Professional Presentation for
regional members. The ‘plus one’ was work by Mervyn Moriarty who, in recognition of his past
services to Flying Arts, was invited to Queensland to hold a special workshop – fourteen years
after he left the school in 1982.59 The willingness of so many sponsors and others to assist with
Flying Arts projects showed the high regard in which the organisation was held throughout the
state.
Visual Arts Experience Week (VAEW) – Flying Arts changes direction.
In the 1997/8 State budget regional Queensland and youth became part of new
government arts development initiatives:
*
*
*
*
Funding to individual artists and arts groups was increased by 15 percent to $105 million.
Additional funding was promised to all Queenslanders to improve Internet access.
There would be significant increases to the Regional Arts Development Fund between 1997 and the year
2000.
More than half a million dollars was to be allocated as part of a new Youth Cultural Policy.60
Although it meant a change of direction for Flying Arts (e.g. bringing young people to
Brisbane instead of sending artists to the bush) it saw the government youth policies as a new
way of expanding its membership base. In 1997 the feature project of Flying Arts was Visual
59
60
1995 Annual Report. Flying Arts Gazette No. 69, p.10.
News, Flying Arts Gazette No. 74, Winter 1997, p. 2.
108
Arts Experience Week, (VAEW). To implement what was an ambitious undertaking involving
the whole of Queensland, it sought the support of other Brisbane art organizations to hold
VAEW during the winter school vacation. VAEW was to be a pilot for what was hoped would
become an annual Brisbane residency for young people in years 10, 11 and 12 studying art at
high schools throughout the state.
Flying Arts gained the support of a number of sponsors for the project.61 Named
‘Metropolis’ a Visual Arts Experience Week, it welcomed sixty-eight regional secondary
students to an installation-based workshop with New Farm artist Peter Dwyer at Brisbane Girls’
Grammar School. Young people were bussed, trained and flew from centres as far away as
Weipa, Mt. Isa, Charters Towers, Longreach, Mackay and Cairns.
Coordinator Steven Carson acknowledged that VAEW was an experimental creative
approach to learning. Following student participation in core workshops which included 2D and
3D art and technology, they attended a program of gallery and museum visits, a walking tour of
the New Farm/Fortitude Valley art precinct, and art industry talks.62
With the success of VAEW in 1997, the following year it was again held at the Brisbane
Girls Grammar School. The cost of $375 per student covered accommodation, meals,
workshops, materials and excursions. Special guest tutor was Judy Watson. The Courier Mail
supported the project through Factor X, the Sunday Mail’s youth supplement, and ran a logo
design competition for secondary students from regional centres seeking scholarships to attend
the Flying Arts’ youth residency. For the originality of her design (see below). Heidi Green won
a scholarship to the University of Southern Queensland. . .63
61
The Australia Foundation for Culture and the Humanities became the major sponsor; the Gaming Machine
Community Benefit Fund, QANTM Youthworks and QANTM Indigenet were others. The Queensland government
also supported the project through RADF administered by Arts Queensland, and communities throughout the state
gave their full support by paying costs for local students to participate.
62
Flying Arts Gazette No. 74, Winter 1997, p.15. 1997 Annual Report, p. 6.
63
Flying Arts Gazette No. 80, September, 1999, p. 3.
109
1999 VAEW Scholarship
Overall Winner: Heidi Green – The University of Southern Queensland/
Flying arts Scholarship
Heidi’s stunning design will form the inspiration for future VAEW promotional material.
In this logo, I have used an eye which transforms into a feeling, seven fingered hand, in
the centre of which is the pupil of the eye. The logo shows that, throughout the seven
days, art which is witnessed will become more than a visual stimulus as the pupil is
immersed in the very experience that art should be.
Fig. 4. VAEW Winning Logo – Flying Arts Gazette No. 80, September, 1999.
The input of young people into selecting a logo demonstrates their enthusiasm for the
project and eleven scholarships were awarded through Queensland’s art industry in 1999.64 In
2001 VAEW became ‘Experience the Arts’(ETA) when it expanded to include installation,
photography, multimedia and street art for high school students coming from all parts of regional
Queensland. Held at QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus, students were introduced to life drawing,
colour, composition and assemblage. Classes were followed by visits to universities and galleries
64
1999 Annual Report, pp. 8-9. Scholarships were awarded by The Queensland College of Art, Brian Tucker, QUT
Visual Arts Department, Queensland Art Gallery Store in conjunction with Folio Books and Beaux Art Express,
IMA, Qld. Community Arts, Youth Arts Queensland, the Queensland Artworkers Alliance, the Burdekin District
Jnr. Arts Assn. Inc., the Aboriginal and Islander Independent Community School and Access Arts who all supplied
scholarships.
110
for talks with professional artists.65 Surveys indicated that, as with Flying Arts’ regional touring
program, a significant benefit coming from ETA was the opportunity for young people to
socialise with others who shared their passion for the arts. The city joined the country when
friendships and contacts were forged between regional and metropolitan areas. As evidence of
the success of the project, the 2001 ETA was assisted by two past students who were now
studying art at a tertiary level in Brisbane.66
Another major project working with youth came through the Exhibition Development
Fund which funded The Art of Transition administered by the Regional Galleries Association of
Queensland. A touring exhibition, it was a combination of members’ works and the
documentation of Flying Arts activities by student photographer, Michelle Deanshaw, from
Cooloola Institute of TAFE with a number of works by VAEW students being featured in the
documentary. Anne Lord (previously a Flying Arts student, now teaching at James Cook
University) selected members’ works for the exhibition. Support from NQX Freight System and
the Gaming Machine Community Benefit Fund enabled exhibiting artists to enjoy a year-long
tour of their work throughout regional Queensland and Northern Territory. In December 1998
The Art of Transition opened at the Murranjirra Gallery at Tennant Creek. It was the first time
that the work from Flying Arts was exhibited in the Northern Territory.67
Flying Arts took advantage of any funding opportunities which enabled it to diversify its
activities. In 1997 a regional summit was held at the University of Southern Queensland to
discuss federal government funding coming into Queensland and Flying Arts was asked to
participate. Over the 1997/8 and 1998/9 financial years Federal government funds totalling
$900,000 were coming to Arts Queensland via the Australia Council for the Arts to stage arts
and cultural summits affecting regional Queensland.68 The aim was to determine priorities and
identify community projects. When professional artists were needed Flying Arts was nominated
and became a service provider for two of the nine federally funded projects in south-west
Queensland. The first was assisting with production of a library of street banners in Warwick to
be loaned to small towns in the near south-west for festival events. The second was a
65
Flying Arts Gazette No. 83, September 2000, pp. 9-11. Through QUT, by 2001 the Kelvin Grove campus had
embraced the creative arts.
66
Flying Arts Gazette No. 83, The steering committee for the venture consisted of representatives from Queensland
College of Art, Queensland University of Technology, Education Queensland, Queensland Art Teachers’
Association, Fireworks Gallery and Youth Arts Queensland.
67
Flying Arts Gazette No. 76, February/March 1998. 1998 Annual Report, p. 13.
68
Within Range: South West Queensland Summit, 1998 Annual Report, p.2. Flying Arts Gazette No. 78, December
1998, pp.4-5.
111
cybermural at Myall Park Botanic garden near Glenmorgan, an innovative combination of
botany and technology.
10. Participants in Warwick community’s RAF (Commonwealth funding)
Project Today, Tomorrow, Together
with two of 20 locally designed and created street banners.
Flying Arts 1999 Annual Report
Due to rising costs, in 1999 Flying Arts abandoned its tradition of hiring planes to fly
artists to regional Queensland. Small planes supplied by outside carriers were used to conduct
sequential ‘studio’ workshops in central Queensland, but for the far north it was more
economical and comfortable – if not quite so colourful or exhilarating – to use standard
commercial flights. With better roads, in conjunction with its southern Queensland and northern
New South Wales tours, cars now serviced the south-west. With small planes no longer being
hired, long standing sponsor Shell Australia, which in the past had supplied the organization with
fuel, could no longer support Flying Arts. A new sponsor was needed to fund the annual
exhibition and the state-wide art awards. The QCL Group of Companies quickly offered their
services.69
69
Flying Arts Gazette No. 81, December 1999, p. 3.
112
Online courses were becoming increasingly important to Flying Arts members, and in the
new millennium the goal was to build up the use of computer technology. A ‘foundation’ course
was trialed in 2000 setting a precedent for a whole new way of delivering art experiences to
remote areas. Through Griffith University and the Queensland College of Art, Flying Arts went
online with an updated art-education course.70 The course was designed for members of all ages
wishing to acquire or revise basic art skills. As a series of virtual workshops on the Internet, the
course was designed for self-study, allowing members to work at their own pace in their own
time. Through email it provided an online forum with lively and informative exchanges of ideas
between participants. The internet would never replace traditional ‘hands on’ workshops, but
greatly assisted study between visits.
In February 2000 Arts Queensland recognised the valuable contribution made by Flying
Arts workshops to art education in both coastal towns and the west. It funded the re-introduction
of foundation workshops catering for beginners and others wishing to revise or learn specific
techniques. In conjunction with beginners classes, Flying Arts also provided master classes in
all areas of the visual arts and craft including basketry, jewellery making, machine embroidery
and public art with local, national and international artists available as tutors. In addition, Master
Classes with selected touring exhibitions from the Queensland Art Gallery were held.71
2001 was the thirty-year birthday of Flying Arts. In recognition, QCL increased its
artist’s award from $2000 to $5000. Added to it were a host of special prizes, including
bursaries for Queensland and interstate artists whose residencies were sponsored by ongoing and
new partners and supporters. That year a new corporate partner, CS Energy, toured a second
exhibition - the Thirty Years Exhibition. As a ‘birthday’ exhibition it featured works of
particular significance to Flying Arts’ history. Honouring Mervyn Moriarty as the founder who
began it all back in 1971, he was invited to Queensland to display his art, give a presentation,
and hold a workshop.72 In the new millennium Flying Arts was a significant force taking creative
art to regional Queensland.
70
2000 Annual Report, p. 5. The co-ordinator was Sue Guilfoyle, a Multimedia artist and theory lecturer at the
Queensland College of Art. Funding came through Arts Queensland, the Gaming Machine Community Benefit Fund
and State Development Queensland.
71
Flying Arts Gazette No. 84, December 2000, p. 1.
72
Flying Arts Gazette No. 84.
113
Conclusion.
At the beginning of the decade, when Flying Arts moved to UCSQ, its future looked
bleak. It needed to rebuild student numbers, funding by the New South Wales Arts Council had
been withdrawn, drought was crippling the rural economy and craft, the strength of KGCAE
teaching, was in decline. Added to this, in the early 1990s, although both the State government
through Queensland: A State for the Arts, and the Commonwealth government through Creative
Nation, came to recognise the importance of the creative arts by increasing their funding, their
generosity came with conditions. In its Report – Queensland: A State for the Arts, the State
government concentrated on professionalism and did not take into account the ‘social
regeneration’ which Flying Arts workshops provided. Its funding body, Arts Queensland,
discriminated against Flying Arts’ traditional student base when, under the new criteria, hobby
artists whose ages ranged from 25 to 55, would not be funded by Arts Queensland. With Flying
Arts students outside funding guideines the school faced disaster.
Despite the depressing outlook, the new management committee, under the direction of
USQ personnel, notably Professor Leon Cantrell and Associate Professor Robyn Stewart, set out
to save the school. Because Arts Queensland would not fund ‘education’ it first had to eliminate
the word ‘school’ from its name; in 1994 the name was changed from ‘The Australian Flying
Arts School’ to ‘Flying Arts Inc.’ Flying Arts employed a new Executive Officer and targeted
areas nominated for government funding: core workshop programs were retained, but the
professionalism of the artist was accentuated; new workshops were introduced to Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander communities; technology was embraced; and youth was targeted.
When Arts Queensland offered grants to train young people in the arts Flying Arts
formed ‘Visual Arts Experience Week’ (VAEW), which in 2000 became ‘Experience the Arts’
(ETA). It was a new area for Flying Arts, and to achieve its goal it had to change direction.
Instead of sending artists to the bush, high school students came to Brisbane for an intense week
with the visual arts industry. The venture was highly successful. Funded by the Queensland
government, it was supported by high schools in Brisbane, all Brisbane arts organizations, and
regional councils throughout Queensland.
From a doubtful position when the school was transferred to UCSQ in 1990, in the
following decade it made every change necessary to retain Arts Queensland funding. However,
although it broadened its activities, Flying Arts knew that the greatest need for rural communities
was its core workshops in creative art and made every effort to retain them. During these
challenging years the participation of women in the organization grew. By the end of the 1990s
women predominated, not only as members, centre representatives and tutors, but as
administration officers. Added to this, a number of its committee members were women. In the
114
1990s the three goals Flying Arts needed to succeed were achieved: sound management brought
finance through government funding; corporate sponsors were approached to provide both
financial and support-in-kind; and together they achieved Moriarty’s vision of making creative
art workshops available for all Queenslanders outside Brisbane. Not only did Flying Arts
survive the 1990s through the changes it made in response to government policy. In 2001 it was
able to supply eighty workshops, so essential for the social regeneration of women living in rural
areas, to over 2000 people in forty centres through regional Queensland.73
73
2001 Annual Report. Although there was a falling off of students in the mid 1990s when regional towns took
advantage of government funding through RADF, by the year 2000 people had returned to the Flying Arts
workshops for its high quality of teaching. In 2002 eighty-eight workshops were conducted throughout Queensland
and northern New South Wales.
115
CONCLUSION
This history of Flying Arts argues for the importance of the social benefits provided by
the creative art workshops introduced into regional Queensland by Mervyn Moriarty when he
flew his art school to the bush in 1971. They were a catalyst which changed hundreds of lives.
The lives of some of the people it touched are documented in the case studies, other stories
gathered for the thesis can be found in Appendix III. The workshops became a meeting place for
like-minded people and the social interaction they engendered supports Ross’s argument that the
cultural role of the Arts is to provide personal and social regeneration.1
To understand what ‘creative art’ is and why it is different from ‘traditional art’, the
study began by exploring the stagnation of official art teaching in Queensland prior to 1970.
The early chapters argued that although Victoria and New South Wales were embracing the
modern creative art theories coming from Europe in the 1920s and ‘30s, until the 1970s,
Queensland’s premier art school – the Central Technical College in Brisbane, continued to teach
19th century South Kensington school art methods which focussed on the mechanics and skills of
art. It appeared that creativity was not encouraged in Queensland and prior to World War II only
those students who could travel interstate or overseas for their training became outstanding
Queensland artists. Although technically fine paintings were produced in the State, the
conservatism of its art training meant that Queensland art lacked the vibrancy of the more
creative work southern artists were producing.
It was not until the onset of World War II, when refugees from Europe began to settle in
Queensland, and the aftermath of the war when artists from the south came to teach in Brisbane,
that things began to change. The social mix of outsiders coming to Brisbane led to a cultural
revolution in Queensland. New methods of teaching art were introduced when private art
teachers encouraged their students to be creative. The influence of creative art became stronger
in Brisbane when contemporary Australian art from the south was exhibited at the Johnstone
Gallery in the 1960s. It complemented overseas exhibitions of modern art coming to Queensland
through the influence of two progressive Queensland Art Gallery Directors recruited from other
states.
Mervyn Moriarty, a young Queensland artist influenced by Sydney-trained painter Jon
Molvig, came of age during this period. When he made a decision to fly his art school to the
1
Malcolm Ross, The Aesthetic Impulse, p. 42.
116
bush he paralleled the activities of Dr. Langer’s Arts Council and Arthur Creedy’s Cultural
Affairs Department who were encouraging cultural activities in regional towns in the 1960s and
‘70s.
Moriarty’s creative art workshops proved to be popular because discussions on art, and
how to express themselves through their art, stimulated ideas, and it appeared to lessen the stress
caused by the geographical and mental isolation of life on rural properties. Women
predominated at the workshops – it gave them a chance to mix with like-minded friends while
discussing creative art with practising contemporary artists. As Kerry James stated in Work,
Leisure and Choice, Women in Rural Australia – ‘it is often the wife rather than the husband
who, because of her dissatisfaction or unhappiness, initiates the move out of rural areas.’2
The thesis shows that the workshops opened up a new lifestyle for hundreds of people,
the success of Moriarty’s vision was amply demonstrated by the number of students who came to
the aid of the school when it was found to be financially unsustainable. This highlighted the
weaknesses of Flying Arts. The school needed money and a sound administrative base to
survive. When these failed it appeared Flying Arts was finished. However, during its seven
years of operation it had become an important part of the lives of too many people and the push
from below by people living in regional Queensland brought pressure on the National Party
government to fund the school and keep it open. In return for financial assistance the Education
Department demanded an amalgamation with a recognised college in Brisbane.
Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education (KGCAE) now entered the picture.
KGCAE provided Flying Arts with the efficient administrative management it needed for
stability and growth. However, following the loss of Moriarty in 1982, unpopular cutbacks,
coupled with a decline in craft funding – the strength of Kelvin Grove teaching – once again
threatened the future of the school. By the late 1980s, student numbers were in decline. Closure
meant the benefits of social interaction and personal regeneration, so important to people in rural
Queensland, would cease.
However, education policies, through the Dawkins Report, brought an Australia-wide
shift to higher eduction. Colleges affiliated with universities, and the Brisbane College of
Advanced Education at Kelvin Grove (the name was changed in 1982) became part of the
Queensland University of Technology. Although its offices remained in Brisbane, Flying Arts
was transferred to the University College of Southern Queensland (UCSQ) based in
Toowoomba.
2
Kerry James, Work, Leisure and Choice, Women in Rural Australia, p.80.
117
Once again Flying Arts survived when personnel from UCSQ set out to rebuild the
school. However, in the following years it faced a new crisis after the Goss Labor government
brought out a paper in 1991, Queensland: A State for the Arts, outlining future government
funding for the arts in Queensland. Emphasis was on professionalism. No thought was given to
the social benefits of creative art for country women. People between the ages of 25 and 55 who
were not professional artists were classed as hobby artists. They were not eligible for funding by
Arts Queensland. These people were the student base of Flying Arts and once again the school
was threatened. Creative thinking was used to explore ways to circumvent the new state
government conditions and the thesis describes the way the organization handled the situation to
win the funding necessary for the survival of the school. With its offices outside USQ the school
had freedom to engage the corporate sector. In its efforts to retain Arts Queensland funding,
Flying Arts gained the three ingredients it needed for success: to implement Moriarty’s vision,
not only did the 1990s give Flying Arts the sound administration it needed for government
funding, it won corporate funding to augment grants from Arts Queensland.
The school began in 1971 with the dream of one male Brisbane artist; today, despite
setbacks over the thirty years under review, Flying Arts continues to operate because the people
who depend on it have refused to allow the school to fail. Because of their need, women living in
regional Queensland in particular have held the school together. Women now predominate at
workshops as students, centre representatives and often as tutors. In its Brisbane administration
the CEO of Flying Arts is a woman, as are the majority of its staff and a number of its committee
members. Elizabeth Hogan observed in her study of country women: ‘bringing women together
through networking and other activities inevitably means that they are embarking on a journey of
change.’3 Not only did the determination of country women save Flying Arts, but by opening
their own private galleries, which were quickly followed by regional galleries, the women of
Flying Arts initiated a cultural change which brought an appreciation of the visual arts to country
towns.
To continue to receive funding Flying Arts itself had to change and the survival of the
school today demonstrates the need for Moriarty’s vision of a network of camaraderie and
support through creative art for people living in regional Queensland. Over the years his
workshops enhanced the lives of hundreds of people, men as well as women – besides the
relatively fewer male artists who attended the workshops, there were many husbands who
appreciated the stimulation and satisfaction their women found through creative activities.
3
Elizabeth Hogan, Country Women at the Crossroads: Perspectives on the lives of rural Australian women in the
1990s, p. 34.
118
The thesis has shown that the history of Flying Arts is not only a case study which
describes the leisure activity of many women in regional Queensland, it also demonstrates the
personal and social satisfaction they receive from practicing creative art. It emphasises the
effectiveness of creative art as an educational tool which challenges students and broadens their
interests. In 1991 creative art was discussed at a forum held at the Queensland Art Gallery.
Called We have just arrived, it showcased Australian women artists today, pointing out that a
recent Education Now program on ABC Radio National stated that it was possible to lift student
performance by 25% across the board – in all subjects – just by the inclusion of creative subjects
in the daily curriculum. The forum described creativity as a way of thinking, a way of being.4
Although there are government authorities and organizations such as Arts West which have
supplied artists to regional Queensland, for over thirty years only Flying Arts has taught creative
art by sending the best available contemporary artists to regional Queensland on such a broad
scale that its workshops have brought cultural fulfilment to thousands of Queenslanders.
4
We have arrived, a Forum discussing Australian women artists today, Queensland Art Gallery, 8 June, 1991.
119
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary: Interviews and Questionnaires
Amos, Irene
Personal interview, Brisbane, 25 March, 2004.
Banks, Judith
Written answers to Questionnaire on Goondiwindi Art Group
September, 2001.
Bauer, Robyn
Personal interview on the Dalby Art Group, Brisbane, 10 November,
2005.
Bray, Vincent
Reminiscences from Mt. Isa. Flying Arts Inc. interview through Lesley
Jenkins for Australian Art Stories, 2001.
Brimblecombe-Fox, Kathryn, Personal interview on the Dalby Art Group, St. Lucia,
10 August, 2001. Tape OH112, John Oxley Library, Brisbane.
Busby, Coralie
Personal interview on the Bundaberg Art Group, Wynnum,
23 August, 2001. Tape OH112, John Oxley Library, Brisbane.
Cameron, Ann
Reminiscences from Mt. Isa. Flying Arts Inc. interview through Lesley
Jenkins for Australian Art Stories, 2001.
Cameron, Jocelyn
Written answers to Questionnaire on Goondiwindi Art Group
September, 2001.
Cooney, Gladys
Personal interview on the Julia Creek Art Group, Burleigh,
28 August, 2001. Tape OH112, John Oxley Library, Brisbane.
Davey, Robyn
Reminiscences from Gladstone. Flying Arts Inc. interview through Lesley
Jenkins for Australian Art Stories, 2001.
Ditchburn, Sylvia
Written reminiscences, Innisfail, 4 April, 2002.
Elcoate, Chris.
Emailed reminiscences, Mt. Isa, 25 September, 2003.
Forster, Josephine
Written reminiscences from Richmond, 28 September, 2001.
Fountain, Janet
Reminiscences from Mt. Isa. Flying Arts Inc. interview through Lesley
Jenkins for Australian Art Stories, 2001.
Garner, Patricia
Written reminiscences of the Goondiwindi Art Group.
1 September, 2001.
Gill, Joan
Reminiscences of the Dalby Art Group, 10 Sept. 2001.
Grealy, Kevin
Personal interview, Beerburrum, 21 January, 2004.
Heckel, Eva
Written answers to Questionnaire on Flying Arts
September, 2001. Eva was with Moriarty’s early Brisbane school.
120
Ivanyi, Bela
Telephone interview, September, 2001.
Kershaw, Rita
Written reminiscences of the Rockhampton Art Group, 3 August 2001.
Leonard, Kath
Written answers to Questionnaire on Goondiwindi Art Group
September, 2001.
Lord, Anne
Written reminiscences of the Julia Creek Art Group, 20 Sept. 2001.
Lord, Marjorie
Written reminiscences of the Julia Creek Art Group, 22 Feb. 2005.
Maclean, Auda
Written reminiscences of the Baralaba Art Group, 26 Nov. 2001.
McCormack, Carol
Reminiscences from Glenmorgan. Flying Arts Inc. interview through
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McCustie, Peg.
Letter from Moree, 4 November, 2001.
Moriarty, Helen
Personal interview, Brisbane, 21 March, 2004.
Moriarty, Mervyn
Personal interview, Monaro NSW, 1 Sept. 2001.
Four Tapes OH112, John Oxley Library, Brisbane.
Murphy, Penny
Reminiscences from Glenmorgan. Flying Arts Inc. interview through
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Nason, Bob
Reminiscences from Surat. Flying Arts Inc. interview through Lesley
Jenkins for Australian Art Stories, 2001.
Neilsen, Ellie
Personal interview on the Biloela and Monto Art Groups, Brisbane,
6 April, 2004.
Norris, Mary
Reminiscences from Gladstone. Flying Arts Inc. interview through Lesley
Jenkins for Australian Art Stories, 2001.
O’Sullivan, Jill
Reminiscences from Mt. Isa. Flying Arts Inc. interview through Lesley
Jenkins for Australian Art Stories, 2001.
Peart, Helen and others. Personal interviews Rolleston workshops, 2 Sept. 2003.
Ryan, Patricia
Personal interview, Brisbane, 10 December, 2004.
Savoye, Michelle
Reminiscences from Mt. Isa. Flying Arts Inc. interview through Lesley
Jenkins for Australian Art Stories, 2001.
Simpson, Jill
Written reminiscences from Palmwoods, 29 Sept. 2003.
Somerville, Janis
Reminiscences from Glenmorgan. Flying Arts Inc. interview through
Lesley Jenkins for Australian Art Stories, 2001.
Speedy, Char.
Written reminiscences from Quilpie, 26 Oct. 2001.
121
Uebergang, Peggy
Personal interview on the Inverell Art Group, Brisbane, 11 Oct. 2001.
Tape OH112, John Oxley Library.
Warmington, Joan
Written reminiscences of the Gladstone Pottery Group, 8 Nov. 2003.
Whitehead, Jenny
Reminiscences from Mt. Isa. Flying Arts Inc. interview through Lesley
Jenkins for Australian Art Stories, 2001.
Wilson, Jack
Written reminiscences of the Dalby Art Group, 7 Sept. 2001.
Wilson, Jennie
Emailed reminiscences from Longreach, March, 2002.
Return of Questionnaire sent out September, 2003.
Balonne Creative Arts Group
Blainey, Lisa, Renee and Chloe
Cameron, Maree
Dascombe, Margaret
Eckford, Shirley Anne
Farrow, Karen
Gray, Michelle
Heckels, Vivienne
Hobbs, Donna
Hohn, Nicole
Karez, Noelle
Lodewyk, Catherine
McKenzie, Fay
Moloney, Jocelyn
Ryan, Elaine
Seeger, Carol
Thornton, Julia
Tin Can Bay Quilters Group
Textile Arts from St. George.
Bundaberg
Dalby
Toowoomba
Julia Creek
Emailed reminiscences from Emerald
13 Oct. 2003.
Emerald
Toowoomba artist.
Emailed reminiscences from Thargominda
29 Sept. 2003.
Toowoomba
Miles
Mt. Isa
Toowoomba
Longreach.
Richmond
Hervey Bay
Textile artist, Rockhampton.
Tin Can Bay
122
Newspaper Articles
Advertisement for First Vacation School, Rockhampton Bulletin, 19 June, 1962.
‘Artists Plane Goes Down in Paddock’. Courier Mail, 25 June, 1980.
‘Art Pots take shape for sale’, Gladstone Observer, 18 March, 1980.
‘Art School gets big’, Telegraph, 31 May 1975.
Australian, 21 Oct.1971.
Berryman, Nancy.
‘Wanted: Artist with Wings’, Courier Mail, 7 April, 1974.
Bray, David.
‘Money for the Arts’, Courier Mail, 6 October, 1968.
‘Brushes with Danger for Flying Art School’, Courier Mail, 1980.
‘Community Crafts Centre popular’, Gladstone Observer, 18 July, 1980.
Courier Mail, 12 October, 1966.
Courier Mail, September, 1968.
Courier Mail, 13 March, 1970.
Courier Mail, 23 August, 1977.
Courier Mail, 30 November, 1984.
Cox, David.
Curr, Carol.
‘Art School’s new courses welcome’, Courier Mail, 11 Feb. 1970.
Letter to North Queensland Register, March, 1983.
‘Down from Banana Trees to Brunswick’, Melbourne Age, 18 July, 1980.
Editorial, Courier Mail, 26 Sept. 1968.
‘Education Minister, Mr. Val Bird, opens new premises in Eagle Street,’ Courier Mail,
1 June, 1975.
‘Famous artist guest-tutor’, Rockhampton Bulletin, undated, 1980.
‘Friends together Potters’ secret’, Gladstone Observer, July, 1978.
Gold Coast Sunday Bulletin, 20 February, 1983.
‘Government backing for “country culture”’, Courier Mail, undated, 1964 Queensland Art
Gallery files.
‘Imagination takes flight’, Craft Australia, Winter 1988.
Joliffe, Clair.
‘When the Art School flies in’, Australian Women’s Weekly,
28 March, 1979.
Langer, Gertrude.
‘A Sensitive Person will Understand’, Courier Mail, 10 April, 1953.
Langer, Gertrude.
‘Olsen’s Net’, Courier Mail, 1964.
Letter to the Editor,
Courier Mail, 30 Sept. 1968.
123
‘Mervyn Moriarty opens art school in Brisbane at 98 Enoggera Tce., Paddington.’
Courier Mail 16 August, 1983.
Maryborough News, 8 April, 1980.
Millington, John
Gold Coast Bulletin, ‘The flying school’s sacking of Moriarty is still up in
the air’, 19 Feb. 1983.
The North Queensland Register, Friday 4 March, 1983.
‘Off
to a Flying Start’, North West Star, Mt. Isa, 16 Nov. 1971.
‘Paves the way for our culture,’ The Sunday Mail, 5 Jan. 1969.
Pugh, Clifton.
‘Art school of the Air: one man’s initiative’, Melbourne Age,
26 Dec. 1973.
–––
“It’s a long sad wait for the dawn on Mornington Island’, Melbourne Age,
27 Dec. 1973.
–––
‘Shadow over the place of the rainbow serpent’, Melbourne Age,
28 Dec. 1973.
–––
‘It was just like every day’, Melbourne Age, 29 Dec. 1973.
–––
‘Islanders nail their politics up on the coconut trees”, Melbourne Age,
31 Dec. 1973.
–––
‘Beyond the Black Stump’, Melbourne Age, 1 Jan. 1974.
‘Potters’ Group completes its busiest year’, Gladstone Observer, July, 1977.
‘Queensland Artist takes to the air’, Courier Mail, 27 Feb. 1971.
‘Rob. Hinwood, Australian Flying Art School, taking a class at Bundaberg Pottery Club.’
Bundaberg News Mail. 1980.
Rowbotham, David. ‘Backdrop of trouble for Queensland arts scene’, Courier Mail, 28
Nov. 1970.
‘The Brisbane School’, Sydney Morning Herald, 19 June, 1963.
The Gladstone Observer, 30 March, 1984.
‘They wrote to give support’, Courier Mail, 30 September, 1977.
Throssell, Harry.
Gold Coast Sunday Bulletin, ‘Airborne artist may be grounded,’ 20 Feb.
1983.
Tickell, David.
‘Sky’s no limit to art”’ Telegraph, 27 June, 1975.
‘Unconventional art teacher takes to the skies’, Journal, QU, undated.
‘Vacation School Profitable’, Courier Mail, undated, 1969. Queensland Art Gallery files.
124
Miscellaneous
Archives of the Brisbane Institute of Art.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 1971 figures.
Australian Flying Arts School Annual Report: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1994,
1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000.
Brochure advertising Australian Flying Art School, Brisbane, 1970.
Brochure Advertising Vacation School August 1969, Langer File UQFL157.
Flying Arts Gazette
No. 1, August, 1979.
No. 2, December, 1979.
No. 3, July, 1980.
No. 4, January, 1981.
No. 6, December, 1981.
No. 7, May, 1982.
No. 8. August, 1982.
No. 12, May, 1983.
No. 15, December, 1983.
No. 18, July, 1984.
No. 24, September, 1985.
No. 26, January, 1986.
No. 27, April, 1986.
No. 28, July, 1986.
No. 31, January, 1987.
No. 32, April, 1987.
No. 36, April, 1988.
No. 37, June, 1988.
No. 42, July, 1989.
No. 44, February, 1990.
No. 46, June, 1990.
No. 49, May, 1991.
No. 50, July, 1991.
No. 52, November, 1991.
No. 57, April, 1993.
No. 59, July, 1993.
No. 60, November, 1993.
No. 61, May, 1994.
No. 62, July, 1994.
No. 63, October, 1994.
No. 64, November, 1994.
No. 66, June, 1995.
No. 69, April, 1996.
No. 73, Autumn, 1997.
No. 74, Winter, 1997.
Np/ 76, February/March, 1998.
No. 80, September, 1999.
No. 81, December, 1999.
No. 83, September, 2000.
No. 84, December, 2000.
No. 86, October, 2001.
125
Flying Arts Inc.
Letter to Leneen Forde, Governor of Queensland, 13 July, 1992.
Letters, Langer File UQFL157.
Arts Division, Department of the Premier, Economic and Trade Development
Letter, 6 September, 1991.
Parliamentary Papers, Roll No. 61 1976-77.
Queensland Branch Arts Council of Australia Annual Report, 1974.
Queensland Cultural Diary Vol. 5, No. 5, May 1977.
Undated letter 1981, signed Beryl Angus, Flying Arts Inc. archives.
Walters, John.
Duplicated letter to students, Qld. Art Gallery files.
Workshop Attendance Sheets, Flying Arts Inc. archives.
Secondary: Published
Bradbury, Keith, and Glenn Cooke. Thorns & Petals: 100 years of the Royal Queensland
Art Society, Royal Queensland Art Society, Brisbane, 1988.
Burke, Joseph
The Postwar Years in Australian Art: some lessons for the future, The Sir
William Dobell Art Foundation, Sydney, 1982.
Campbell, John.
Arts Education: Report by the Senate Environment, Recreation,
Communications and the Arts References Committee, Commonwealth of
Australia, Canberra, 1995.
Churcher, Betty.
Molvig: The Lost Antipodean, Penguin Books, Melbourne, 1984.
Clarke, Eddie. Technical & Further Education in Queensland: a History 1860-1990,
Department of Education, Queensland, Brisbane, 1992.
Collins, Judith, John Welchman, David Chandler, David A. Anfam, Techniques of Modern
Artists, New Burlington Books, London, 1987
Cooke, Glenn.
A Time Remembered: Art in Brisbane 1950-1975, Queensland Art Gallery,
Brisbane, 1995.
Crumlin, Rosemary. The Blake Prize: passion as well as art, National Library of Australia,
Canberra, 2003.
Dalton, Pen.
The Gendering of Art Education, Open University, Buckingham, 2001.
De Bono, Edward.
Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step, Harper & Row, New York,
1990.
Donovan, Peter.
So, You Want to Write History? Donovan & Associates, Blackwood, SA,
1992.
126
Fitzgerald, Ross.
History of Queensland: From 1915 to the Early 1980s, Queensland
University, Brisbane, 1984.
Flying Arts Inc.
The First Twenty Years: Australian Flying Arts School, University
College of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, 1991.
Franklin, Margaret-Ann, Leonie M. Short, and Elizabeth K. Teather (eds.). Country Women at
the Crossroads: Perspectives on the lives of rural Australian women in the
1990s., University of New England Press, Armidale, 1994.
Fridemanis, Helen
Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, Queensland Branch,
Boolarong Publications, Brisbane, 1991.
Gorry, Shane D.,
Queensland: A State for the Arts, Report of the Arts Committee,
Queensland Government, Brisbane, 1991.
Hanrick, Phillipa Louise. Policy or People – where should the focus be? Arts West: A case
study of a rural community arts organization in Queensland, Griffith
University, Brisbane, 1997.
Helmer, June.
George Bell: The Art of Influence, Greenhouse Publications, Melbourne,
1985.
Elizabeth Hogan,
‘Making Women Visible: Reflections on Working with Women in
Agricultural in Victoria’, M. Franklin, L. Short, E. Teather (eds.) Country
Women at the Crossroads: Perspectives on the lives of rural Australian
women in the 1990s, University of New England Press, Armidale, 1994.
Hogan, Janet.
In Memory of Dr. Gertrude Langer, O.B.E. 1908-84, Queensland Art
Gallery, Brisbane, 1985.
Hughes, Robert.
The Art of Australia, Penguin Books Ltd., Melbourne, 1970.
James, Kerry, ed.
Work, Leisure & Choice: Women in Rural Australia, University of
Queensland, Brisbane, 1989.
Johnston, W. Ross.
The Call of the Land: A History of Queensland to the Present Day, The
Jacaranda Press, Brisbane, 1982.
Logan, Greg. & Eddie Clarke, State Education in Queensland: a Brief History, Department of
Education, Queensland, Brisbane, 1984.
McCaughey, Patrick. Jon Molvig Expressionist. Newcastle Region Art Gallery, Newcastle,
20002.
Parr, Lenton.
Creating: The Victorian College of the Arts, Macmillan Publishers,
Melbourne, 2000.
Pechey, Susan and Paul Thomas. Telling Tales: An oral history of Kelvin Grove College 19421990, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove Campus,
1992.
127
Phipps, Jennifer.
I had a dream: Australian Art in the 1960s, National Gallery of Victoria,
Melbourne, 1997.
Queensland Art Gallery. We Have Arrived, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1991.
Ross, Malcolm.
The Aesthetic Impulse, Pergamon Press Oxford, 1984.
Rumley, Katrina.
Jon Molvig Expressionist, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, Newcastle,
2003.
Serle, Geoffrey.
The Creative Spirit in Australia: A Cultural History,William Heinemann
Australia, Melbourne, 1987.
Smith, Bernard, ed.
Education Through Art in Australia, University of Melbourne, Melbourne,
1958.
Smith, Bernard, with Terry Smith. Australian Painting 1788-1990, Oxford University Press,
Melbourne, 1991.
Snowman, Daniel
The Hitler Émigrés: The Cultural Impact on Britain of Refugees from
Nazism, Chatto & Windus, London, 2002.
Swanson, Gillian and Patricia Wise. Going for Broke: Women’s participation in the arts and
cultural industries, Australian Key Centre for Cultural and Media Policy,
Griffith University, Brisbane, 1994.
‘The Rural Women and ICT’s Research Team’, The New Pioneers, The Communications Centre,
QUT, Brisbane, 1999.
Thomas, Kay.
'Women's Health and Welfare in Rural and Remote Queensland', Country
Women at the Crossroads: Perspectives on the lives of rural Australian
Women in the 1990s, University of New England Press, Armidale, 1994.
Thomas, Laurie.
The most noble art of them all, Queensland University, Brisbane, 1976.
Timms, Peter.
‘Reactivating the Senses: Takeshi Yasuda’, Art Monthly, July 1993.
Warner, Lesley.
‘Educational Needs and Opportunities for Rural Women: The Queensland
Experience’, Margaret-Ann Franklin, Leonie M. Short and Elizabeth K.
Teather, eds., Country Women at the Crossroads, University of New
England, Armidale, 1994.
Secondary: Unpublished
Braben, Don.
A Survey of Teacher Education in Queensland 1860-1976, M.A. Thesis,
Birmingham Polytechnic, 1981.
Flying Arts Inc.
Strategic Plan 1991-1995.
–––
General Manager’s Report 1.7.91 – 31.3.91.
128
–––
Minutes of Annual General Meeting, March, 1991.
–––
Minutes of Board Meeting, 10 May, 1991.
–––
Program Co-ordinator’s Post-Tour Report, July, 1991.
–––
Report, 13 September, 1991.
–––
General Manager’s Report, November, 1991.
–––
1994 Strategy Implementation Proposals.
Fridemanis, Helen.
“Contemporary Art Society, Queensland Branch, 1961-1973,” M.A.
Thesis, Queensland University, 1989.
Report on the Arts Council of Australia, 1974, Queensland Art Gallery files.
Report nominating Mervyn Moriarty for the BHP Award for the Pursuit of Excellence, 1984.
Ross, Heather.
“The Queensland Arts Council and the exhibitions of ‘Queensland Artists
of Fame and Promise,’” Art Off Centre Seminar, Brisbane, 1995.
Meyer, Trish.
Submission 112 p1346, Senate, Environment, Recreation,
Communications and the Arts References Committee, Arts Education,
October, 1995.
Shaw, Jeff.
History of the Australian Flying Arts School at Kelvin Grove, unpublished
paper, Flying Arts archives, 1982.
Skinner, Peter.
“John Cooper and the Moreton Galleries”, M.A. Thesis Queensland
University, Brisbane, 1984.
Sprott Ryan, John.
“A History of Adult Education at and through the New England
University College and the University of New England”, PhD thesis,
University of New England, Armidale, 1989.
129
APPENDIX I
TIMELINE FOR MERVYN MORIARTY and AUSTRALIAN FLYING ARTS SCHOOL
Information from secondary sources, Annual Reports, Newsletters, Magazines, Newspaper
articles and oral stories.
1937
Mervyn Moriarty born Moorooka Queensland. Was born into a Queensland family with an
Irish and Scottish background, grandfather was mayor of Murwillumbah, father was an
actor, rest of the family were musical. (Queensland Teachers Journal 19/8/81 April Hersey.)
1948
Professional artists were teaching at Stuartholme from this date. Maryke Degeus, Richard
Rivron, John Coburn from 1950, Margaret Cilento in 1952, Kathleen Shillam from 1954.
1956 Betty Quelhurst (who later taught at Somerville House), Elizabeth Mackenzie during
1958 and 1959. Arthur Evan Read in 1960 (he was assisted by Mervyn Moriarty),
Bronwyn Yeates 1961 and Andrew Sibley in 1962. John Aland from 1963-1967 and Betty
Churcher from 1967-1971.
1951
Richard Rivron from England begins teaching in Brisbane in 1951. Classes taken over
by Margaret Cilento in 1953. Jon Molvig takes over from John Rigby in 1955.
(Fridemanis Artists & Aspects of CAS 65 & G.Cooke A Time Remembered 35.)
1952
Mervyn Moriarty begins study at the Central Technical College with Melville Haysom
(from age 14). Melville Haysom organising art camps. Moriarty attended camps at
Numinbah Valley and Cunningham’s Gap. (Mervyn Moriarty interview 2001.)
1955
Jon Molvig begins teaching in Brisbane at St. Mary’s Church hall, Kangaroo Point.
1957
Roy Churcher arrives in Brisbane with Brisbane-born wife Betty (née Cameron). Takes over
Molvig’s classes when he leaves for Central Australia. Taught there until 1962 when he began
teaching “hobby classes” at CTC (no accredited certificates awarded).
He was a founding member of Contemporary Art Society in 1961. President 1964-71. CAS disbanded 1973.
1958-62 Mervyn Moriarty studied drawing and painting weekends privately with Andrew Sibley and
Jon Molvig. Also at CTC. See tape transcript for his description of this. Tape held at JOL.
1959
Jon Molvig moves into Corroboree House in Hartley Street Spring Hill. Memorable parties
held there, it became a centre for an artistic sub-culture until 1965. (Fridemanis 23).
Brisbane public objected to works by Picasso, Degas, Renoir, Vlaminck and ToulouseLautrec which were part of a collection Major de Vahl Rubin. It became part of the QAG
collection through a Sotheby’s Auction in London. (Fridemanis 7).
1960
Sept.
1960
1961
1961
1961
1961
1962
May
Moriarty won Still Life prize CTC. Hons. in colour and lettering,display. Teaching part-time CTC.
Telegraph featured Moriarty’s shop window display in Queen Street (Finney Isles). Later
he worked at Allan & Stark which became Myers. (Telegraph 27 September 1960).
Moriarty Teaching part time at Stuartholme, assisting Andrew Sibley. (Fridemanis thesis 34)
Rudy Komon Gallery opens in Sydney (Journalist Allen Barnes newspaper unknown)
Moriarty Exhibitions:
3-Man Show at Design Arts Centre - Ross, Churcher and Moriarty. Gertrude Langer (CM undated).
Mervyn Moriarty Group Exhibition H.C. Richards Memorial and Trustee’s Prize.
“
“
Half Dozen Group of Artists. Moriarty’s Mother & Child purchased from
Half Dozen Group by University of Qld. for 26 gns.
Mervyn Moriarty also showing in Kennigo Street Gallery (Gertrude Langer CM undated).
Moriarty showing with Gordon Shepherdson Hardy Bros. Gallery. First major exhibition.
He is living at Terrace House in Spring Hill. Took some classes there.
Mervyn Moriarty won Johnsonian Club Prize with The Journeyers for $100 gns. (CM 3/5/62).
Win controversial, Laurie Thomas who awarded the prize threatens Johnsonian Club.
Moriarty tape re his earlier painting The Pickers, it should have won the previous year.
Kelvin Grove provides training in art for specialist teachers in high schools.
1962
June
July
August
August
1962-69
1962
1962
1962-65
1962
Arts Council Vacation School advertisement in Rockhampton Bulletin. First Vacation School
by Gertrude Langer at UQ in August. Letter from Armidale University July ‘61 re this. Cost
£7/10/- for tuition only and £23/10/- for board and accommodation. Tutors Desiderous Orban
and Stanislaus Rapotec (both teaching at Armidale Summer School). Time on course will be
spent in free expression, still life, landscape, figure sketching and painting. Catering for both
beginners and advanced, aims to develop a creative approach to painting. Evenings will
largely be given over to illustrated lectures, discussions on art and film screenings. No
students under 16. Pottery teacher Milton Moon. John Pizzey Minister for Education opens
vacation school. (GL. Boxes 27/28/29).
Stan Rapotec classed as an Abstract Expressionist (Years of Hope Gary Catalann)
Rapotec won the Blake Prize in 1961 with Meditations on a Good Friday - the win was
controversial.(GL Boxes 27/28/29).
Moriarty entered W.D. & H.O. Wills Art Prize, Judge Laurie Thomas. (Brochure cover 25 July
- 6Aug).
Moriarty Group Exhibition Johnstone Gallery Fourteen Queensland Painters, 7-23 August. (QAG files).
“
“ exhibitions Contemporary Art Society of Australia (Queensland Branch)
“
“
Contemporary Art Society of Australia (NSW)
“
“
Blake Prize
“
“
Transfield Art Prize
“
“
Redcliffe Art Contest.
1963
Feb.
Moriarty solo exhibition Bonython Gallery, Adelaide - First solo show. Works were abstract.
Brochure 15/2/1963. (Earle Hackett Bulletin review 23/2/1963.)
April
Solo exhibition Barry Stern Gallery, Sydney. Reviewed by James Gleeson (Sun Sydney. 11/4/63)
June
Group exhibition Jon Molvig and students, Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney. (Sydney
Morning Herald 19/6/63. “The Brisbane School”)
August Group exhibition Finchley Galleries, Toowoomba. Reviewed by Toowoomba newspaper. (22/8/63)
Group exhibition with Molvig and Olley and others for Seventh Tasmanian Art Gallery
exhibition Brochure
Solo exhibition at Hungry Horse Upstairs Gallery in Sydney. (Daniel Thomas reviewed. No date.)
August Second Vacation School. Rapotec, Orban, Churcher, Ian Syme artist/teachers (GL Boxes 27/28/29).
August Moriarty Royal National Association.Win ‘Industrial Modern’ Prize. Industrial Journey(CM11/8).
Sept.
Featured in Courier Mail while painting a dress to be made for local Opera. (CM 14/9/63)
Moriarty part time instructor at CTC from 1963 until he sublet studio at Kangaroo Point
from CAS in 1966. Several CTC students joined Moriarty’s daytime class. The evening
class also drew a new group of progressive students from the College and from the
University’s architecture department where Moriarty tutored. (Fridemanis 36)
1964
March
1964
1964
June
Moriarty supplies oral history for the National Library of Australia. Interviewed by Hazel de Berg.
Moriarty Group exhibition South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne with John Aland and Neville Matthews.
“
enters Archibald Prize exhibition with painting Bernard O’Reilly.
“
exhibiting at Johnstone Gallery with Jon Olsen in Gallery F. (16-25 June) GL reviewed in CM
Moriarty’s Landscape 1 purchased by Queensland University from Johnstone Gallery for 60 gns.
(Painting now in Colin Clark Bldg.)
Bernard O’Reilly acquired for Queensland Art Gallery Collection, gift of Mrs. Barbara Moriarty.
August Third Vacation School, Lawrence Daws, Thomas Cleghorn, Charles Reddington (USA).
76 painting students. Similar painting school advertised at UNE Summer School 4-23
put on by NSW Adult Education Dept.
Sept.
Exhibiting in Toowoomba with others inc. Irene Amos and Hugh Sawrey. (Toowoomba Chronicle)
1964
Exhibiting in Transfield Art Prize at David Jones Gallery, Sydney. Fred Williams exhibiting.
1964
Exhibiting at Contemporary Art Society Annual Autumn Exhibition.
2
1965
Solo exhibition Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney. His first one-man exhibition with
3
Komon. Wallace Thornton reviewed, date or newspaper unknown.
August Vacation School 7-14 August. 275 country students from 30 towns inc. Mt. Isa, Longreach,
Cairns, Townsville. Drama, modern dance, painting, sculpture, design. 76 enrolled in
painting. Tutors - Roy Churcher and Robert Grieve, Louis James. Sculpture Leonard and
Kathleen Shillam.
Sept.
At BTQ7 with Jill Edwards Mervyn Moriarty ‘Introducing Art, by a teacher from
Brisbane Technical College’. (TV Times 22/9/65)
1966
Sept.
Mervyn Moriarty Group exhibition Brisbane Painters, Komon Gallery, Sydney
Started Private Art School September at “The Studio”, St. Mary’s, Kangaroo Point, (CM 12/10/66.)
Gave up teaching for 3 years to paint for Komon Gallery shows. (Moriarty tape-5)
Moriarty solo exhibition Kennigo Street Gallery Brisbane. Date unknown.
1967
1967
1966-67
1967
1967
Moriarty solo exhibition Kennigo Street Gallery Brisbane.
“
Solo exhibition at Design Arts Centre, Brisbane.
“
Group exhibition CAS Spring Warana-Caltex Art Contest.
“
Lecture and tutorial work in fine arts for Architecture Dept. Qld. University.
Invited to conduct workshops for Arts Councils’ Vacation School, Queensland University.
1968, 69 and 70, see Gertrude Langer files in Fryer Library (boxes 27, 28 and 29 Vacation School).
50 students turned away from painting course. Other tutors - Bill Rose, Olsen, Rapotec, Churcher.
1968
Before 1968 no State Government report made relevance to the arts and no monies had
been allocated by the government to ‘Cultural Activities’ except specific areas like the
QAG and Museum, State Library and Conservatorium of Music. (Fridemanis thesis 152)
August Vacation School at UQ. Tutors - Rapotec, Churcher, Moriarty, Jennifer Barwell.
Arthur Creedy became first director Cultural Activities, Qld. Education Dept.
Moriarty Group exhibition Gold Coast City Art Prize
Solo exhibition Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney.
Moriarty joined Langer’s Arts Council Vacation School at St. Lucia. He travelled to the
west to conduct ‘Demand Workshops’.
Moriarty exhibition with Contemporary Art Society Winter Exhibition.
August
October
1968-70
1968
1968-70
1968
1969
January Arthur Justin Creedy “Paves the way for our culture”. (Sunday Mail 5/1/69.)
January Economic growth in Queensland due to mining activities of the later 1960s.
Sunday Mail 5/1/1969. Bernard Smith launches a scathing attack on art in Queensland.
Moriarty Group exhibition David Jones Annual Art Prize
Moriarty receives prize for In the Garden which was acquired for Gold Coast City Council.
“
Cairns Art Society Prize (Painting No. 1 1968)
“
Solo exhibition Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne, reviewed by Gloria Volik.
“
“
“
Kennigo Street Gallery Brisbane
August Moriarty Exhibition Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney. 99 Spaces. Reviewed in (The Bulletin 2/8/69).
Workshops for Arts Council in Charleville, Blackall, and Barcaldine, Queensland. (Moriarty tape-5)
Met Dr. Dorothy Herbert in Charleville, introduced to flying.
Moriarty holds workshop at Townsville Art Society for Arts Council. (Glad Cooney
meets Moriarty in Townsville).
August Vacation School at UQ 16-23 August. Tutors: Jennifer Barwell, Churcher, Moriarty, Rapotec, Guy
Warner. 1969 school made a profit of $3170.30 although performing arts tours lost money.
October Moriarty solo exhibition Reid Gallery, Brisbane - Moriarty’s exhibition opens new
gallery. GL (CM Oct.)
1970
Moriarty wins Dalby Art Group Prize with Outside interrupting inside. Dalby Collection.
Also prizes in Cairns and Stanthorpe (Moriarty tape).
It was announced in February 1970 that the art school at Brisbane CTC, ‘long criticised as
old hat’, would begin the year with a new, progressive attitude. Two new courses were to
be offered - Associate Diploma in both Graphic Design and Fine Arts. The latter course
which was previously neglected was to be the first major recognition of the art school as a
centre of education and not just instruction. Site and plans for a new college of art were
obtained in 1970 and the creation of the College of Art as a separate entity in 1971
demonstrated the recognition of art education in Queensland. This was followed by the
appointment of Alan Warren as principal of the new College of Art in George Street.
(Fridemanis thesis 159).
Ninth Vacation School at UQ August - tutors Moriarty, Churcher, Nevil Matthews,
Rapotec. 370 students, 243 painting students. Vacation school made a profit of $2307.
(Annual Report Qld. Arts Council - Box 25).
Feb.
John Power Lecture in Contemporary Art by a lecturer from USA.(David Cox, Courier Mail11/2/70)
Revision of the art syllabus to Grade 10.
May
Death of John Molvig. 15 May 1970.
October Moriarty wins The James Cook Bi-Centenary Prize Another Place. David Robotham
reviewed. (CM 23/10/70). Judged by Gordon Thompson, Deputy Director of the National
Gallery of Victoria.
Gifted to Queensland Art Gallery by Queensland Art Gallery Society in 1971.
1971
Feb.
Brisbane classes start April 3.‘Queensland Artist takes to the air’ (CM 27/2/71.)
Feb.
‘And now it’s the Flying Painter’ (The Age Melbourne 17/2/71.)
March “Eastaus” Flying Art School registered in March (Helen Moriarty interview)
Mervyn Moriarty travels to Dalby and Toowoomba by car to teach while waiting for pilot’s
licence to start his flying art school (Moriarty tape-5).
Gertrude Langer supplied Moriarty with the logistics to enable him to begin his first year of
operation of flying art school. (Marjorie Tonge telephone, former secretary Qld. Arts Council)
Arts Council gave advice but Moriarty & Helen did all their own bookings and
arrangements. In first years they did circuits of about 3 weeks, avoiding worst weather by
starting in February.
Brochure printed advertising school, foreword by Arthur Creedy. (James Hardy Library)
March Featured in The Age, Melbourne. “Flying Artist Tours Country”. (11 March Country Life.)
April
Mervyn Moriarty (“Cosmos Lodge” Tourist Rd., Mt. Nebo) puts out the first of 24 art
books he wrote over the next two years.
1971
Gladys Cooney on McKinlay Shire Council, encourages people to join Eastaus Julia Creek classes.
Jo Forster, professional artist and grazier, trained with Roy Churcher, joins Moriarty’s
workshops.
1971
Moriarty enters Competition for L.J. Harvey Prize for Drawing.
1971
“
“ Darnell Gallery-de Gruchy Art Prize (third year he had entered)
1971
“
“
Sulieman Prize
1971
Solo Exhibition Reid Gallery, Brisbane. Moriarty represented in Qld. National Gallery,
New England University Gallery, Darnell Collection Qld. University, Australian National
Gallery, Canberra, NSW National Gallery and various public and private collections in
Australia and overseas.
July
Moriarty solo Exhibition Komon Gallery, Sydney. Reviewed by James Gleeson (Sydney Sun.3/7/71)
1971
Melbourne exhibition by Moriarty reviewed by Gloria Velik
October Gains unrestricted pilot’s licence to enable the school to fly to remote outback
Queensland. Moriarty takes off in a hired 4-seater Cherokee from Brisbane, bound for
the Queensland outback and the “Eastaus” Art School will have officially begun.
Cost $3000 to set up. Helen and Moriarty live on $30 week. (Australian 21/10/71.)
Lived at Mt. Nebo, grew own vegetables, kept chooks. (Moriarty tape)
Nov.
15 students begin with the school at Mt. Isa. (North West Star, Mt. Isa Nov. 16.) (Fryer)
1971
Distribution of population in Qld. 699,371 (Brisbane), 1,823,362 (Queensland)
1971
Annual Report for Arts Council of Australia Queensland Division. Vacation School tutors
1970
Feb.
4
1971
1972
Rapotec, Rigby, Matthews. Fees $27 for non-resident, $93 for residents at UQ colleges.
All vacation schools held in August.
Alan Warren appointed principal of the new College of Art (still in William Street).
Ivy Zappala (born 1933) starts with Mervyn Moriarty. Her main teacher was Bela
Ivanyi. She has a farm house at Bellenden Ker. Work is represented in Brisbane
Parliament House and Museum of Villers-Bretoneaux France. (Lyrebird Press 2000).
July
Creative Arts Seminar (Brochure in GL box) Binna Burra 14-23 July. Tutor Mervyn Moriarty.
Also brochure for 1972 Dalby Art Contest held by the Dalby Art Group.
August Arts Council Vacation School. Tutors Matthews and Rigby. Pottery Errol Barnes.
This year profits were down, expenses higher. Painting fees good, they amounted to $1966.00.
Nov.
Creedy begins Cultural Diaries in December. First of its kind in the
Commonwealth. Creedy states Eastaus is not drawing a government subsidy. (Aust.
Women’s Weekly, Grace Bartram,) (Fryer)
12 pupils at Julia Creek. Cultural Activities (Creedy) gave a grant of $1000 to
make up for losses.
Towards end of year another $1500 given to Eastaus by Cultural Activities. (also Moriarty tape-6)
1973
School is struggling financially. Bob Clutterbuck and Dave Ryan full time help to
Moriarty and wife. Bob getting a pilot’s licence. John Brigdon helping part time.
(Eastaus Newsletter Vol 2. No. 2.)
Moriarty Solo Exhibition Reid Gallery, Brisbane
July
School still at 207 Adelaide Street. Christmas Newsletter Vol.2 No. 4.
August “Airborne School”. Eastaus Exhibition at 207 Adelaide Street. Judged by Neville
Matthews, won by Sheila Mee. (CM 11 August). Opened by Arthur Creedy. (Newsletter
Vol.2.No.2.)
1973
Moriarty writes to Gough Whitlam who sends Clifton Pugh to tour with him
(correspondence has been lost). Following the tour money comes from Federal govt. i.e.
Arts Council. Creedy helps to set up Board, Sir Vernon Christie (who was on Ballet
Board) President of the Board.
Secretary Ms. Monica Crouch, Treasurer Mr. Harold Munro. Committee: Mr. John
Marshall, Mr. Russell Cuppaidge, Wing Commander Gordon Olive.
Sept.
From Creedy’s Cultural Diary, Sept. Vol.1.No.10 Arthur Creedy announces government
grant to the Australia Council doubled from $7 - $14 million.
Qld. Beneficiaries would be: Qld. Festival of Arts; Carnarvon Experimental Art
Development Project; Eastaus, Queensland’s Flying Art School.
Sept.
Received first grant from Australia Council for Flying Art School. (M tape). $3000.
Oct.
Cultural Diary, Vol.1.No.11 Creedy: “Eastaus, the Qld. Flying Art School is to be
congratulated on having received its first grant from the Visual Arts Board of the
Australia Council for the Arts.”
Nov.
School received State grant of $5000 and C’wealth grant $3000 to cover 1973 debts.
Estimated cost to run school $48,000. (Women’s Day, Barbara Kimber. 5/11/73.)
Nov.
Moriarty arrived in Townsville yesterday. 15 students from Townsville, 40 at Kingaroy,
30 at Glenmorgan. (Townsville newspaper. 22/11/73.)
15 artworks from the QAG flown to bush centres by Moriarty.
Nov.
School changes its name from Eastaus to the Australian Flying Arts School
1973-74 State government Parliamentary Papers Microfilm JOL (roll No. 51) $10,000 granted to Eastaus.
“
“ 1975-76
“
(roll No. 56) $25,000 granted to AFAS. $10,000 to IMA.
“
“ 1976-77
“ (roll No. 61) AFAS with its second pilot/tutor.
Parliamentary Papers. Private galleries have now proliferated and tutorial services
to country groups reinforced by Eastaus.
Moriarty hires movie camera,16mm, and projector, took films from French (Matisse) and
Japanese embassies to bush. Bought camera and Helen took slide photos of student work for
evening discussions. (Moriarty tape)
Ric McCracken newsletter from Brisbane. Biloela Group use each other as life models.
5
1973
Dec.
1974
The final activities of the CAS in 1973 were at Ric McCracken’s house at Moggill
Rd. Taringa. Mervyn Moriarty’s printing press was also there and material for
CAS and Eastaus was printed at his home. (Fridemanis thesis 166).
Six articles written for Melbourne Age by Clifton Pugh. December through to January 1974.
Fifteen vacation school centres throughout Qld.
6
Arthur Creedy announces ‘Blue Poles’ coming to Queensland. Mervyn Moriarty, as
Director of Eastaus Flying Art School will lecture with slides of the painting throughout
Queensland.
Creedy Announces that cultural centres are being developed at Innisfail, Cairns,
Toowoomba, Hervey Bay, Nambour, Noosa Heads, Gatton and Aspley in 1974.
Creedy: Interim reports indicate the complete validation of a pilot scheme funded by the
Visual Arts Board to activate sculpture in country centres. (It is no coincidence that success
was greatest in areas serviced by Eastaus, the Flying Art School.) Queensland
Cultural Activities budget rises from $750,000 to $1,120,000. Cultural activities
languish between November and February due to climate.
25 Cultural Co-ordinating Assns. have been established since 1968.
Article from Creedy’s cultural diary about the beginning of the school. Early guest tutors
Clifton Pugh (1973) and Mitch Johnston (conceptual art). Vic Greenway (potter), In 1973
students took out all awards (except one) at Mt. Isa and Cloncurry art competitions.
Some towns are beginning to think they should have an art gallery, whereas previously
they would never have thought of it. (Arthur Creedy, Cultural Diary July).
April
Flying Arts School has 400 students of all ages. (Australian 11/4/74.)
From 1974-76 AFAS has 4 tutors in the field, 3 in Brisbane and a staff of 3 in the office.
“Wanted: Artist with wings”. Interviews by Clifton Pugh. (Nancy Berryman CM 7 April)
Shelah Mee becomes a tutor at the Brisbane school.
April/May Bela Ivanyi starts as a tutor with Flying Arts.
May
Cultural Diary, July. Prime Minister opened Cairns Civic Centre 31st May. He noted the grants
to Queensland for cultural activities and Eastaus was listed as the first to receive a grant.
Nov.
Mervyn Moriarty solo exhibition Reid Gallery. Reviewed by CM 4 November. Writer not named.
9th November exhibition reviewed by Frederic Rogers from Sunday Mail.
1974 First integrated arts workshop held at Binna Burra.
Student successes:
Anneke Silver receives a grant of $2000 when in November 1973 the Prime Minister
approves a scheme to support Australian artists on a $1 for $1 basis.
Nov.
Glenmorgan students Mrs. Penny Murphy, Mrs. Jan Somerville, Ms. Liz Jackson are
among 18 members who exhibited in Brisbane at the McDonnell & East Queensland Room.
‘Bush Artists’ City Show’ by Glenmorgan Art Group formed in 1971. (CM 20 November.)
Opened by Arthur Creedy.
1974
Roy Churcher awards Dalby prize to Mabs Blackband. He is enthusiastic about her work.
1975
January Queensland Cultural Diary: Arthur Creedy writes of the growing enthusiasm for the
visual arts in Queensland through the combined work of Dr. Gertrude Langer, his
Cultural Activities Department and Mervyn Moriarty’s Australian Flying Arts School.
Qld. Cultural Diary. (p24). The Arts Council, following example of Eastaus, is training
a senior staff member as pilot to augment ground transport. Air services needed for
special project to far west and Torres Strait Islands.
March Article on Moriarty and The Australian Flying Arts School. (March 29 Sydney
Morning Herald, Lenore Nicklin.)
A heightened interest in cultural activities in country towns in 1975.
May
Cairns Art Society 29th exhibition (founded 1931). Cairns Civic Centre opened in May 1974.
Cairns 2 private galleries Parera (opened Jan. 1975) and Trinity.
Townsville Art Society began in 1962 (Experimental Art in Qld. 99). Townsville Visual
Arts Board opened in 1975. Townsville - Nth. Qld. Potters Club 1973.
May
Mt. Isa Civic Centre opened May 1974. Mt. Isa Cultural Activities Assn. had its
second vacation school in 1973. Mt. Isa had a Camera Club and Pottery group in 1973. 7
Capricornia Potters Group. Mossman, Cultural Assn. to be formed.
Innisfail Cultural Assn. to be formed, in 1973 Art Society held Centenary Art contest.
Bundaberg opened its Historical Museum in 1974. Cultural Centre planned for Bundaberg.
Central Highlands Art Group at Emerald.
St. George planning a permanent Cultural Centre.
Charleville had an art group in 1973 planning a Cultural Centre.
Warwick had branch of Qld. Arts Council. Warwick Potters Assn.began in 1974.
Roma & District Painting Group advertised in 1973, community centre proposed for
1974. Gold Coast, new Cultural Centre being proposed. Private galleries advertised on
Gold Coast - Bistro Art Gallery, Barry’s Art Gallery, Eight Bells Gallery. RQAS on Gold Coast.
Caloundra: Committee formed to establish a cultural centre at Caloundra.
Third annual Caloundra Pottery and Art Studio exhibition.
Pialba, Hervey Bay Exhibition in 1973. QCA planning a cultural centre at Hervey
Bay. Hervey House Gallery ( private).
Maryborough/Wide Bay Art Society planning a cultural centre with QCA.
Biloela - Banana Shire Cultural Assn. to be established.
Gladstone planning cultural centre.
Childers planning cultural centre with QCA and Beaudesert Arts Council.
Barcaldine advertises their new cultural centre.
May
Paul Griffin and Sheela Mee teach in Brisbane. (31 May Telegraph.)
May
Cairns Civic & Cultural Centre opened by the Prime Minister, Mr. Whitlam, in
May 1974. Whitlam praises the work of Moriarty’s Australian Flying Arts School.
Caloundra. Committee formed to establish a cultural centre. Receives $1184 from
Australia Council for Arts for pottery wheels and kiln. Holding an Arts & Craft Festival
in August/September.
May
Mt. Isa Civic & Cultural Centre opens in May. Vacation school of creative arts in August.
Mossman Cultural Assn. to be formed.
June
Blackall to hold its Central Western Creative School of art in June at the Blackall Showgrounds.
The town is developing a cultural centre by converting an old property. Advertising an
exhibition by local artists.
June
“Art School gets big”. Education Minister (Mr. Val Bird) opens new premises in Eagle
Street. Catalogue given out for Official Opening on 19 June, six board members listed.
A number of towns listed as exhibiting artworks. 60 Brisbane, 350 country students
June
State government subsidies for the scheme reached $10,000 in 1974-75 helping to attract
the first Federal Government grant of $20,000. (19 June, CM.)
June
550 students throughout state. (Telegraph 27 June, David Tickell,)
July
“A big country goes to art school”. ABC features Aust. Flying Arts School. (Chinchilla News)
July
Beechmont Creative Arts School at Binna Burra, Irene Amos tutor.
Brisbane: Queensland Art Gallery moves from Exhibition Building to Mt. Isa Mines
Bldg., Ann Street, City after water damage to Exhibition Bldg. caused by 1974 floods.
Raoul Mellish appointed Director of the Qld. Art Gallery, succeeds Mr. James Wieneke.
Death of Laurie Thomas in November.
Caloundra Pottery & Art Studio receive a grant from the Arts Council.
Gympie Art Society formed. Art Contest at Presbyterian and Methodist Church.
Goondiwindi Spring Festival. Goondiwindi and District Creative Art Group initiated in 1969.
It is holding an Easter Vacation School, located at Goondiwindi Showgrounds.
Mackay - pottery group is formed.
Oct.
Bulletin from Eagle Street put out by Audrey Robertson. She travelled to Innisfail by
bus. (October newsletter)
Flying Arts new horizons. Will fly into NSW and NT. School goes to 23 centres.
Oct.
Rex Coleman (Potter) started teaching with the school this year. (Australian 25 October.)
Oct/Nov. State would subsidise $ for $ basis for the construction of cultural facilities.
Second integrated arts workshop held at Innisfail. 18 students on Nerada Tea Estate.
1975
1976
Oct.
Oct.
Dec.
1976
Feb.
Moriarty the painting instructor.
8
Student successes:
Mrs. Winifred Ash won several competitions and sold a number of paintings. Her
family didn’t understand her work as it was abstract.
Glenmorgan Group gather at George and Joan Schwennesen’s property “Telgazlie” near
Surat to be filmed by ABC TV “A Big Country”.
Marie Cohen (Atherton) wins ‘Best Local Artist’ at Atherton Show.
Judy Fitzsimon (Mareeba) wins Annual Shell Art Contest.
Margaret Johnson (Biloela) Highly Commended at Mt. Isa Art Show.
Nola Grabbe (Biloela) Highly Commended at Gayndah Orange Festival art competition.
AFAS Students exhibit with the RQAS in Brisbane from 5 October 1975, then at
Komon’s gallery in Sydney late October, and Canberra in November.
Interstate exhibition at Koman’s Gallery Sydney by FA students would then go to Canberra.
From 18 Oct. 56 FAS artworks at City Information Centre for three weeks. (Canberra Times 24 October.)
Binna Burra Integrated Arts Project in December through Eastaus.
In line with its policy of developing services the School is now represented on the Tutorial
Services Steering Committee. The T.S.S.C. is a committee with representatives from the Qld. Arts
Council, Craft Assn. of Qld., Qld. Potters’Assn., at Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education.
March Formed under the ‘umbrella’ of AFAS. This committee is looking into the feasibility of
forming a Resources Centre aimed at providing professional tutors in the Arts and Crafts to
country centres. A questionnaire has been distributed throughout the country from which the
committee will decide the best way of setting up such a centre. (Qld. Cultural Diary,
March.Vol.4.No.3. AFAS news p3).
June
From June News Bulletin Eagle Street (Audrey Robertson, Brisbane manager of
AFAS) Economic problems, planes grounded until September.
July
Bela Ivanyi begins his 10-day art getaway. First year at Atherton, second year at
Highfields just north of Toowoomba, third year (1978) at Cooee Bay.
AFAS holding workshops at Lake Tinaroo on Atherton Tablelands June 7-16.
August News Bulletin. (Audrey Robertson). School now has money.
August Audrey Robertson in England with Public Relations Institute of Australia. (Sunday Mail 22/8/76.)
August August Qld. Arts Council Vacation School. Tutors John Firth-Smith and Brian Seidel.
Sept.
September schedules for school itinerary at JOL.
Monto pottery group formed. Phillip McConnell pottery tutor 1976-78
Gladstone Observer. Ivan Englund visits Gladstone with AFAS as its first pottery tutor.
Student successes:
Wendy Epp, AFAS student, to hold solo exhibition at the Eagle Street Gallery in Brisbane.
Dalby Art Group holding an exhibition at Italia Gallery in Brisbane.
Jackie Phillips and Margaret Carroll (Mt. Isa) win first and second prizes at the local show.
Peter Fenoglio shows at Allamanda Gallery in Bundaberg.
1977
Jan.
Technical and Further Education (TAFE) came into being when, by cabinet decision,
the integration of technical education and adult education took place.
26 TAFE colleges and centres in regional Queensland.
March Bundaberg College of TAFE opened 25 March 1977.
March In March 1977 school advised by Board of Visual Arts they would receive no more
funding from Australia Council. Brisbane School (Brisbane Eastaus Art School) and
Gallery will have to be abandoned. AFAS will have to liquidate. (Newsletter by Vernon
Christie - JOL).
Letter from John Walters President of Present & Past Students’ Assn. - no funds from
Aust.Council, only $30,000 in the last 12 months. AFAS Gallery (staffed by volunteers)
will have to close. It has been popular, it copes with exhibitions of two weeks duration and
has had good reviews of AFAS student work from Gertrude Langer and Frederic Rogers.
Economic problems, seminars cancelled, unlikely to be any in July and August.
1977
April Gladstone Gallery opened April 4 1977. TAFE classes in spinning, weaving 9
and beginners and advanced dressmaking being given. AFAS broken tours
unsatisfactory. (Gladstone Observer).
April
AFAS school advertises it will start sculpture classes in Brisbane. (CM 14 April.)
May
School visits 23 centres and has 895 students. (May 5 CM.)
May
IMA received $10,000 for administrative salaries for 1977. AFAS receives only an
interim grant of $5000 for salaries and running costs. (Cultural Diary, May.Vol.5.No.5.)
August “Art School’s wings could be clipped”. Received only $30,000 in the last 12 months.
895 students. (August 23 CM.)
August “Flying Art School to be Grounded”, Will cease operations this year as has received
no subsidy from Aust. Council Visual Arts Board. (28 August Sunday Mail)
Sept.
Mr. Prest asked Minister for Education and Cultural Activities if he was aware of the
problems confronting the AFAS caused by the Commonwealth Government ceasing to
make funds available for its continuation. Minister replies: “Last year my department
made $28,000 available to AFAS. I have recently approved an advance against the 197778 grant to enable country services to operate until the end of the year. I have already
commenced discussions which should lead to the continuation of these services to country
residents in the future. (Parliamentary Papers 15/9/77.)
Sept.
“They wrote to give support” Letters from hundreds of students. State Government
grant of $18,000 will keep school alive until end of the year. School has 895 students and
costs $120,000 to run. “Flying artist back in air”. School was funded by 50% Federal
govt., 25% State govt. and 25% student fees. (CM or Sunday Mail 30 September.)
Minister for Education, Val Bird is sympathetic. Enrolled students and 310 past students
have all been asked to get in touch with local member or Australia Council.
The school had 4000 students during the first seven years of operation.
October AFAS splits with Brisbane school, In 1979 it becomes Brisbane Institute of Art. Minutes
18 July ‘77 they have an operating deficit of $15,000. Eastaus books still being used by BIA.
(6 October. Minutes BIA.)
July 1979 Moriarty and Roy Churcher take master classes at BIA Moriarty’s country trips a problem.
September 1979 BIA relocates to 327 Gregory Tce. on 16 October.
30 Nov. 1979. BIA finances still shaky. Moriarty tutoring in creative drawing.
12 February 1980 Gertrude Langer becomes patron for BIA. Enrolments 183.
11 Sept. 1980. Moriarty still with BIA, received $16.60 hr. for tutoring.
13 Nov. 1980. Cultural Activities (Kevin Siddell) gives $1000 for a seminar and $1000 for admin.
9 April 1981. 213 students enrolled BIA.
14 May 1981. 10% royalty to be paid to Moriarty for use of books.
10 Sept. 1981. Recommended by Sheelah Mee that Moriarty’s books be removed from course by 1982.
1977
Government statistics: Qld. population is 1 Million (Brisbane) 1.1 million (rest of Queensland).
Some country students exhibit at Eagle Street during the year. John Walters, Jamie
Maclean, Helen Campbell, Robyn Bauer. Exhibition opened by Ian Reece. Rockhampton
artists exhibiting.
Australian Flying Arts School to start at Kelvin Grove College Advanced Education in February
1978.
1978
March
1978
May
June
“Arts for Outback” Flying Arts School incorporated into the Nth Bris College of Advanced Education.
AFAS taken over by Kelvin Grove College External Studies Dept. Bela Ivanyi to take
off for the west immediately, Moriarty to tour the north on Saturday. (3 March CM.)
Kelvin Grove College compiled a three-year Ceramics course (through Kev Grealy) and
Gladstone was chosen as a tutorial centre. Tutors Kev. Grealy, Rob Hinwood. Workshops
to be held 4 times in 1978. It was designed for people at all stages of potting.
Queensland Arts Conference in May (20-23) Moriarty to speak at the conference.
Moriarty exhibits at Town Gallery 12/6/78. Recent drawings by Moriarty - he has passed his period
of abstraction. Reviewed by Gertrude Langer 12 June CM. Show has a lot of variety.
(Sunday Mail June, Frederick Rogers.)
Creedy resigns from Dept. Cultural Affairs through illness.
1978
Dec.
1979
Feb.
In 1978 funding by the Department of Cultural Activities went towards restructuring. 10
The 1979/80 funding allocated by the State Government was $46,440 over two years,
making a total income for 1979 of $54,420: $23,220 (Dept. Cultural Activities),
$29,000 (student fees), $700 (membership) and $1500 (bank interest). The budgeted
income for 1980 was $87,640. In its Annual Report the management committee wrote
that the school had applied for $10,000 from the Community Arts Board of the Australia
Council for 1980. This application was unsuccessful, both the Dept. of Cultural
Activities and the Australia Council wanted the school to become self-sufficient.
4 Gazettes per year. No. 1 August 1979. No.2 December 1979. (only two this year)
Touring Artists: Mervyn Moriarty, Roy Churcher, Rob Hinwood, Rex Coleman. Kevin
Grealy runs correspondence courses. Grealy retires temporarily from AFAS, his work is
taken over by Rex Coleman (Biography in Gazette No. 2). Peter Rushforth (East Sydney
Technical College and Crafts Board) to tour Roma, Longreach, Innisfail and
Rockhampton and Darani Lewers (Chairperson of Crafts Board of Australia Council) skilled in design and creation of jewellery - expressed interest in being a guest tutor.
Fabric printing and Dyeing as a craft, batik - block and screen, for a proposed Central
Western Textiles Tour. Other tutors: Jim Aitkenhead, Paul Thomas, Jill Cadden.
Guest Artists: Painting Roy Oorloff, Pottery Ian Currie. Painting Sylvia Ditchburn.
Membership of AFAS $5 (optional). Workshop charges $10 per day. Each group
membership carries an entitlement of 3 votes.
March Board: Jeff Shaw (President), Bruce Scriven (Vice-President), Lynne Griffiths
(Executive Secretary), Dr. Peter Botsman who is also Chairman of the Community Arts
Board of the Australia Council. David Spann Secretary of the school during 1978.
Constitution rules no tutoring artists could be on the Board.
July
Talk of restricting workshops to three tours only.
New logo to be designed. Competition among students $50 prize. No student won, it
was designed professionally.
Problem with aviation fuel supplies. Omission of Quilpie and Hughenden due to fuel shortages.
Talented student Ellie Nielson begins training with AFAS. (Lyrebird Press book).
Bundaberg: Moriarty praises the group. Rep. Coralie Busby very active - opened
Allamanda gallery with the support of her late husband Claude. The gallery became a
meeting place for artists in the town. Although the work is of a high quality many
paintings are as yet beyond public taste. Quite a number of High School Art Teachers
attend AFAS workshops. (Gazette1)
1979
Competitions, Reviews, Exhibitions:
Goondiwindi Art Exhibition contest. Gunya Crafts Goondiwindi. Along with AFAS
students an art and pottery exhibition held in conjunction with Waggamba Shire
Acquisition exhibition.
June
Hinchinbrook Art Contest in Ingham. Prize money $2450. Two AFAS students
received the top prize of $500 - Sylvia Ditchburn and Jean Giarola. Eula Jensen (Babinda)
also wins a prize.
Pottery competition at Charleville won by John Morrison (AFAS) from the Roma Group.
Rick Wood from Mackay is now apprenticed as a potter under a Crafts Board Grant and won
a major prize in the Townsville Pacific Award. His work was pictured in Craft Australia.
Johanna De Maine from Gladstone has won several major ceramics awards this year.
She was selected as one of twelve Australian potters for a federal government sponsored
exhibition to tour Australian Embassies in Asia over the next two years. Her first major
exhibition in Brisbane opens in March 1980.
Robert Grieve (Roma) and Louise Vickers (Cairns) have won awards for ceramics.
August AFAS invited to present a paper at the 6th symposium of Supervisors for Schools in
S.E. Asia and the Pacific on Distance Learning.
Longreach Arts & Crafts Gallery opened. First local gallery, funded by Community
Arts Board under the umbrella of the Longreach Cultural Assn.
Sept.
Rockhampton group move into new space on top floor of the Walter Reid Cultural Centre.
19th Century three-storey warehouse in East Street transformed into a working area for cultural
groups in August 1977. Cost $500,000 subsidy from State Government. (Gazette No. 2)
Rockhampton Art Gallery competition won by Olga Morris and Linda Frawley (AFAS students).
Innisfail. AFAS students successful in 1979 Innisfail Art Competition.
11
Mackay. AFAS students did well at Mackay Art Society Exhibition at Mackay College of TAFE.
Wide Bay Potters’ Assn. Convention at Buderim. AFAS student Grace Wagner won
Earthenware Handbuilt section.
Bundaberg Annual Arts Festival. AFAS students receive awards.
Sept.
Resource Centre of the Crafts Council of Australia supplying Craft Resource Kits for
craftspeople living in remote areas. They contain information on Ceramics, Jewellery,
Spinning, Weaving, Machine Embroidery, Fibre, Fabric Printing, Glass, Wood, Leather
and Metalwork.(Gazette No. 2).
Oct/Nov. Grealy holds an exhibition of ceramics at Kelvin Grove. Reviewed by Col. Portley.
Article by Kev. Grealy on the Flying Art School talking about early workshops from
Pottery in Australia, Oct-Nov. 1979, Vol. 18.
Dec.
Financial: $46,440 allocated to AFAS at Kelvin Grove by State Government for 1979/80.
(Gazette No. 2).
Both Dept. Cultural Activities and Australia Council want a move towards self sufficiency.
1979
1980
Feb.
Only one Gazette this year. No. 3 July.
Tutors: Roy Oorloff (painting), Rex Coleman (pottery) to go on western tour with pilot
Harry Mainwaring (replacing Bela Ivanyi who is no longer with the school).
Beryl Angus, Executive Secretary AFAS.
Feb.
Woodcarving by Colin Blumson specialist workshops to be offered. (Gazette No.2).
March Kelvin Grove. College puts on a film featuring Carl McConnell of Pinjarra Pottery.
Regarded as dean of Qld. potters, he is represented in major collections in Australia and
overseas. An American by birth who settled in Queensland after the war.
June
“Artist’s plane goes down in paddock.” At Toogoolawah. Plane owned by Sunland
Aviation, Archerfield. Failure due to blown piston. (CM 23 June.)
July
Jim Aitkenhead organised and participated in a Textiles tour to Muttaburra, Longreach,
Blackall and Augathella (G3 July). Rob Hinwood leaves the school.
July
Tim Moorhead, Education Officer for Crafts Council of Australia prepared for
conference in Canberra “Crafts in Geographically Isolated Areas”. Travels Queensland
with AFAS. (Gazette No. 3).
New art Gallery opens in Bowen.
August Exhibition: Exhibition 80. First exhibition held since Kelvin Grove took over AFAS.
Correspondence courses begin:
Stoneware Glazes, a new correspondence course by Ian Currie who had conducted
courses at the Qld. Potters Assn. in 1979.
Textiles I - batik with Thel Merry to be set up.
Oct.
AFAS sponsor a Theatre-in-education tour of small schools at Morven, Quilpie,
Jundah and Windorah. Greg Rudd, lecturer in drama supervised the tour of 11 KGCAE
students to improve their teaching skills. (Gazette No. 4).
Maryborough Pottery started some years ago. Have a working nucleus of 6-8 ladies.
Very happy with AFAS workshops.
Nov.
Kevin Grealy tutoring at Weipa.
(The Bauxite Bulletin, 28 November. )
In 1980 there were 1300 students. Two-day seminar fees $20. Set of 3 painting book $8.
Pottery Books $2. each.
By 1980 Qld. and NSW Dept of Cultural Activities and Aust. Council funded 34.5% of expenses.
School wants to be more independent, looking for sponsorship.
Dec.
Bev Johnstone (Biloela) has expressed interest in the provision of an academically
recognised course, possibly with a diploma status. (Gazette No. 4).
Student Successes: (Gazette No. 3).
Libby Taylor (Tambo) exhibiting at the Queensland Potters Assn. Review by Gertrude
Langer: “If such professionalism can be achieved in isolation, then Mrs. Taylor surely
must be an inspiration to other people struggling in isolation.”
Queensland Art Gallery Trustees’ Purchase Exhibition included works by Ruth
Francis (Barcaldine) and Jennifer McDuff (Bundaberg).
1980
May
June
July
Dec.
Dec.
Dec.
1981
Jan.
Bowen: Dalrymple Gallery opened in May. Many hours were spent restoring the old
12
Harbour Board Building by Bowen Potters, Bowen Art Society and others interested in
the arts.
Stanthorpe Apple & Grape Harvest Arts Festival early March. Sue Whitton centre rep.
AFAS students sold, in addition to the acquisitions, a further $4,500 worth of painting,
pottery and weaving. Acquisitions become a permanent part of the Stanthorpe Art
Gallery.
Cairns Potters Club opens new premises 28 June.
St. George Pottery Club. Teresa Holmes centre rep. congratulates Rob Hinwood.
Without AFAS many of the group would become stale.
Gladstone. Robyn Olsend having an exhibition at Allamanda Gallery Bundaberg.
Mt. Isa. Dot Rowland thanks AFAS potter Rex Coleman for improvement in local
potters.
Matlia Potters Maryborough formed in 1977. Matlia host for 5th Annual Wide Bay
Burnett Potters Convention in September. Area: north to Bundaberg, south to Caboolture,
west to Monto.
Mackay. Pioneer Potters Mackay AFAS centre began in 1975. Rex Coleman visiting
was a shot of adrenalin for the group.
Hinchinbrook Art Competition. AFAS students from Innisfail and Ingham achieve
success. Judged by Raoul Mellish.
Cloncurry Art Show. Myra Beach (Julia Creek) wins prizes. (Gazette No. 4)
Innisfail: Winning artist Sylvia Ditchburn feels Australian artists produce high
standard of work compared with Britain and Europe. (Gazette No. 4)
Financials: School is almost completely supported by Qld. Dept. Cultural Activities
(Mr. Kevin Siddell), with special grants from the Australia Council. (Gazette No. 4).
Three Gazettes this year: No. 4 January, No. 5 September, No. 6 December.
Board decides to legitimise the status of tutors within the operation by advertising openly for
teaching positions. 1600 people attended workshops/enrolled in craft programmes this year.
Feb.
Touring artists: Painting: Mervyn Moriarty, Roy Churcher, Pottery: Kevin Grealy, Ian
Currie, Lyndal Moor. Four tours per year. Visit approx. 40 centres. Average attendance
(painting) dropped from 10.6 to 8. Pottery from 11.4 to 7. Some groups remain high:
Painting - Kingaroy 20, Bundaberg 14, Blackall 12, Inverell 13, Rockhampton 14. Pottery Maryborough 15, Monto 10, Mackay 10, Durong 10. (1981 Annual Report)
Plane upgraded to a 6-seater Cessna 210, so Sierra Delta Delta call sign will not be heard.
Feb.
Correspondence Courses: Advanced Glazing Ian Currie and Lyndal Moor. Textiles
(Batik) funded by Crafts Board of the Australia Council, 7-unit course.
March Board: President Jeff Shaw, Vice President: Bruce Scriven, Executive Secretary Beryl
Angus. Mr. Nigel Cooper, Mr. Paul Thomas, Mrs. Joy Wehl, Mrs. L. Davenport (Aust.
Council), Mrs. Judith Callaghan, Ms. S. Forster, Mr. R. Dunglison, Mr. G. Williamson,
Mr. J. Aitkenhead.
Farewell to Lynne Griffiths. Her work will be taken over by Beryl Angus. (G5)
March Perc Tucker Gallery opens in Townsville costing $650,000 (two-thirds was borne by the
local Council) to renovate old bank building fronting Townsville’s City Mall. Jamie Wall
reviews opening of the Perc. Tucker Gallery. “Art Collection gathered for Townsville
Gallery” Cost $40,000. Norman Wilson Director. (Townsville Bulletin. 3 March.)
July
Certificate designed. Will be numbered and signed by an Officer of the School, will
contain student’s name, subject and years of study. (G5) Certificate No. 0001 issued to
foundation member of Moriarty’s school Phyllis Roberts of Charleville. (G6). (1981
Annual Report)
August Article on Australian Flying Arts School with Roy Churcher tutoring. (April Hersey, Qld.
Teachers Journal, 19 August.)
July/Aug Queensland Arts Council/AFAS Residential School at Seaforth National Fitness
Camp via Mackay. Painting, pottery, Basic Stained Glass, Spinning and Weaving.
1981
Sept.
Oct.
Oct.
Dec.
Nov.
Dec.
Dec.
Dec.
Tutors Roy Oorloff, Kevin Grealy, Warren Langley, Barbara Huxham.
13
Pip Parer, a tutor with the Pre-School Correspondence Unit a passenger. Working with
children Pip set up a trial program of practical workshops for parents and children. It is part of
the Gallery Extension services program made possible by the Qld. State Planning Committee
for the International Year of the Disabled Persons. Designed for primary school children.
Exhibition: Exhibition ‘81 Paintings and ceramics by AFAS students at Kelvin Grove.
Fewer exhibits to enable the exhibition to be toured by the Queensland Arts Council.
Dr. Langer reviews annual exhibition of student work, she felt standard was less than last year.
(CM 21/10/81)
Membership figures approach 600. Students number around 1400. Concern with average numbers
in classes dropping. Self generated income now accounts for almost 32% of budget.(1981 Annual
Report).
Student Successes:
Glen Henderson. Review by Gertrude Langer. The influence of Moriarty is visible in her work.
Robert Stack (Rockhampton) exhibiting in the Boston Gallery, Brisbane before moving to Gold Coast.
Richmond /Julia Creek Pottery by Olwyn Slack-Smith. Students extremely happy with
AFAS, particularly Kevin Grealy. Students at Richmond had no hope of attending
courses in ceramics at most Colleges of Adult and Further Education.
Bundaberg: Nola Grabbe won Water Colour Award of $200 at Maryborough Art
Contest. Judged by Lawrence Daws.
Warwick: Mary Dau publishing a sketchbook of her pen and wash drawings for Warwick
Tourist Assn. Warwick no longer on the itinerary - she thanks Moriarty for his teaching
in the past.
Rockhampton: Contemporary Artists (AFAS) teaching art to children at the two opportunity schools.
Brisbane: We Three Exhibition at Paddington Gallery, Musgrave Rd. Red Hill. Mary
Beesley, daughter Carmen Beezley-Drake and granddaughter Joanne Drake. Members of
Rockhampton AFAS.
Beverley Johnston exhibiting at the Gregory Tce. gallery.
Annette Simmons (Port Douglas) exhibiting at Boston Gallery Clayfield. She
attended life drawing classes with Roy Churcher, workshops with Irene Amos and
Michael Johnson and Mervyn Moriarty.
Cairns Art Society holds 35th Annual Exhibition. Began 1946.
1981 Hinchinbrook Shire Council Acquisitive Art Exhibition. Barbara Horsley writes
advising of the success of AFAS students: Sylvia Ditchburn, Jean Giarola (Innisfail), Sue
Bulman (Innisfail Art Society), Ros Kiernan (Blackall), Jo Forster, Mira Kersch, Myra Beach
(Maxwelton), K. Brownsden (Cloncurry), judged by Sir William Dargie.
20 November 1981. Constitution altered by Jeff Shaw, Jim Aitkenhead, Beryl Angus and
Ron Dunglison “In order to simplify the preparation of audited financial statements, it is
proposed that Clause 13 of the Constitution be altered to read: “The Financial year of the
organisation shall be from 1st January of any given year to 31st December of that year.”
Clause 6(B) shall be altered to read: “Annual subscriptions shall be payable in advance
within 30 days after the beginning of the financial year, i.e. from 1st January. Payment
or tender of the annual subscription shall be made to the Secretary personally or through
the post addressed to the Secretary.” (1982 Annual Report)
Financial: $63,000 this year from QAC, more than 23% up on last year.
In 1981 tutors travel approx. 50,000 kms by aircraft and automobile. Classes in 40 towns
throughout Qld. and northern NSW. Moriarty call sign: UNIFORM CHARLIE QUEBEC.
NSW Dept. Cultural Activities authorising a grant of $3000 towards cost of extending
programs into Northern NSW. (Gazette No. 6).
From the beginning of 1982 KGCAE will cease to exist. It will be known as the
Brisbane College of Advanced Education (BCAE). AFAS will remain as is.
Telling Tales by Susan Pechey and Paul Thomas. “Whilst Kelvin Grove was within the
direct jurisdiction of the State Department of Education at least up until the later sixties,
there appears to have been a deeply conservative regime at the college (x). Peter
Botsman made the changes. (xi)
1982
Feb.
Feb.
Feb.
Feb.
March
June
July
July
July
Three Gazettes this year: No. 7 May, No. 8 August, No. 9 November.
14
Tutors: Pat Hoffie, Mervyn Moriarty, Roy Churcher (painting), Kevin Grealy, Ian
Currie, Lyndal Moor, Lyn McDowell (pottery). Pat teaching at QCA Brisbane.
(Gazette No. 6 for biography).
Guest Tutors: Gwyn Piggott, Evelyn Roth (Canadian fibre artist), Wilma Hollist (spinner,
weaver, dyer) from London. Dot Callender, Alison Whiteford. (1982 Annual Report).
Pilot Mervyn Moriarty, Call sign: TANGO YANKEE MIKE
Correspondence Course Tutors: Thel Merry (Batik), Don Braben (Screenprinting),
Betty Crombie (Stoneware Glazes).
Tutors available through a joint venture with NSW Crafts Council.
Now able to supply 2-day seminars in many centres. People prefer 2-day tours but
don’t want to lose visits. Continuity of tutor rated highly but students also like
guest tutors.
School will introduce a new South Western flying tour to cover towns previously on
Southern Driving tours. Three tours: Northern, South-western, Southern.
Membership: 2092 students on mailing list, 1253 are financial. (1982 Annual Report).
Largest student attendances on four tours - Painting: Rockhampton 23/14/10/21; Cairns
23/16/16/9; Pottery: Emerald 25/8/10/7; Rockhampton 22/7/9/9 (1982 Annual Report)
The original books for the two-year painting course introduced by Moriarty have been
retained (presently being revised and upgraded) with the addition of a three-year pottery
course prepared by Kevin Grealy, a pottery tutor with the school. Three major tours now
visit 40 towns throughout Queensland and NSW covering approx. 12,500 kms. from Cairns
in the north, Julia Creek and Quilpie in the west and south to Bingara and Walgett in NSW.
The northern and south-western tours are undertaken by light aircraft, while station wagon is
used for the southern tour.
Exhibition: Festival ‘82 profiles 42 students. 7 February Sunday Mail 2-page full colour spread
on AFAS student work. Roy Churcher proposes a Self Portrait Exhibition for this year.
Correspondence Courses: Areas of greatest interest are Sculpture,
printmaking/Graphics, and Fabrics and Fibres (screenprinting, batik spinning and
weaving). Strong interest in Art History and Design. Students come from NT, Qld., WA,
Vic., NSW and New Zealand.
Sculpture I, a course for beginners, planned by Allin Dwyer, lecturer at KGCAE.
Screenprinting I, tutor will be Don Braben, lecturer in art at Mt. Gravatt. Has taught art
in Britain, Canada, Zambia and Nigeria.
Board: Jeff Shaw (President), B. Scriven (Vice-President), D. Spann (Secretary/Treasurer),
Mrs. Joy Wehl, Mrs. L. Davenport (Aust. Council), Mrs. Judith Callaghan, Ms. S. Forster,
Mr. R. Dunglison, Mr. G. Williamson, Mr. J. Aitkenhead.
QAC has agreed to tour separate exhibitions of AFAS paintings and ceramics throughout Qld.
Staff: Mrs. Beryl Angus, Mrs. Anne Agnew replaced Mrs. Jan Thorpe. (1982 Annual Report)
Sponsorship from Bank NSW for Annual Exhibition
New Queensland Art Gallery opens in Brisbane. Raoul Mellish Director.
“School turns out promising talent” Article on former AFAS student Judith Laws.
(John Millington, Moree Champion 8 June.) Excerpt: “The importance of the
organisation is not just to do with the instruction provided, but also with the feeling of
camaraderie it provides - the feeling of belonging to the wider artistic community. The
sense of isolation and aloneness in one’s endeavour is immensely reduced by the support
and succour of the AFAS.”
Emerald holds a residential school. 11-16 July 1982. Painting tutor Mervyn Moriarty,
pottery tutors Kevin Grealy and Joan Webster. Guest tutors Gwynn Piggot, Evelyn Roth
(Canadian Fibre artist), Wilma Hollist (Spinning and Weaving). Residential school
favoured by over 85% of students. Profit of $753.64 shared between AFAS and QAC.
(1982 Annual Report).
Andrew Bigg’s Creative Art Class at Binna Burra (Moriarty in photograph). (6 July, CM.JOL file)
“Creative Arts”. ‘82 Festival at Binna Burra Lodge. (Andrew Biggs, Courier Mail 6 July.)
1982
15
July
State Library will supply pictures, slides and resource kits to AFAS students.
August ABC Radio 4QR June ‘82. Janine Walker interview with AFAS and Mervyn
Moriarty. Weekend Magazine Film. Went to air 1st August.
August First tour to Cape York with Mervyn Moriarty (pilot/painting tutor), Jeff Shaw and Ron
Hurley (potters). Edward River, Aurukun and Kowanyams to be visited between 13-27
August.(1982 Annual Report)
August From Gazette No. 8 August 1982. Only financial members to receive Gazettes. (now A3
folded). Earned income approaches 40%. (1982 Annual Report)
Oct.
From Cairns: Since the introduction of AFAS to Cairns many would be artists and
plodders are finding the truth and reality in their work. Main tutor was Mervyn Moriarty.
Most of the students were housewives. With new beginners starting classes on many
levels they prefer 2-day seminars. Cairns pottery thanked AFAS for their workshops
(Gazette No. 9).
Inverell classes largest - 23 financial members and a further 9 who sometimes attend.
Quilpie Cultural Society receives its own building. They are grateful to FA for seminars,
being so far inland they have difficulty in getting tutors to drive on unsealed roads.
Mackay Pottery. On the first day 18 rolled up, long time members drove in from Dysart.
Dalby Art Group: Stephen Killick Artist in residence (painting). He came for 6 months
but stayed for 12. Dalby happy with him, also with Roy Churcher and look forward to
having Pat Hoffie. Dalby Art Group has acquired 61 paintings from prominent
contemporary Australian artists as a nucleus for the Art Gallery which they are
lobbying to have built.
St. George Painters and Potters had Roy Churcher as their tutor. Have always been
happy with AFAS since the first visit of Mervyn Moriarty.
Monto Pottery formed in 1976 by six ladies, membership is now 20. AFAS played a
major role in their development. Monto Pottery happy with AFAS tutors.
Student successes:
July
Innisfail Painting: Sylvia Ditchburn wins $300 prize (Gazette No. 8).
Mackay. Irene Miller who joined AFAS will open her own art gallery. She won first
prize at the Moranbah Art Competition.
Ruth Comben, Jo Smiles and Joan Bauer have had successful exhibitions. Jo Smiles
won Kenneth McQueen watercolour prize at Toowoomba show.
Rockhampton: Six AFAS artists successfully toured an exhibition of their work in 1981 with
Mervyn’s help. Exhibited at Boston Gallery Brisbane, Nerang Gallery Gold Coast and in Sydney.
Auda Maclean (Baralaba) won a Highly Commended prize at the Central Highlands Art Exhibition.
Baralaba Painting has only recently become part of AFAS. Bev. Johnston (writer)
attended with the same sense of excitement and enjoyment that was felt 12 years ago at
Biloela when Mervyn first flew into Thangool airport. Biloela broke up after 3 years but
many still kept in touch. Over the years Merv has not become stale. She thanks him for his
foresight and vision. (Gazette No. 9).
October Bundaberg: Ellie Neilsen (Monto) exhibition at Allamanda Gallery. (Gazette No. 9).
Jean Giarola and Liz Henzell (Mareeba), Nola Grabbe (Bundaberg), Carmen Drake
(Beesley) (Rockhampton) have all received awards this year.
Brisbane: An exhibition of students who attended Bela Ivanyi’s Cooee Bay seminar in
June 1982 being displayed in the foyer of Her Majesty’s Theatre, Brisbane. (Gazette No. 9).
Sylvia Ditchburn exhibition at the Paddington Gallery Brisbane. (Gazette No. 9).
October Exhibition: Self Portrait Exhibition: High individual, capable and varied work.
Promises to be the best annual exhibition so far. Generous financial support from Bank
NSW ($3000 grant for production of catalogue). Selectors to be Brian Dean, Bill
Robinson and Jeff Shaw. Transparencies of this exhibition travelled with Mrs. Len
Davenport to North America.
Alison M. Whiteford from New Zealand joins AFAS team to teach drama.
Nov.
“Art from the cockpit”. Moriarty still with school. (Bob Johnson Courier Mail, 13 November.)
1982
Dec.
Dec.
Dec.
1983
Feb.
Feb.
March
Feb.
Feb.
Country CAPS developed in 1982. Money to give scope to local initiatives.
16
Visual Arts: Aramac- $430 mini school teaching macrame, patchwork, paper making.
Ayr-$300 colour and form workshop, $500 community mural. Barcaldine-$310 art
workshop beginners. Kilcoy-$125 water colour workshop. Longreach-$500 painting
pottery and leathercraft workshop. Texas- $135 for a weekend painting school.
Country CAPS scheme withdrawn from the Northern Zone in 1984. (“Tireless
Crusader Gallery for arts and crafts” Courier Mail)
December 1982 Moriarty leaves Australian Flying Arts School after disputes with
the management committee.
Statement from the Board re Moriarty leaving the school: “As the Board of the AFAS
has been unable to meet Mervyn Moriarty’s demand for a salary equivalent to that of a
Senior Lecturer ($35,000 per annum) or the position of Head of the School Mervyn has
indicated his intention to withdraw from the School’s operations at the end of the year.”
(THIS IS AFAS OFFICIAL STATEMENT). The other side of the story is that Moriarty
was receiving only $5000 per year as a pilot/tutor. No compromise figure was offered to
Moriarty by the Board. (North Queensland Register).
Financials: The Board has been presented with a forecast that unless there is some
improvement with the cash flow situation the school could face a deficit situation in
December which could jeopardise the operations of the first quarter in 1983. School
received grants from Utah Foundation, Tenneco Oil & Minerals of Aust. and Aboriginal
Arts & Crafts Boards of Australia Council. (1983 Annual Report)
Six Gazettes this year: 10 February, 11 March, 12 May, 13 July, 14 September, 15 December.
Report from the Gold Coast Bulletin 19/2/1983. Journalist John Millington. Moriarty
says he was sacked. Shaw says he resigned. Reported by Nationwide on ABC - “The
great tragedy was that the matter under the spotlight, the parting of the ways of the
legendary Mervyn Moriarty and his brainchild, the unique Australian Flying Art School,
should ever have been allowed to get to this stage. Viewers saw an exasperated Moriarty
thinly disguising his distress at the apparent loss of his 12-year association with an
organisation which has undoubtedly made the most valuable contribution, on the widest
possible scale, to Queensland’s art education. It would seem that in countries like Canada
or the US such a service would be hailed as a brilliant contribution to art, its originator
being some sort of folk-hero given acclaim and proper remuneration. Perhaps a movie
would have been made of his exploits. Certainly given occasionally difficult flying
conditions, idiosyncrasies of small planes, strange landing sites, vast distances, dramatic
differences in landscape and the odd hostile resident, a very entertaining scenario unfolds.
The college declined to appear on Nationwide saying only, in a prepared statement, that
Moriarty wasn’t sacked but resigned over, we assume, irreconcilable differences.
Report from the Gold Coast Sunday Bulletin 20/2/1983. Journalist Harry Throssell.
This article mentions a letter dated November 3, 1982 to the Dean of the School of Arts
at FDDIAE, Leon Cantrell, setting down the advantages to the AFAS if it were
relocated at the institute. (Letter has not been found).
The North Queensland Register (4/3/1983) also wrote an article on the dispute. Both news articles
quote articles from students to show they were not happy. Article from Carol Curr of Winton.
School drops tours to coastal centres in 1983. Western centres will continue to
receive 4 workshops a year. The new facility of ‘demand workshops’ will be available
both to well-established centres to complement local TAFE or other classes, and also to
new groups who want to supplement their tour programme with beginner level workshops.
Negotiations are under way to obtain leading artists for the demand workshops. Coastal
centres could book a year’s programme of 4 workshops with one tutor. An all-inclusive
lump sum fee will be charged and centres can then set up their own student charges.
Only Demand Workshops were Mackay Potters with Gwyn Piggott, Longreach Spinners &
Weavers with Betty Grulke and Rockhampton Painters with Roy Oorloff (1983 Annual Report).
Tutors: Roy Churcher, Beverley Budgen, Roy Oorloff (painting), Betty Crombie
1983
Feb.
Feb.
March
March
March
May
May
(President of Qld. Potters Assn., completed Studio Ceramics course at Brisbane
17
Tech.), Gwyn Piggott, Rob Hinwood. (pottery), Ron Hurley (Pottery). Welcome to
Bev.Budgen well known artist and teacher who has tutored for QAC, taught at state
schools and lectured part time at QCA Brisbane. Has won the Cairns art award and the
City of Rockhampton Open Award.
Roy Oorloff takes over from Bev. Budgen in 4th tour. He was born in Sri Lanka, studied
art at the Brisbane Tech. College. Has worked with jewellery, leatherwork, photography,
painting, kite-making, and children’s activity groups. Tutors at Kelvin Grove.
Guest Tutor: Gareth Morse from WA toured with Bev. Budgen. He was enthused by
the sheer commitment of students. Pilots Doug Scott and Jon Burrough. Call sign
FOXTROT ZULU OSCAR. (1983 Annual Report)
Mr. Cheo Chai Hiang, a mixed media and graphics artist from Sydney and Mr. Raoul
Mellish, Director of QAG toured with school. Board to have final meeting for the year at
QAG.(1983 Annual Report).
Correspondence courses: Stoneware Glazes (Beryl Taylor), Batik (Thel. Merry) and
screenprinting (Don Braben). Certificates issued for 9 Stoneware Glazes students and 9
Batik. Utah Foundation allocated a grant of $3375 for the development of a correspondence
course. It will be written by Pat Hoffie to supplement regular touring workshops.
Don Braben designed logo for AFAS to put out their own T-shirt.
Crafts Board has given a grant for a correspondence course in Spinning and Weaving
which will be written by Janet de Boer.
Residential School of Creative Arts at Binna Burra February 6-13. Painting
Beginners (15 in Group (Ric McCracken), Painting Advanced 15 in group (Mervyn
Moriarty), Pottery Beginners 15 in group (Kev. Grealy), Pottery Advanced 15 in group
(Ian Currie), Creative Writing 15 in group (Leon Cantrell), Music (choral) 16 in group
(Colin Brumby).
Board: Jeff Shaw (President), Bruce Scriven (Vice President), Mrs. Beryl Angus
(Treasurer), David Spann, Ron Dunglison (Principal TAFE College of Art Seven Hills),
Mrs. Len Davenport, (Exhibitions Officer Qld. Arts Council), Mrs. Joy Wehl, (Central
Western Qld. Cultural Activities Assn. Blackall - student rep.), Mrs. Judith Callaghan
(Executive Officer Qld. Day Committee), Mr. George Williamson Supervisor of Art,
Dept. Education, Mrs. Lyndal Moor past AFAS pottery tutor and recent supervisor for
Stoneware Glazes course.
24 certificates issued in Queensland country areas.
Thel Merry Exhibition at Beaver Galleries, Canberra. (Gazette No. 11).
Olwyn Slack-Smith from Richmond Potters writes to congratulate Ian Currie. “Until
the advent of AFAS there was a lack of constructive criticism, and I emphasise the
constructive .... we so rarely see exhibitions of excellent work and so find it hard to
assess the quality of our own work in comparison. Slides or photos are helpful but a
two-dimensional object does not really allow comparisons... I feel it was an inspiration
on Ian’s part to bring real pots. From actually handling pottery we learn so much more
about glaze and form.” (Gazette No. 11).
Mardie Harper from Wandoan wrote to congratulate AFAS on their efforts. Their group
were “out of town” people running properties. She wondered why townspeople didn’t join.
(Gazette No. 11).
Craft Resource Kit 3 now available. Sent to Dalby, Chinchilla, Wandoan, Roma,
Mitchell, Charleville and Quilpie.
Gazette No. 12 May has an article on the dangers of using art materials.
Mrs. Len Davenport (member AFAS management committee). When she joined the
Arts Council in ‘74 there was little emphasis on the visual arts. Nine years later she is
director of the Council’s Outreach program and has played an important role in organising
a circuit throughout Queensland for travelling exhibitions and workshops. (Children’s
creative activities)
Moriarty solo exhibition at Nerang Gallery “A Bush Sketchbook”. (Gold Coast Bulletin, 28/5/83.)
1983
Louise Hand becomes Executive Officer. Beryl Angus now Administrative Officer with the 18
Division of Creative & Performing Arts at Kelvin Grove. Jan Thorpe Secretary/Assistant.
Bad weather a serious obstacle to school flying. A number of visits had to be abandoned. Roy
Churcher and Gwen Piggott unable to visit centres on southern tour. A number of towns had to
miss two seminars.
August Moriarty opens art school in Brisbane 98 Enoggera Tce. Paddington. (CM 16/8/83.)
August “Outback teacher Pat (Hoffie) is a real high flyer”, (Sunday Sun Sandra Maclean 21/8/83. JOL)
August Artlink magazine put out by Qld. Arts Council, Peter Dent wrote introduction: No
visual arts being sent to rural Qld. apart from Vacation Schools and AFAS. (G13)
Sept.
Second AFAS tour to Cape York August 18-Sept. 2. Weipa, Aurukun, Edward River and
Kowanyama. Tutor Ron Hurley. Special grant from Aboriginal Arts Board augmented by
support from Cairns TAFE.
Students request continuity of tutors (Gazette14 Sept. 1983).
Student successes:
Mrs. P. Burnett and Mrs. B. Horsley successful in 1983 Hinchinbrook Shire Council &
Rotary Club of Ingham Acquisitive Art Exhibition.
Irene Miller (Biloela) has her watercolours exhibited at BCAE gallery.
Sept.
Handcrafts from Aurukun shown in Craft Council of Qld. gallery. (G14)
Sept.
Pat Hoffie exhibition of paintings at Gallery Baguette. (G14) Also some of her biography.
Noeleen McLean, Dell Nash, Robert Stack, Olga Morris (Rockhampton) exhibit at KGCAE.
Gai McDonald (Monto Pottery) 1st prizes at Bay Burnett Potters Convention. Her
husband won a first prize.
Sept.
Rene Macdonald (Bowen painting) writes of how unhappy they are about the loss
of coastal tours. They cannot afford a demand workshop. (G14)
Olga Morris of Rockhampton took out the $300 prize for local artists with her acrylic.
Judge was Mr. Robin Norling, senior education officer at the Art Gallery of NSW. More
than 200 people were at the presentation. Highly Commended were Coralie Busby
(Bundaberg), Joanne Hage and Rita Kershaw (Rockhampton).
Artist in Residence program starting at Kelvin Grove with Jeff Service, a Batik fabric
painter. Offered to one branch for one month. Bev. Budgen (instructor with AFAS, parttime lecturer at the Qld. College of Art had a workshop for Arts Council “Colourful Kite
Tales”. Country workshops by Rob & Rhyl Hinwood (sculpture), Bev. Budgen, Robert J.
Morris, Joe Furlonger (painting), Ian Smith drawing. (GL Box 31 Fryer). Residential
workshops show a small profit.
Oct.
Exhibition : Main Street - 30 paintings from Annual Exhibition in Brisbane toured.
Opened by Mr. Tony Elliott, Minister for the Arts. (GL Box 30 Fryer Library). Paintings,
ceramics, batiks, screen printing. Self Portraits, last year’s exhibition toured through the
State with the Qld. Arts Council. Opened at the Redlands Shire Council Cultural Centre.
Dec.
Marcia Gunn St. George Painters found working with Roy Churcher and colour was
very satisfactory, students are looking forward to his next visit. Painters, potters and high
school students combined to view slides supplied by Cheo Chai Hiang. The St. George Art
Group was hoping to make an annual event of the St. George Cotton Carnival Art
Exhibition and Competition. (Gazette No.15).
Dec.
New Centres at Longreach and Narrabri (painting/pottery). (Gazette No.15)
Roy Churcher made the suggestion of a mural being painted by groups in each centre.
It would encourage community involvement and make AFAS activities more visible. (G15)
Meeting of the Qld. Division of Arts Council. There was a need to contract its
programmes due to financial stringencies and its concern with declining audience
numbers. It was felt that colour television had a marked effect in attendances.
Barcaldine Cultural Assn. is in an old Church. Longreach Arts & Crafts Centre is
in an old two-storey building which looks like an old hotel).
Dec.
Financials. School earned 40% of its own income in 1982. Flying tours costs escalate. (G11)
President notes that Music and Theatre receive 61% of funds from Australia Council.
Visual arts and crafts receive only 10%. (Gazette No.14 Sept.)
Dec.
Gwyn Piggott won awards at Townsville arts festival and the Caloundra Arts & Craft
July
July
1983
Dec.
1984
Feb.
Festival, also the Redcliffe Arts Festival. She will borrow video recordings of potters 19
at work for her workshops. (Gazette No.15)
At 31st December 1983 there were 2047 student on the mailing list. Only 1042 were
financial. (1983 Annual Report).
Five Gazettes for 1984. No. 16 February, No. 17 May, No. 18 July, No. 19 August, No. 20 November.
Touring Artists: Helen Charles (Brisbane potter, member of Qld. Potters Assn.,) Brian
Dean (head of Art Dept. at Kelvin Grove), Joe Furlonger, Roy Churcher, Ian Smith, Ron
Hurley, Gwyn Piggott. Rob Hinwood leaving the school.
By August tutors are: Bev. Budgen (painting), Betty Crombie (pottery), Ian Smith (painter).
Guest Tutors: Valerie Kirk - Tapestry and weaving. Born in Scotland she trained at
Edinburgh College of Art and Goldsmiths College in London.,
Dr. Stuart Collins (photographer - principal lecturer at the BCAE in creative art.)
Janet Laurence fibre artist. Her tour was funded by the Crafts Council of Queensland.
(Gazette 19 August). Pilot is John Burrow. Call sign: KILO SIERRA ECHO.
Feb.
Correspondence Courses: “Spinning” unit by Janet de Boer is open for enrolments. Her
“weaving” should be available before the end of the year. Ian Currie has a postgraduate
level on Stoneware Glazes. Pat Hoffie is working on her “painting and drawing” notes.
Coastal Tours are re-established. Shaw suggests small towns combine for example
Charleville and Quilpie. (1984 Annual Report)
March Board: Jeff Shaw (President), Ron Dunglison (Vice President), Beryl Angus (Treasurer),
Bruce Scriven. Mrs. Len Davenport (Qld. Arts Council), Judith Callaghan (Qld. Day
Committee), Joy Wehl (CWQCAA rep Blackall), Lyndal Moor/ Helen Charles (Potters),
George Williamson (Supervisor of Art Dept, Education), David Spann BCAE Kelvin
Grove. (1984 Annual Report).
Staff: Ms. Louise Hand (leaves during year, her place taken by Catherine Hand). Mrs. Jan Thorpe.
April
Brian Dean told the Blackall Leader that AFAS only spent one day in each town. (BL 11/4/1984)
He was teaching drawing as he believed it was important to learn drawing before other skills.
Big wet continued again this year, some workshops had to be cancelled.
June
Gertrude Langer dies , 76 years old, widow for 15 years. (David Bray, Courier Mail 20.6.87.)
June
“Getting High on Country Art”. Brian Dean at Longreach for AFAS. (Kate Collins Sunday
Mail 10/6/84.) (Excerpt.) “ So many graziers’ wives, teachers, cattle breeders,
isolated mothers and other such down-to-earth types have told me they’d “die”
without the boost that AFAS gives them, I’m beginning to suspect they’re not
exaggerating. . . All those cultural cringe merchants who are never quite sure if there
is such a thing as Australian culture should hitch a ride on the next AFAS flight out
of the big smoke. They’d discover, as I have, that every town and station on the
AFAS route is a regular powerhouse of enthusiasm and talent.”
July
Lyndal Moor whose husband is Dr. Ross Fitzgerald talks about the work that AFAS is doing
in Gazette No.18.
July
No funding for any further tours other than those now being conducted. (Gazette No.18).
Darwin: Vince McGrath, Head of the Dept. of Fine Arts at the Darwin Community
College is interested in touring with Flying Arts. He was recently visiting artist in
Washington USA.
August “Flying Art School was Joyce’s start on ‘happy’ paintings.” (Kate Eagles Qld. Country Life 2/8/84.)
Oct.
“Outback arts high price”. (Tracey Cox Queensland Times 16/10/84.)
Oct.
Exhibition: For the Love of It. Opened by Mr. Kevin Siddell, Director of Cultural Activities at KGCAE.
Nov.
“Flying Artist leaves Queensland to settle in south”. (Phyllis Woolcock., CM 30/11/84.)
Nov.
Moriarty Retrospective exhibition at Graceville Studio Gallery. Leaves Queensland to
work in Victoria as Artist in Residence for East Gippsland with Arts Council of Victoria.
(Courier Mail 30 Nov.)
Nov.
New accounting procedures. Set fee per centre per day. Membership fees rise to
$10 Centre reps. receive free tuition.
Dec.
AFAS receives grant by the Crafts Board to develop a correspondence course in Spinning
and Weaving.
Glen O’Malley commissioned by AFAS to give a talk on country tours and show
20
slides of the documentary in each town for feedback.
Oakey becomes a new centre for Flying Arts for painting/pottery.
AFAS Tutor Lyndal Moor featured in a recent Womans Day, Joe Furlonger appeared in
Maryborough-Hervey Bay Chronicle, Blackall Leader ran an article on Flying Arts workshops.
Dec.
Kate Collins article in Courier Mail praises AFAS:“In a country where three-quarters of
the population live in the coastal cities, it was also reassuring in 1984 to find as much talent
and interest in the arts outside city limits as inside them. When Reflections hitched a ride
with The Australian Flying Art School back in June, it discovered just how seriously
Australians take their arts! Droughts, flood and geographical isolation on a gargantuan scale
don’t stop those outback potters, painters and performings arts enthusiasts who flocked to
AFAS classes and Arts Council concerts bussed or flown out to them during the year. The
hunger for cultural activities was matched by the commitment of the tutors, performers,
administrators, road crews and pilots who, against all odds, delivered the goods. (Kate
Collins, ‘Reflections’, Sunday Mail 20/12/84.)
Dec.
Blackall Painters had a successful day with Brian Dean. 18 students, 6 were High School students.
Painting schools finish at Armidale (Irene Amos CV).
Student successes:
Feb
Peg McCumstie (Moree) travelled with artists’ tour to France with Peg. Uebergang. (G16)
May
Barbara Peck who trained for two years with AFAS starting an art hiring service. (G17)
May
Leslie Roberts (Narromine NSW) held a successful exhibition of her pots. (G17)
July
Joe Forster exhibiting at Martin Gallery in Townsville (G18).
July
Penny Murphy having an exhibition at ‘Signatures” a Toowoomba gallery. (G18) The
work sold quickly.
August Anne Lord, Sylvia Ditchburn and Jo Forster have a 3-woman exhibition.
Photo of Jo Forster, Sylvia Ditchburn, Anne Lord with Moriarty at Ipswich Art Gallery.
Oct.
Works sold from 1984 exhibition were: Peter Heading (Monto), Coralie Busby
(Bundaberg), Scot McClymont, Shirley Mergard (Mundubbera), Brenda Forster
(Lightning Ridge), Peg McCumstie (Moree), Burnie Smith (Monto), Joan Bennell
(Ingham), Penny Murphy (Meandarra), Marg Krieg (Maxwelton).
Oct.
Auda Maclean and her sister held an exhibition of painting and sculpture at “Coolum” her
home near Baralaba. Over 200 people came from as far as Wandoan, Monto, Emerald,
Rockhampton and other country towns. Auda sold 32 of her 38 paintings and her sister Clare
sold 13 of 17 sculptures.
School now has 2000 students. (Queensland Times Oct.16.)
Rockhampton: 11 students travelled to Canberra to see the Courtauld Collection of
Impressionists and Post Impressionists works which was on tour from London to Japan
and then to the National Gallery at Canberra.
Nov.
Vivienne Heckels, centre rep. from Millmerran won the Christmas cover competition
(Gazette No.20)
Dec.
Board of Advanced Education accredited the Bachelor of Arts course to be offered in 1985 by
the Queensland College of Art, the first degree course to be offered by TAFE in Queensland.
Financials: An increase of 23% in government funding will enable AFAS to redevelop
coastal centres. reinforce the outback programs and pay a professional rate to some of the
people on whom our program relies. Membership fees increased to $10.
1984
1985
January
January
January
Five Gazettes for 1985: No. 21 January, No. 22 April, 23 June, 24 September, 25 November.
Moriarty comes South (Bob Johnson Age 3 January 1985).
Louise Hand leaves AFAS for a position in the Australian Diplomatic Corps in Canberra.
The Australian Society for Education through the Arts holding a major conference in
Brisbane in January 1985. Opening address to be given by David Williams, Director of the
Crafts Board.
January Quilpie will be visited twice yearly for a two-day seminar. (G21)
Richmond Potters will be coupled with Maxwelton Painters on tours 1 and 3 and with
Julia Creek painters on tours 2 and 4.
1985
Feb.
Feb.
March
April
April
May
June
June
Sept.
Sept.
All beginners and first-timers at the coastal workshops will have a half rate cost
21
for their first attendance.
First coastal tour got up and away amid power strikes and threatening cyclones.
Touring artists: (Painting) Brian Dean, Wendy Allen, Janet Lawrence, Irene Amos, Bev
Budgen had to be replaced by Allin Dwyer due to ‘flu. (G23 June). Pottery Johanna de Maine,
Stephanie Outridge Field, Betty Crombie, Gwyn Piggott, Helen Charles replaces Ron Hurley
who has left to take up a full time appointment. Pilot Jon Burrough. (1985 Annual Report).
Student numbers are down: On four tours for the year painting classes were better
attended: Baralaba 34/16/14/31, Rolleston/Springsure: 16/-/6/14, Kingaroy/Durong:
11/13/10/11, Inverell: -/20/8/10, Lightning Ridge 12/11/10/-, Rockhampton 16/14, Atherton
22/26. Pottery best was Emerald: 10/9/12/9, Gladstone 18, Rolleston/Springsure: 12//4/14, Atherton 21, Chinchilla 16/4/6/6. Weather disrupted some tours.(1985 Annual Report)
Correspondence artists: Fabric Dyeing Thel Merry. Betty Crombie and Ray Frost
(Stoneware Glazes), Spinning and weaving Janet de Boer, Screenprinting Don Braben.
Printmaking Mona Ryder, Sculpture Allin Dwyer. Utah Foundation contributing to a Painting
& Drawing Correspondence Course.
Guest tutors: Warren Palmer, Stephanie Outridge Field, Marc Sauvage, Peter Rushforth, Janet
Mansfield and Mitsuo Shoji. Stuart Collins and Deborah Hart from QAG came as guests.
Pilot Jon Burrough. With their pilot down with ‘flue some centres missed out.
Board: Jeff Shaw (President), Ron Dunglison (Vice President), Beryl Angus (Treasurer),
Bruce Scriven, Mrs. Len Davenport, Mrs. Joy Wehl, Ms. Lyndal Moor, Mrs. Judith
Callaghan, Ms. Mary Burns, Mr. George Williamson. David Spann leaves the Board. He is
replaced by Mary Burns.
Catherine Hand is the new Executive Officer (G22). Mrs. Jan Thorpe Administrative Assistant.
The school sends out a questionnaire to students to find out if they are happy with the present
arrangements. (G22 April) Many students said that ideally they would like more tours.
Keen interest at Mt. Isa but some centres only have 2 or 3 interested students. (Gazette 24).
Seven tours completed but numbers have been consistently low due to drought, harvests
and rising fuel costs. Catherine Hand compromised by suggesting fees be paid for the
equivalent of seven students. (Gazette No. 24 Sept.)
Catherine Hand spoke to many people about the Demand Workshop system. Demand
workshops are not instead of existing tours but are as well as. Cost $132 per day and $35 a
night + travel costs.
Demand workshops will take the form of advanced level topics. Tutors will be well-known
artists, craftspeople and teachers. A centre may wish to book a year’s program of 4 workshops
with one tutor.
“Flying Art School brings art to the outback”. (Elizabeth Butel National Times May.)
Baralaba students holding an exhibition at KGCAE from 19 June to 5 July featuring
31 paintings of Kangulu Caves. The exhibition to be opened by Mr. Raoul Mellish.
Workshop at KGCAE in 1986. Planning underway to provide expert tuition for
experienced students in a range of specialist activities. Workshops will be in Ceramic
Form and Surface, Production Pottery, Graphics, Painting and Sculpture Techniques. Some
workshops will be for two weeks duration, others for one week. (Gazette No. 23)
Gwyn Piggott has a successful exhibition in London.
New group to use Flying Arts tutors: Arts Unlimited at Tweed Heads on the Gold Coast.
Exhibition: Miniatures. Paintings and ceramics. 20 Sept. to October 6. Opened by Mr.
Allen Callaghan, Under Secretary Dept. of Arts, National Parks & Sport. ( 1985 AR).
Reviewed by Phyllis Woolcock (CM 26 Sept. 1985). She was enthusiastic about the
quality of “Miniatures”.
Reflections by Kate Collins (Sunday Mail 1 September 1985). Country artists proved yet again
that being at a severe disadvantage distance-wise can have real advantages - the landscapes
exhibited by far-western painters like Beverley Johnston of Biloela and Jo Forster of Richmond
spoke with an authenticity and immediacy to the land that no weekend-touring city artist could
match. (Gazette No. 25).
Queensland Governor, the Honourable Sir Walter Campbell, Q.C., became patron 22
of AFAS, it was the first time the school had had an official patron.
The Queensland Governor would remain its patron during the ensuing years.
Nov.
As a Demand workshop: Artists from Blackall, Yaraka, Quilpie took part in a 5-day
watercolour school at the Clarendon Woolshed near Blackall. A total of 14 AFAS students
lived in shearers quarters at Clarendon and painted various subjects around the property
along the Barcoo River. Tutor was Mr. Allin Dwyer, a lecturer at KGCAE. Work started at
8am and sometimes finished at 8pm. Mrs. Joy Whel (Clarendon) and Mrs. Beth Tully,
Char Speedy and Judith Kent from Quilpie left in a 4-wheel drive packed to the roof with
bedding, painting gear, etc. The shortest way to Blackall was via Adavale through the
bulldust and after much dodging of kangaroos they arrived at Clarendon shed to a warm
welcome with much laughter and talk. They travelled 900 kms. from Quilpie to Blackall.
Most days they went in the cars to different spots but the “studio” was in the shearing shed where
they produced many varied paintings on site (Beth Rully of “Naretha” Quilpie). (Gazette 25).
Nov.
Mackay Painters had a magical week long seminar at Seaforth in July with tutor Bev.
Budgen. Their group was formed in 1976 as a spin-off from AFAS. The aim was to meet
regularly and fortify what had been learnt. (Gazette No. 25)
Nov.
Olwyn Slack-Smith was unhappy that potters were not exhibiting more. (Gazette No.25).
After 10 years AFAS conducted workshops in Monto and Biloela. Painting tutor Mrs.
Irene Amos hadn’t been to Biloela since the summer school in 1975. Most of the Biloela
students were beginners. Monto students had been to some workshops before.
AFAS started Margaret Johnston, Bev. Johnston and Ellie Neilsen of Monto on their careers in art.
Student successes:
May
Mrs. Len Davenport of the Queensland Arts Council takes student exhibition paintings
to America for the Memphis in May Festival. All AFAS work is sold in America.
Peter Heading’s painting “Birds on Swamp” was sold before leaving Australia. Much to
the disappointment of the “Memphis in May” Festival organiser who had wanted it herself.
Rockhampton: Their group had a successful exhibition at the Mill Gallery, near Yeppoon.
Carmen Beezley, and Dell Nash have had their paintings chosen to be hung in the Qld.
University 75th Anniversary “Queensland Works”.
August Central & North Burnett Times (1 August 1985) wrote that Monto artist Ellie Neilsen returned
from a most successful exhibition held at “THAT” Contemporary Artists Gallery in Brisbane.
August Beverley Johnston’s miniature was chosen by the Print Council of Australia to represent Australia in 1983
for a three-year round the world trip as part of an Australian exhibition. (Central Telegraph 28/8/1985).
Sept.
Auda Maclean of Baralaba shared first place in the Caltex/City of Rockhampton Art
competition which attracted entries Australia-wide. (Morning Bulletin Rockhampton 3 Sept.
1985). Central Telegraph 11 Sept. 1985 also wrote enthusiastically about the competition.
Judge was Mrs. Pamela Thalben-Ball, a professional portrait artist from Sydney.(Gazette25)
Del Nash of Rockhampton took out Queensland’s second richest art prize - the $2000
Bundaberg Sugar Company open award. She attributes her success to AFAS. She states
that Australia’s leading painters have reached out to remote areas to tutor talented country
artists. Her work was selected from 700 to exhibit at the SGIO gallery and at the
Queensland University.
October Dalby Potters presenting “A Touch of Clay” at the Arts Centre, Mable Street Dalby in October.
Nov.
Josephine McTaggart won prizes in the Gladstone Art Competition. Gloria Woodward,
Noeline McLean, Burnie Smith and Ellie Neilsen were Highly Commended. (G25)
Nola Grabbe, Sylvia Ditchburn and Jennifer McDuff were awarded prizes at the SGIO art awards.
Carol McCormack (Glenmorgan) and Barbara Teufel exhibited at the SGIO Art Awards.
Carol sold all of her work.
Heather Smyth won first prize in the Open Section of the Narrabri show. Teacher was Bev. Budgen.
Pam Steers won the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Trophy at the Roma Show.
Barbara Teufel won 2nd prize in the Roma show. Joanne Craig also exhibited.
Anne Flanagan from Lightning Ridge producing fabric designs in batik - shirts, dresses, scarves.
Downs Artists - a Changing Landscape written by Pam King and Noni Durack features
1985
Nov.
1985
Nov.
Nov.
Dec.
some AFAS artists: Joan Bauer (Dalby), Jo Smiles (Dalby), Helen Cameron (Dalby),
23
Jocelyn Cameron (Goondiwindi), Winifred Ash (Goondiwindi), Heather Noud
(Goondiwindi) and Dorothy Gordon (Glenmorgan).
Ellie Neilsen and Jo Williams exhibiting at “That Collective Gallery” in Brisbane.
17 prints which formed part of her “Windscreen” series which included etchings and
linocuts were exhibited. Three-quarters were sold. Mrs. Neilsen’s etchings are becoming
well known in Australia and overseas. She has two in the Archers Collection in France, one
in Barcelona Spain, and several in America, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. (G25)
Carole Marshall (Narrabri), Peg McCumstie (Moree), Rhonda Traecey (Moree) exhibiting Tamworth.
Molly Frost (Bingara) won a number of prizes, has her biography behind Memphis Press Release.
Fred Grose (Bundaberg) exhibiting at Spring Hill Gallery in Brisbane.
Contemporary Art Exhibition a success at the Bundaberg Art Gallery. Put together by AFAS
group Coralie Busby, Noela Grabbe, Ian Cooper, Mavis Head, Trevor Lyons, Jennifer McFull
Roma Hensler, Fred Grose, Joyce Raffin, Alan and Joan Murray. (Bundaberg News Mail 11/11/85).
December 1985 620 financial members, approx. 2500 students listed.
1986
Four Gazettes 26 January, 27 April, 28 June, 29 August, 30 December.
January AFAS receives a grant to reopen the Cape York Tour.(Gazette 26). Funding from the
Crafts Council of Queensland (Gazette No. 29 August)
January Radio Station 4CC of Gladstone donated radio advertising to AFAS. (Gazette 26)
Feb.
Tutors: (Painting) Wendy Allen, Beverley Budgen, Carol Walters, Allin Dwyer, Jani
Laurence (replacing Brian Dean), (Potters) Gwyn Piggott, Stephanie Outridge Field, Helen
Charles, Betty Crombie. Johanna de Maine, a full time potter who, with her husband,
operates DeMaine Pottery in Landsborough at the foot of the Blackall Range.
Feb.
Guest Tutors: Chai Cheo, Mitsuo Shoji, Irene Amos, Carol Walters, Jeanne Macaskill.
Pottery artist Mitsuo Shoji introduced Japanese brushwork to workshops. He showed
slides of Japan and different aspects of pottery in that country (Gazette No.29 August).
New Pilot - John Campbell, (has previously flown for AFAS). Jon Burroughs marries
Louise Hand. They leave for Vienna.
Two dance tutors to fly on coastal tour with AFAS. (Gazette No. 28 June)
Feb.
Painting and Drawing correspondence course funded by Utah prepared by Pat Hoffie.
Correspondence course in Spinning by Janet De Boer costs $95. Weaving II costs $95.
Courses sponsored by the Crafts Board of the Australia Council and the Crafts Council.
March Board: Jeff Shaw (President), Ron Dunglison (Vice President), Ms. Mary Burns
(Treasurer), Mrs. Joy Wehl (Blackall), Mrs. Len Davenport (Qld. Arts Council), Mrs. Judith
Callaghan (Qld. Day Committee), Ms. Lyndall Moor (Qld. Pottery Assn.), Ms. M Burns
(Creative & Performing Arts BCAE), Mr. Bruce Scriven (External Studies BCAE), Mr.
Lance Courtenay (Director of Art, Education Department). Beth Tully (Quilpie), Mr. Frank
O’Neil (Crafts Council of Qld.),
Mrs. Dona Greaves, new Director for Cultural Activities (Qld.) to fly on tour with AFAS.
Jeff Shaw: Good attendances in many centres due to the now well established pattern of
increased centre responsibility for student numbers or base funding. Class numbers are
increasing. AFAS welcomes back centres: Narromine NSW, Carinda NSW, Injune Qld.,
Cunnamulla Qld., Coonamble NSW, Augathella Painters, Hughenden, Moura Potters.
(Gazette No.27).
April
60 students have enrolled for Pat Hoffie’s painting course. Costs $95.(Gazette No. 27)
June
Expansion of the School into NSW. Jeff Shaw responsible for funding by NSW Arts
Council through Craft Australia.
June
Rapid expansion of operations into NSW. AFAS currently visiting 8 centres with 3 on
the waiting list, this is made possible by a NSW government grant. (Gazette No. 28 June)
Drought in 1986.
June
Winter School of the Arts at Kelvin Grove. Workshops in Beyond Block Printing on
Fabric, Pottery Production Techniques, Ceramic Surface & Colour, Printmaking, Sculpture,
Art Foundry, Sculpture, Stone Sculpture, Textiles: Exclusive Cotton Yardage, Textiles:
Fabric dyeing and Techniques, Painting. Painting and pottery workshops were run by tutors
Roy Churcher and Johanna De Maine. Students toured QAG, University Art Gallery,
24
City Hall Gallery, Ray Hughes Gallery and a working studio near Fortitude Valley.
July
Central Western Qld. School of Creative Arts to be held in Augathella July 10-15.
Tutors : Wendy Stavrianos (watercolour), Brian Dean (painting/oils/acrylics), Helen
Charges (pottery), Lorrain Moran (patchwork). Jewellery tutor to be decided.
July
12 people attended the AFAS workshop at Kingaroy. Guest tutor Ms. Carol Walters
(ADFA Qld.), MFA (Leeds UK), was pleased with the quality of paintings displayed by
artists. (South Burnett Times 9 July 1986).
August Janet De Boer report on Coastal Spinning/Weaving tour. New Fibre Arts Assn. in Mackay.
Sept.
Exhibition: Interiors - Paintings and ceramics put on by Catherine Hand in SeptemberOctober at Kelvin Grove. No restriction on size of works but more manageable sizes are
up to 36” x 24” including frames for subsequent touring. Sir Walter Campbell to open
exhibition.
Student Successes:
June
Anne Lord (Julia Creek) exhibiting at the Holdworth Contemporary Gallery in Sydney.
Rita Kershaw opened her first one-man exhibition of paintings at The Mill Gallery, Farnborough.
Mervyn Moriarty sets up studio and classes Healesville, Vic. Has exhibition at Broadbeach
Gallery Gold Coast.
June
Kate Collins reviews Bela Ivanyi at Philip Bacon Gallery. He moved from Sydney to
Cairns 1973. Now lives at Ourimbah north of Sydney. Trained National Art School, East
Sydney. (Sunday Mail 8/6/86.)
July
Jo Forster (Richmond) having an exhibition at the Qld. Country Life offices in Townsville in July.
Dec.
AFAS art groups now at Atherton, Augathella, Ayr, Barcaldine, Beenleigh, Blackall, Blackwater,
Bowen, Bundaberg, Caboolture, Cairns, Charleville, Childers, Cloncurry, Dalby, Oakey,
Toowoomba, Emerald, Gladstone, Glenmorgan, Gympie, Ingham, Innisfail, Ipswich, Julia Creek,
Mackay, Maryborough-Wide Bay, Moreton, Mossman, Mt. Isa, Muron, Normanton, Proserpine,
Quilpie, Richmond, Rolleston, Rockhampton RQAS and Contemporary Art Group, Roma &
District, St.. George, Stanthorpe, Coolum, Sunshine Coast, Kilcoy, Weyba, Townsville, Warwick,
Clifton, Killarney, Winton.
Dec.
Financial: Revenue from Qld. government for 86/87 $93,000; NSW for ‘87 $8,791, revenue
from AFAS 1986 $55,837, Special project support from Crafts Council Qld. and Cairns TAFE
1986 $13,480.
1986
1987
January
January
January
January
January
Feb.
Feb.
New format for Gazettes. From A4 to A3. Four Gazettes: No. 31 January, No. 32 April, No. 33
June, No. 34 September, State Library of Queensland advertises it arts collection in the magazine.
Irene Amos awarded a Masters Degree in Arts from Wollongong University. Irene presently
has an exhibition at the Brisbane City Gallery. (Gazette No. 31)
Pat Hoffie undertaking a study tour in India. She was one of 20 young Australian artists
selected for the Moet Chandon Award for Young Australian Artists under 35. (Gazette No.31)
Cape York Tour with Pottery tutor Judy Hancock, painting tutor Ron Hurley and Pilot Jeff
Gurney. Two days at Aurukun, Edward River, Kowanyama and Normanton. (Gazette No.31)
Sue Summers from ABC Radio to make contact with AFAS students. (Gazette No.31)
Second Queensland Arts Conference in March. There has not been a Queensland Arts
Conference for eight years. (Gazette 31) The groups sought ways of working together in order
to use scarce funds more effectively. (Gazette No. 32 April)
Discounted art supplies organised by AFAS
Touring Artists: Wendy Allen, Jani Laurence, Barbara Zerbini (painting), Helen Charles and
Gillian Grigg (pottery), Gwyn Piggott (ceramics), Roy Churcher (painting), Helga Told
(Spinning), Barbara Glendowan (weaving), Fabric Dyeing: Thel Merry (Montville), Johanna de
Maine (Landsborough). New painting tutor Jeanne Macaskill. New pottery tutor Pam
Maegdefrau. Pilot John Campbell.
Guest Tutors: Chai Cheo-Hiang. Use of found materials by Gillian Grigg and Chai Cheo-Hiang .
Warren Tippett guest tutor from Sydney. Townsville based artist Carolyn Dodds to tour her
exhibition “Intimate Images” with Flying Arts. She was awarded the inaugural William Buttner
Scholarship by the Queensland Art Gallery to undertake a series of Printmaking Workshops in
regional centres. She teaches at the Burdekin and Townsville College of TAFE.
25
Correspondence Courses: A new course Weaving II - colour, dyeing, tapestry, etc.
Board members: Jeff Shaw (President), Ron Dunglison (Vice President), Ms. Mary Burns
(Treasurer), Ms. Beryl Angus Exhibition Officer, Qld. Performing Arts Centre. Mrs. Joy
Wehl (Buderim), Mrs. B. Tully (Quilpie), Ms. Lyndal Moor (Qld. Pottery Assn.), Mr. Bruce
Scriven (External Studies BCAE.), Mr. Lance Courtney (Queensland Education
Department). New members Arthur Frame (Queensland Arts Council) and Pat Hoffie (who
will replace Beth Tully).
The art design course at Townsville was accepted as a diploma course. Was unable
to be used by AFAS.
March School of Air students star in historic satellite link. Remote School of the Air students
made history last year when they were linked to their teacher by satellite through the
State Government’s Q-NET system. (Queensland Country Life 12 March 1987.)
June
Winter School of the Arts to be held at the BCAE in June. Workshops in painting, fabric
dyeing, textiles and pottery. Textile tutors Helga Toldi, Barbara Glendowan. Pottery: Johanna
de Maine, Fabric dyeing: Thel Merry, Painting: Roy Churcher.
Sept.
Exhibition: Painting Landscape, Ceramics Tableware for the ‘80s.
Queensland Arts Council will no longer tour the annual exhibition. The old SGIO Art
Awards have changed format under the Suncorp Biennial Art Awards managed by the
Queensland Arts Council.
1987-88 Mervyn Moriarty Guest tutor, Victorian College of the Arts.
Student successes:
Carol McCormack had a complete sellout of her work at the Ardrossan Gallery.
AFAS students have been achieving great success in selection for regional centres in this year’s
Suncorp Competition.
Dec.
Increases in fees and membership fees. Membership $15 per year and $10 concession rate.
One Day seminar $20 (Member), $35 (Non-Member), Pensioner/students $15 and $30.
Double fees for two-day. Response from students was constructive, they support the
increases if it means AFAS will continue to come to their towns. Myra Beach from Julia
Creek summed up the general feeling in her comment “please keep flying AFAS - you’ve
brought us a wealth of knowledge and awareness of Art and I find an unquenchable thirst for
more. (Gazette No. 35).
Dec.
Through the use of satellites TAFE introduced fully portable trailer-mounted receiver
dishes, available to special interest groups. Education was now within the reach of even
the most isolated Queenslander.
Dec.
The Governor in Council approved the formation of the Dept. of Employment, Vocational
Education and Training. DEVET.
1987
Feb.
March
1988
Five Gazettes for 1988: 35 January, 36 April, 37 June, 38 September, 39 December.
January New Sponsor: Shell Australia has expressed an interest in supporting the 1989 exhibition
by assisting with printing of catalogues, invitations and touring the exhibition following its
Brisbane showing.
Catherine Hand noted that the three 1988 projects were the Winter School, the Caltex
Warana Exhibition and the touring exhibition of student work to New Zealand.
AFAS tutor Jeanne Macaskill from New Zealand would be organising the project.
January. Gladstone Potters withdraw from AFAS as one day seminars were unsatisfactory.
Feb.
Tutors: (Painting) Wendy Mills, Adam Rish, Vivienne Binns, Wendy Allen, Rod Milgate,
(Pottery) Gillian Grigg, Helen Charles, Pam Maedgefrau, Jane Harthoorn.
This year Helen Charles is holding an exhibition at the Queensland Potters Assn. Gallery and
Pam Magdefrau at the Red Hill Gallery. Still only two office staff: Catherine Hand GM.
Winter School of the Arts: Bali with Painting Pat Hoffie, Pottery Kev. Grealy and
Patsy Holly. Unfortunately this had to be cancelled.
NSW Tours to be increased from two to three.
March Board: Jeff Shaw (President), Ron Dunglison (Vice President), Ms. Mary Burns
(Treasurer), Mr. Spann (BCAE), Mrs. Joy Wehl (Country rep. Buderim), Ms. Lyndal Moor
(Qld. Pottery Assn. rep.), Bruce Scriven (BCAE), Lance Courtenay (Qld. Education
26
Dept.), Arthur Frame (Education Officer, Qld. Arts Council, Ms. Pat Hoffie (QCA).
Sept.
AFAS currently visiting approx. 60 centres. (Gazette No.38)
Sept.
Arts Section of State Library now housed at South Bank. (Gazette No.38)
October Exhibition: Triptych: Art for a Nomadic Future. Student exhibition at Kelvin Grove
opening Tuesday October 13, Hon. Brian Austin to open. It will later tour Queensland.
The exhibition was designed to be ‘portable’.
October Oct. 13 Qld. Artist Week to open. Organised by Premier’s Department (Premier &
Minister for the Arts Mike Ahern). United Nations proclaimed 1988 as the start of ‘World
Decade for Cultural Development’. National Arts Week 9-16 October.
Affiliation with MOCA - Museum of Contemporary Art.
Gladstone Artists Club presenting the 1988 Martin Hanson Memorial Art Exhibition at
the Gladstone City Art Gallery and Museum in November.
Gold Coast City Council holding seventh National Ceramic Award, an Acquisition Award for
$2,500.
Queensland Artworkers Alliance advertising. Magazine is Eyeline (now in its 6th issue).
Student successes:
June
Ellie Neilsen (Biloela) wins the Monto Dairy Festival Committee Award. (The Central
Telegraph June 1988.). Callide Coal acquired five of her works which were produced in
the Callide Valley. They gave two to the Banana Shire Council.
Sept.
Vincent Bray (Mt. Isa) exhibiting at the Kelvin Grove Gallery. (G38 September)
Jenny McDuff (Bundaberg) following Vincent’s exhibition at Kelvin Grove Gallery.
Sept.
Tutor Successes:
Helen Charles exhibiting at the Qld. Potters Assn. (G38)
Pam Magdefrau exhibiting at the Red Hill Gallery (G38)
Lyndal Moor article on the Australian Flying Arts School in Craft Australia Winter 1988
Mytton House Palmerin Street Warwick advertising 1989 residential workshop in January.
Using AFAS tutors: Beverley Budgen, Kevin Grealy and Jeff Service.
Dec.
Still no accredited course for AFAS students. (G39 December)
1988
1989
Feb.
Feb.
Feb.
March
April
May
May
Four Gazettes, No. 40 February, 41 April, 42 July, 43 December.
Tutors: (Painting) Ruth Propsting, David Burnett, Shelagh Morgan, (Pottery) Pam
Maegdefrau, Jane Harthoorn,
Pilot John Campbell resigns. Wendy Greaves new AFAS pilot.
Ceramics classes stop in south-east Queensland and coastal towns. Ceramics replaced by Textiles.
Ballandean Estate Wines Art Commission involving the Premier’s Department, Tucker
& Co. for Ballandean Estate Wines. Andrew Sibley to head selection panel choosing the
design. Arts Division of Premier’s Dept. to pay commission to artist. Four invited artists
are Mervyn Moriarty, Roy Churcher, Roy Oorloff and Pat Hoffie. (G40 Feb. 1989). AFAS
received $6600 grant for the project.
Press Release Premier’s Dept. (Mike Ahern). Mervyn Moriarty designs label for Ballandean Estates.
Board. Jeff Shaw (President),Ron Dunglison (Vice President), Mary Burns (Treasurer),
David Spann, Mrs. Joy Wehl, Ms. Lyndal Moor (Qld. Pottery Assn. rep.), Bruce Scriven,
Lance Courtenay (Qld. Education Dept.), Arthur Frame (Qld. Arts Council), Ms. Pat Hoffie
(Qld. College Art). Ron Dunglison. Bruce Scriven and Pat Hoffie resign from the Board.
Jeff Shaw will retire from KGCAE but not from presidency of AFAS (G42 July).
Robyn Stewart, Jenny McDuff and Bryan Kearns (Director Qld. College of Art) join
Management Committee. Lyndal Moor and Doug Hall become co-vice presidents.
Pat Hoffie becomes Program Co-ordinator. TSN11 Painting and Ceramics programmes
launched, it allows for interaction between Pat and students at the end of each session.
(G41 April). It is a closed circuit educational television station which broadcasts to all
AFAS regional centres.
Exhibitions by Mervyn Moriarty (Town Gallery), and Bela Ivanyi (Philip Bacon
Gallery). Good reviews by Michael Richards Courier Mail.
Fourteen regional galleries in Queensland: Blackwater, Bribie Island,
1989
Oct.
Oct.
Dec.
July
Dec.
Dec.
Dec.
Dec.
Dec.
Bundaberg,Childers, Gladstone, Surfers Paradise, Ipswich, Mackay, Noosa,
27
Rockhampton, Stanthorpe, Springsure, Toowoomba, Townsville. 53 Regional Galleries
by 2001. (Regional Gallery flyer 24 May 1989).
“Outback art pioneer calls for renaissance”. Article on Mervyn Moriarty. (CM 24 May.)
Exhibition: Traces of Place. Exhibition of student paintings and ceramics at the State
Library. Sponsored by Shell Aust. in October. Shell Australia becomes official
sponsor for AFAS.
“Flying art on wing to a city exhibition”. (Courier Mail 8 October John Oxley Library)
Ceramics Video Tapes produced by Pat Hoffie. Artists Diane Peach, Warren Palmer,
Edith-Ann Murray, Marc Sauvage. The Ceramic Video programs will feature four wellknown ceramic artists and use examples of work from various important ceramics
collections. Video Tapes are conceived as a unit of study, all four tapes must be viewed.
(Gazette 43 December).
Student successes:
Joan and Alan Murray (Bundaberg) open their exhibition at Kelvin Grove in July.
Ellie Neilsen, Jenny McDuff and Nola Grabbe selected for finals of the Suncorp Art Award.
Jennifer McDuff exhibiting at the Bundaberg Art Gallery.
Carol McCormack exhibiting at the Ardrossan Gallery. All paintings were sold.
Dulce Cameron (Maryborough) exhibiting at Pialba.
AFAS Art in New Zealand. Artworks from AFAS have been on tour in the Central
regions of New Zealand during 1988 and 1989. Twenty-two artworks by ten artists have
been viewed by some 1400 people in the Marlborough area alone. Artists were: Auda
Maclean (Baralaba), Josephine McTaggart (Biloela), Wendy Heading (Monto), Josephine
Lawrence (Biloela), Jenny Whitehead (Biloela), Peter Heading (Monto), Burnie Smith
(Biloela), Ellie Neilsen (Monto), Olwen Casell (Oakey), Lany Popovic (Gladstone).
The Labor government led by Wayne Goss entered office in December 1989 and was
re-elected in September 1992. The economic growth of Queensland from 1989 was higher
than in other states and there were nett increases in population due to interstate migration.
Financial year marked significant changes for Dept. Employment, Vocational Education
and Training (DEVET). It became an interim bureau within the Dept. Employment,
Vocational Education, Training and Industrial Relations (DEVETIR). The bureau was
responsible for the administration of Queensland’s 31 TAFE and Senior Colleges. As
such the bureau became the second biggest post secondary provider of education in
Queensland, offering more than 1000 courses to more than 200,000 students annually.
In the1980s government support for regional art practice began.
Financials. AFAS received a much needed boost to its coffers through a substantial
increase from the Queensland Arts Division, sponsorship from Shell Australia for its ‘89
and ‘90 Annual Brisbane Exhibition and touring to regional centres. Visual Arts/Crafts
Board of Australia Council for a special Exhibition Research Project and the Board of
Advanced Education Queensland for a very exciting project, the Decentralised Delivery
of Higher Education - Visual Arts. (Gazette No.43 December).
AFAS granted $10,000 by the Australia Council to prepare for a Major National touring
exhibition of regional artists work in 1991.
Accreditation. Discussions underway with South Brisbane TAFE College which offers the
only Associate Diploma Course in Ceramics in Queensland. It did not eventuate.
AFAS serving 60 centres throughout Qld. and northern NSW.
1990
Five Newsletters - 44 February, 45 April, 46 June, 47 October, 48 December.
January Farmers & Graziers Agricultural Guide magazine offers AFAS free space for all
notices to country people. (Gazette No.43 December).
Feb.
Touring Artists:
Shelagh Morgan (Painting/Printmaking SE Qld. tours), Lani Weedon
(Painting/Printmaking Coastal tours), Bonney Bombach (Painting/Printmaking Western Tours),
Edith-Ann Murray (Ceramics) Western Tours, Jeff Shaw (Painting/Ceramics NSW Tours),
Hurley replaces Shaw who stayed in Brisbane.
1990
Feb.
Feb.
Feb.
Feb.
March
May
June
In 1990 Painting seminars would continue to be offered on ALL tours, however,
28
due to a steady decline in the demand for ceramics seminars over the past few years,
ceramics seminars will not be offered on the SEQ and coastal tours. Textile artist would
replace ceramics tutor. (Gazette No.43 Dec.’89).
Guests during 1990: Antijepla Gotschalk, a West German artist on exchange to Australia;
Nick Tsoutas, Director, Institute of Modern Art and Sam De Mauro, President, Crafts
Council of Qld
Correspondence Course Markers: Betty Crombie (Stoneware Glazes Part I, part 1990),
Gillian Grigg (Stoneware Glazes Part I, part of 1990, and Stoneware Glazes Part II), Thel
Merry (Batik), Don Braben (Screenprinting), Janet De Boer (Spinning, Weaving I,
Weaving II), Shelagh Morgan (Painting and Drawing).
Ceramic Video Tapes. Students feel they are too costly to hire.
Pilot/Tour Manager:
Wendy Balding.
Centre Representatives for 48 centres are listed in the 1990 Annual Report - 32 representatives for
painting and 17 representatives for ceramics. Also map of centres. Major flooding causes
cancellations.
New Centres: Cockatoo (Painting), Barcaldine (Painting), Yeppoon (Ceramics).
Sponsor: Shell Company $5000 per year sponsorship. Will increase to $20,000 in 1991.
After notification that NSW funding will be withdrawn in 1991 Continuation of the NSW
tours will be made possible through the generosity of Mr. Jeff Shaw in filling the tutorial
role and the eagerness of the NSW centres to remain involved at increased personal cost.
Management Committee: Jeff Shaw (President), Lyndal Moor and Doug Hall (VicePresidents), Mary Burns (Treasurer), Arthur Frame (Education Manager Qld. Arts Council),
Mrs. Jenny McDuff (Country representative) Lecturer Shalom College Bundaberg; Lance
Courtenay (Senior Arts Officer Education Department), David Spann (Campus Coordinator (QUT Kelvin Grove Campus), Ms. Robyn Stewart (Head of Programme Visual
Arts UCSQ), Dr. Paul Thomas, Campus Principal QUT KG Campus).
Staff Members:
Ms. Catherine Hand (General Manager), Mrs. Jan Thorpe
(Secretary), Ms. Pat Hoffie (Academic Co-ordinator Jan-July 1990), Ms. Glenda Nalder
(Project & Resource Co-ordinator)
In May QUT amalgamated with BCAE. The title of Queensland University of
Technology was retained.
NSW withdraws funding from AFAS.
From 1990 Annual Report: After an initial setback occasioned by the inability of the
NSW government to maintain its financial commitment to AFAS students in that state, the
School provided a reduced programme of tours enabling continuity of student contact.
In Queensland the generous support of the Queensland Government through the Minister for
the Arts, Shell Company of Australia, the Board of Advanced Education and the Queensland
University of Technology (Formerly BCAE) enabled the provision of a full programme
range of tutorial services. In 1989 another strong annual exhibition opened by Hon. Paul
Braddy, Minister for Education, was held at the Queensland College of Art Gallery.
The Development of resources within the Open Learning project continued effectively under the
coordination of Ms. Glenda Nalder who replaced Ms. Pat Hoffie during the year and who was
joined in the office by Ms Wendy Balding as pilot and tour manager.
The Board endorsed the School’s move from its close association with Kelvin Grove
and the Brisbane College of Advanced Education (latterly QUT) to a similar
association with the University College of Southern Queensland.
Jeff Shaw gave thanks and appreciation to KGCAE, noting particularly the retirement
from the Board of Mr. David Spann and Dr. Paul Thomas who have contributed greatly
to the School over a period of years.
Report by Catherine Hand:
The School, on the eve of its 20th birthday, is possibly in the strongest position since its
inception. A year of remarkable effort and genuine commitment from all involved has
ensured AFAS a lasting and memorable profile in both a state and national arena.
1990
June
Oct.
Oct.
Oct.
Oct.
Nov.
Nov.
Nov.
Dec.
Dec.
Dec.
The Queensland Government, through the Arts Division of the Premier’s
29
Department. pledged an extra $29,000 to the School for the 90/91 year; the Shell
Company of Australia agreed to become the School’s major sponsor increasing its
sponsorship of AFAS from $5000 to $20,000 for 1991, and the Queensland Open
Learning Project continued its significant funding to the School for its regionally based
Visual Arts Programme.
Coastal tours being conducted with a Painting & Drawing tutor only. AFAS gets
feedback which leads to residential workshops instead of regular tours.
Despite massive flooding 1153 attended workshops in 1990. 13 Tours conducted in
1990: Three tours to Coastal (painting only), Western, and NSW, Four to SEQ.
School had 560 financial members.
Rockhampton had two painting seminars with largest attendance 23 and 19; Bundaberg had 23,15,17;
Western: Richmond painting 12.6.8, ceramics 10.6.8; Biloela 15.13.12 painting; Baralaba
painting 11.8.16; Yeppoon ceramics 12.9.11; Goondiwindi ceramics 21.5.
South East Qld: 5 painting centres: Buderim 16.11.13.14, Murgon 22.22.19.15, Goondiwindi
14.20.15.13, Oakey 18.10.14.19.
NSW: Inverell 12.6.12; Moree 12.14.10; WeeWaa 10.13.6 (painting),18/3, (pottery); Carinda 9.5.5.(pot).
A valuable feedback from students resulted in the further research conducted on the third
Coastal tour into the offering of a new stream to be introduced in 1991 - Design Problem
Solving and Arts Practice.
AFAS pays tribute to its Centre Representatives who are the backbone of the organisation.
Crippling fuel costs due to the Kuwait crisis.
Exhibitions: Beyond the Boundaries was officially opened by the Hon Paul Braddy,
Minister for Education 14th November 1990 at the Qld. College of Art. It included 105
paintings/prints and 43 ceramic pieces. Held at the QCA gallery. In conjunction with
Qld. Arts Council would tour in 1991.
1989 Traces of Place toured 10 centres in Qld. Mungindi, Bundaberg, Mt. Isa,
Richmond, Maryborough, Mackay, Rockhampton, Goondiwindi, Augathella, Charleville.
Mervyn Moriarty exhibition Images from Landscape to be held at Sojourners Gallery,
Preston in Melbourne. (Melbourne Age 24/11/1990)
Mervyn Moriarty Self Portrait accepted by Queensland University. Gifted by Mervyn
Moriarty.
During 1990 a selection of student work exhibited during the Warana Festival. 13 artists listed.
Qld. Open Learning. State government funded initiative instigated by various distance
education specialists throughout Queensland with the aim to establish a network of 40
towns in remote and regional Qld. To date 29 centres are operative. AFAS is the only
one dealing with Visual Arts. Staffers for the Open Learning Centres are Glenda Nalder
and Wendy Balding.
AFAS and UCSQ are working towards developing a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Vis
Arts) external programme. AFAS, while maintaining its autonomy, will operate under the
host-ship as it did at KG. USCQ is approved as a provider of a Bachelor of Creative Arts
(Visual Arts) externally. It did not go ahead.
Mervyn Moriarty teaching at the McGregor Summer Schools in Toowoomba.
Financials do not appear good at end of 1990.
Government grants: 1988/89-$100,000. 1989/90-$135,000. 1990/91-$164,000.
AFAS planning to integrate with other affiliated organisations: QAA, IMA, QPA, QAC,
QAG, RGA, CCQ, Education Department, Tertiary Institutions.
Student successes:
Nola Crabbe, Biloela Painting Group, watercolour award of $1000.00 at TAFE
Festival; $500 watercolour award from Rotary; a second at Gladstone for a watercolour.
Josephine McTaggart, CSR prize at Bundaberg; Caltex Art Award and Highly Commended
at Rockhampton; $1000 at TAFE art festival, Gladstone and Marlin Hanin Art Award at
Gladstone for an acrylic on canvas; a Highly Commended; and a third prize for a gouche
painting. $500 watercolour (Rotary Award) and a second prize for another watercolour.
1990
Pam Bartley, Clermont Painting Group, Premier’s Art Encouragement Award with a grant for $500.
Maree Hinricksen four first and four second prizes at the Monto show.
Josephine Forster, Richmond, Queensland Artworkers Alliance Regional Members’ Studio
prize, at McWhirter’s Art Space in Brisbane and a grant from the Arts Division of the
Premier’s Department.
April
Jennifer McDuff exhibiting at the Bundaberg Art Gallery. Won City of Maryborough
Acquisition award of $1000 at Wide Bay Art Society’s Heritage City Art Festival.
Four AFAS Potters took out prizes at the Springsure show.
June
Ellie Neilsen wins Goondiwindi/Waggamba Shire Acquisition Prize of $1000.
Bernice Dixon’s painting at the same exhibition was acquired by the Namoi Cotton Cooperative.
August Lola MacFarlane and Willy Paes, Maryborough exhibiting at McWhirters Art Space.
Goondiwindi artists Jocelyn Cameron, Bernice Dixon and Fay Kelly also exhibited at McWhirters.
October Rockhampton Art Competition in October. RQAS and Central Qld. Contemporary Artists.
Stanthorpe Heritage Arts Festival. $40,000 acquisitions in painting, sculpture, ceramics,
fibre and woodcraft.
October Vivienne Binns one of six artists presented with an Australian Artists Creative Fellowship at
Parliament House, Canberra. She tutored with AFAS. (Courier Mail 17/10/1990)
Oct/Nov. Gold Coast 10th National Ceramic Award October/November.
Dec.
Jeff Shaw awarded a Churchill Fellowship to travel to Canada and the UK in 1991 to look at
Distance Education providors and related issues.
10 December - AFAS moves from Kelvin Grove (now QUT) to 33 Park Road, Milton.
1991
Feb.
Feb.
March
March
March
March
March
March
March
Four Newsletters: May No. 49, July No. 50, September No. 51, November No. 52.
Touring Artists: Lani Weedon (painting/printmaking), Bonney Bombach
(Painting/Printmaking), Shelagh Morgan (painting), Edith-Ann Murray (Ceramics, Design
Problem Solving and Arts Practice.)
Guest Artists: John Fitzwalter (Ceramics), Qld. Potters Assn. Jan Borg (Weaver).
Some centres only have two workshops in the year rather than three.
Correspondence courses: Painting and Drawing (Glenda Nalder noted continuing complaints
from students. Spinning & Weaving remain popular. Thel Merry reports Batik in decline. Gilliam
Grigg reported Stoneware Glazes have a dwindling completion rate. Screen Printing not wanted.
“Painters attempt new Technique.” Mrs. Shelagh Morgan (AFAS) who teaches at
University of New England, Lismore,will conduct workshops in Toowoomba, Glen Morgan,
Buderim, Goondiwindi and Murgon (South Burnett) for AFAS. (South Burnett Times 6
February 1991.)
“Art School visits the West”, (North Queensland Register 2 March 1991).
“Flying Art School drops into Cairns.” The first of the AFAS workshops will be
conducted on March 16, followed by further workshops on July 13 and September 14. At
night for the first time, commercial arts practice workshop is being offered. (Cairns Post, 6
March 1991).
“Arts School holds courses”. Mrs. Helen Broadhurst said AFAS had served the Mackay
community for 15 years with regular workshops in painting and pottery. Mrs. Edith-Ann
Murray holds a design seminar. (Daily Mercury Mackay 9 March 1991).
“Artists fly in for a quick lesson”. Edith Ann-Murray holds a seminar at the Gladstone
Regional Art Gallery. (Gladstone Observer 12 March 1991).
“Weaving a fine display on loom.” AFAS artist Jan Borg gives a deft display of her skills on the
loom during Sunday’s market day at Port Curtis Historical Village. (Gladstone Observer 12 March).
“Arts course takes off”. The AFAS has affiliated with the University College of Southern
Queensland and is working towards offering a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Visual Arts) Course.
(Daily Mercury Mackay, 13 March 1991).
Management Committee: Ms. Robyn Stewart (USQ) President; Mr. Doug Hall (QAG
Director) Vice President; Ms. Lyndal Moor (Pottery tutor QCA) Vice President; Ms.
Mary Burns (Treasurer); Committee: Mr. Jeff Shaw (Past President); Mr. Clark Newman
(Shell Co.); Mrs. Jenny McDuff (Regional representative); Mr. Lance Courtenay (Senior
30
1991
March
April
June
July
Sept,
Sept.
Sept.
1991
1991-94
October
October
October
Dec.
March
April
May
July
Arts Officer Education Department); Ms Lesley Richardson; Mr. Laurie Lepherd (USQ); 31
Mr. Peter Pagliarino (Legal and Regional representative).
Staff Members: General Manager Ms. Catherine Hand; Program Co-Ordinator Glenda Nalder.
Salary increases for Pilot Wendy Balding and Correspondence Course Markers.
Shell Australia supplies $20,000 sponsorship deal. 15 tours planned for this year will go to
ten coastal towns from Maryborough to Cooktown. AFAS spends two days in each town.
Sponsors: “Sponsorship will assist art schools in outback”. Shell Co sponsorship increases
to $20,000 to assist school. (North West Star, April 15. John Oxley Library.)
There are 600 full time students and an annual attendance of 1800 at workshops.
Approximately 60 centre representatives.
Seminars: 168 seminars; 1561 attended; approx 741 financial members. 55 members doing
correspondence courses. School travels more than 55,000kms. Tours coast and western centres
three times a year; SEQ four, and NSW three to conduct workshops in painting, printmaking,
drawing, ceramics, design and arts practices.
New Centres re-established: Bowen, Innisfail, Cooktown, Charters Towers, Barcaldine,
Chinchilla, Mudgeeraba, Augathella, Monto, Ipswich.
Demand workshops enquiries from Mudgeeraba and Ipswich.
Vehicle purchased from Toyota for use in SEQ and NSW tours. Acquired on 14.6.91.
Sixth National Ceramics Conference to be held in Brisbane. AFAS student Anne Kinang
from Kingaroy awarded registration to the Conference.
“Queensland: A State for the Arts” is available from the Premier’s Department. It will have a
very significant effect on AFAS.
6 September. AFAS receives letter from Arts Division Department of the Premier, re
more professionalism with the Annual Touring Exhibition; increased financial control of
project and/or program; increase in issue-based articles and arts industry material in the
Australian Flying Arts School Gazette; evidence of input by Aboriginal agencies; professional
development of artists.
National Ceramics Conference held in Brisbane (Gazette 51).
Jeff Shaw granted Life Membership. Mervyn Moriarty also made a Life Member.
Moriarty at McGregor Summer Schools in Toowoomba.
Moriarty solo exhibitions in Sydney and Melbourne, Images from Landscape at Sojourners
Gallery in Preston. Joint shows in Brisbane and Lorne.
Moriarty at Healesville studio (QAG files)
Moriarty exhibiting at Bridge Street Gallery, Woolahra 9-31 October. (QAG files ).
Annual Exhibition: Ground to Air to Ground opened at the School of Arts in Ann Street
by Doug Hall, Director of the Queensland Art Gallery. Guest of Honour Mervyn Moriarty.
Reviewed by John H. Massey, Senior Education Officer, QAG. He particularly praised:
Ivy Zappala whose entry was later included in the Blake Prize for Religious Art.
Offer by Queensland Artworkers Alliance to share space at McWhirters with AFAS artists for exhibitions.
“Three Dimensional Painting”, Lani Weedon takes classes at the first AFAS seminar for
1991 at the Slade Point Community Hall. (Daily Mercury Mackay, 20 December 1991)
Student Successes:
Pioneer Valley artist and prizewinner, Mr. Jock McLean, had his painting selected to tour
with the AFAS/Queensland Art Exhibition Beyond the Boundaries. One of 38 pieces selected
from 148 entries.
Lorraine Prim wins the Contemporary Painting Award at the prestigious Mackay Art Society exhibition.
Murgon and district painters and Kingaroy potters exhibit at the Kingaroy Art Gallery.
Teenage painter Helen Unverzagt wins prizes at the Kingaroy exhibition.
Ellie Neilson exhibits at McWhirters Art Space Brisbane.
The Callide Collection. 26 artists, mostly from the Biloela AFAS group exhibited 69 paintings,
with batik silk scarves, dry flower arrangements and pottery at the Walter Reid Cultural Centre,
Rockhampton.
Audrey McCamley, Faye Mayne, Jan Williams, Deanna Jones won prizes at the Springsure show.
Bernie Smith (Monoprints) and Robyn Chappel (Pottery) exhibited at the Spiral
Gallery Rockhampton.
1991
July
Dec.
1992
Jan.
Jan.
Feb.
Feb.
March
March
May
May
May
June
Auda Maclean (Baralaba) won Australian Brahmans Breeders Association Beef 91 Art
32
Competition, selected from more than 200 entries. Hugh Sawrey praises her work.
Maree Hinricksen (Monto) won four first and four second prizes at the Monto show.
Financials: July 1991 school was $25,522 overdrawn. By November 1991 $5,646 in bank.
Fees for 1990 and 1991: $140 minimum per day for inland groups. $200 minimum per day for
coastal groups. $5 per person for Arts Practice classes for those who had attended Design Class.
$10 per person for Arts Practice classes for those who hadn’t attended Design class. NSW
centres required to pay Demand Workshop rates. As a form of renumeration for their
services, Centre Representatives are not required to pay workshop fees.
AFAS transfers from a card based membership system to a computer database.
Four Gazettes: January No. 53, April No. 54, June No. 55, December No. 56.
President Robyn Stewart travels to Cape York and nearby islands re future workshops.
“Flying art school brings cultural joy to outback”. (Qld. Country Life Sept. 17. Jan Bowen JOL)
Tutors: Kim Mahood (painting), Lucinda Elliott (painting), Jenny McDuff (painting),
Mike Spoor (trained in England) potter.
Towns visited by air: Cooktown, Mt. Isa, Cloncurry, Longreach, Winton, Barcaldine,
Doomadgee, Burketown. Ten centres in two weeks.
Sponsor: Shell Co. adds extra $2000 (over and above $20,000) for award to winning artists.
Correspondence Courses: Only 34 financial members enrolled in AFAS correspondence
courses. Only 26 submitted work for assessment.
During 1991/92 through funding from Open Learning Network, an overview of the
Distance Education Programs undertaken resulting in the proposed development of a new
written program in three stages: Foundation Visual Arts Course written by Glenda
Nalder and Arts Educator Karen Warnock; Colour Design Course not yet written;
Specialised Courses incorporate 2 of the 6 existing written programs i.e. Textiles and
Stoneware Glazes.
A total of 140 workshops in 41 centres. Nine tours for the year.
Coastal Tours dropped in favour of Professional Development Opportunities:
In response to needs expressed by AFAS members through a survey of coastal tour
members in 1991, and in response to recommendations from the recent Off Centre
conference convened by Townsville’s Umbrella Studio, AFAS proposes to host a fourday residential workshop for visual artists and craftsworkers instead of the usual coastal
tours. Queensland Artworkers Alliance (QAA), the Crafts Council of Queensland (CCQ)
and the Institute of Modern Art (IMA) expressed their interest in joining with AFAS in
this initiative to offer a collaborative response to regional needs.
Management Committee: Ms. Robyn Stewart (USQ) President; Ms. Lyndal Moor
(Pottery tutor QCA) Vice President; Ms. Lesley Richardson (USQ) Treasurer; Committee: Mr.
Clark Newman (Shell Co.); Mr. Laurie Lepherd (USQ); Mr. John Topley (Organisation
Development Consultant); Ms. Judith Carne (State Manager - Travel Insurance, MBF); Dr,
Robyn Wasson (Manager, Service Industries Branch, TAFE TEQ.)
Doug Hall (Queensland Art Gallery) resigns from Management Committee citing time restraints.
Brian Tucker to become accountant for AFAS.
Staff Members: General Manager Ms. Catherine Hand; Program Co-ordinator Glenda
Nalder. Pilot/tour manager Wendy Balding.
3-21 March. Moriarty exhibiting at Sojourners Gallery Preston. Melbourne. (QAG)
Residential Workshop at Mackay, 43 participants @ $100 per head with Mike Parr.
Collaboration between AFAS, Crafts Council of Qld., Qld. Artworkers Alliance and
Eyeline magazine. Sam di Mauro took the craft workshop.
Monto Festival Competitions ‘92. Pottery and Painting.
Oakey Art Group. Fourth annual art seminar in May.
Board Meeting. Given the Arts Division reluctance to fund ‘education’ it was felt that
particular care should be taken with nomenclature. For example, changing the school’s
name. Workshops would provide ‘professional development’ rather than ‘education’. No
1992
longer is AFAS the only regional arts organisation, from this time AFAS would
33
need to be a regional organisation with a special focus.
July
CWQCCA School of Creative Arts at Augathella in July.
July
13/7/92 Letter to Leneen Forde as Governor of Queensland lobbying for country women.
Sept.
Cross-Currents Residential workshop at Woodgate (south of Bundaberg) in September.
October Exhibition: 1,727,0002 kms Not a Void. Held at McWhirters Artspace for Artists Week
(October 13). Opened on 19.10.92 by Minister for the Arts, Dean Wells. Judges were
Kath Kerswell (Griffith Artworks), Sally Cox (Artist, formerly AFAS member), Sylvia
Hodgson (Shell Australia) Publicity and promotion through Courier Mail, Women’s Weekly,
Brisbane Review, Queensland Country Life, Artlink. Also Radio interview on site at South
Bank with Radio National, radio interview with 612 4QR Brisbane, and proposed Craft
Australia and Panorama.
Exhibition winner Muriel Smith, Murgon. Robyn Bassingthwaite and Ann Pollard,
Charters Towers; Judy Slack-Smith,Wee Waa; Auda MacLean, Baralaba; Margaret Delhunty,
Glen Innes; Carol Curr, Winton receive Highly Commended.
Oct.
Board Meeting. Laurie Lepherd leaves. Welcome to Dean Leon Cantrell.
AFAS looking to have badges made: 200 to cost $5.35 each and sell for $7.50 each.
The next Residential Workshop to be a collaboration with only one other organisation i.e. Regional
Galleries Assn. using RADF funding and corporate sponsorship from a mining company such as
Utah or BHP.
Dr. Irene Amos, OAM, AFAS tutor appointed to Australia Council.
Student successes:
Moura receives a government grant to finance a pottery workshop for AFAS students from
surrounding areas.
Alice McLaughlin, AFAS Mixed Media artist from Alpha wins Vince Lester Award for
Contribution to Tourism.
Cairns Potters Club (began in 1974) now has over 100 active members, Many trained with AFAS
tutors. CPC published a book on local experiences: Lasting Impressions - A Ceramic Mural.
New groups being encouraged by AFAS. Rona Benecke, newly established Monto
Group wrote enthusiastically of her first day as a beginner at an AFAS workshop.
Moriarty conducts workshops in Brisbane, Inverell and Monaro NSW. Moves to
Monaro in NSW and sets up a College level art course Form, Mark and Colour which is to
be distributed by Central Queensland University Centre for Continuing Education and
Training at Rockhampton.
Nov.
16.11.92 AFAS receives notice of its allocation of operational funding for 1993 under the
OPERATIONAL RECURRENT Program. The letter also advised that AFAS would be
under review in 1993. The Arts Advisory Committee (AAC) considered that the
organisation “had not adequately addressed the performance indicators set for the
organisation with last year’s grant.”
Dec.
Financials: Funding of $172,000 barely covers inflation. Fee structure a flat rate of
$200 per day for workshops for all centres. The work done by Centre Reps. on behalf
of the organisation and AFAS members is highly valued.
Dec.
Responding to Queensland - A State for the Arts:
Each organisation’s funding was contingent upon certain Conditions of Grant, and,
achievement of specific Performance Indicators. Included in those identified for AFAS
for 1992 and 1993 which have, and will, directly impact on members are:1. That the Annual Exhibition be professionally curated and professional fees be paid.
2. Evidence of community input by Aboriginal agencies, artists and community
Government Councils into selection of programs and touring schedules.
3. Demonstrated benefit to artistic and/or professional development of
artists/artsworkers involved.
4. That there be an increase in issue-based articles and arts industry material in the
AFAS newsletter. And for 1993:1.
Achievement of the stated aims and objectives of the core Program i.e., the 9 tours,
1992
2.
3.
1993
Feb.
March
April
April
May
May
May
May
July
July
2 regional residential workshops, the annual exhibition, and four newsletters.
34
Evidence of outcomes or initiatives which include attention to non-English
speaking background artists and to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and
demonstrate effective consultation in these areas.
Evidence of discussion and co-operation with other visual arts organisations to
investigate ways of maximising resources and reducing overlap.
Four Gazettes: April No. 57, May No. 58, July No. 59, November No. 60.
Touring Artists: Judy Watson (painting), Kim Mahood (painting), Fiona Fell (Painting),
Lucinda Elliott. 9 tours for the year.
October workshops for Burketown and Doomagee went ahead successfully and plans were
made for the inclusion of these centres on the third tour. Workshops booked by two groups
on Thursday Island for October. Three professional development workshops planned.
Touring Program to be scaled down:
There is no doubt that the drought has significantly affected the populations of areas. The
availability of members to attend workshops because of lifestyle changes and their ability
to pay for workshops. This will manifest itself in the joining together of centres which will
require travel. Travel will probably be arranged on a turn-about basis, although 200-300
km will probably be the limit. It is highly likely that members will also agree to two
workshops instead of the usual three during the next year. This will allow FA to trial
alternative services without refusing services to clients.
Management Committee: Professor Leon Cantrell (Dean Faculty of Arts, University of
New England) President; Ms. Robyn Stewart (USQ) Vice President; Mr. Brian Tucker
(Accountant) Treasurer; Committee: Ms. Judith Carne (MBF); Mr. Brian Devereaux
(Barrister); Mr. Clark Newman (Shell Co.); Ms. Lesley Richardson (USQ); Mr. John Topley
(Griffith University); Regional Representatives - Ms. Carol McCormack (Glenmorgan);
Mrs. Robin Bassingthwaighte (Charters Towers); Mrs. Annie Clarke (Gregory Downs).
Staff Members: General Manager Ms. Catherine Hand (resigned in March, school without a GM);
Program Co-ordinator Glenda Nalder acting GM); Shell/AFAS Exhibition Curator Marie Biggins.
Core staff of only 4 people including the commercial pilot. Around 700 students.
In response to a special request from the remote community of Boulia, a workshop was held at
the Boulia State Primary School on the first north-west tour. The school community is largely
aboriginal and visiting artists Judy Watson and Fiona Fell spent the day with the 63 children,
working with clay and paint on themes relating to the children’s heritage and environment.
This was the first stage in a RADF assisted project which will involve the creation of two
murals assisted by visiting AFAS artists.
Gazette No. 57: Letter from Robin Bassingthwaighte (Charters Towers) re Arts Council policy.
Kim Mahood has an article: Professional Development and its implications.
Glenda Nalder also has an article on “The State of the Arts”. More in Gazette No. 60.
Sponsor Shell Co. to purchase an artwork from an AFAS member for their Brisbane
boardroom.
Arts Division seminars on Programs of Assistance to be held by John Stafford at
Townsville, Ayr, Bowen, Cairns, Kuranda, Innisfail, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone,
Biloela, Ipswich, Toowoomba, Stanthorpe, Warwick, Longreach.
Carole McCormack advocates masterclasses for advanced artists. You get insular out
there, we need the stimulation, the pooling of ideas and feedback on our work provided
by visiting professional artists.
The Queensland Arts Division will now be known as the Queensland Office of Arts and
Cultural Development, trading as Arts Queensland.
Board Meeting: AFAS operates on a budget of approx. $270,000.
Has been litigation between AFAS and QUT re plane crash two years ago.
Gazette No. 59. Editorial by Kim Mahood: A new term is creeping into the terminology of the
arts bureaucracy, threatening to subsume us all. The term is Cultural Tourism and in simple terms
it is about persuading people to pay money to look at what other people do and make, and to share
briefly in their experience. As lifestyles become more and more difficult to maintain through
1993
traditional means, a strange phenomenon is taking place all over the world. This is the
35
emergence of the zoo culture, in which endangered groups are subsidized and kept alive by
tourism.
July
Jump Up Arts - Radical Art Practice Comes to Goondiwindi. Lyndall Milani has been
appointed artistic director for the project which is expected to take place in May 1994.
Aug/Sep.Moriarty exhibiting at his son Andrew Vincent Gallery, 40 McGregor Tce., Bardon (QAG)
Sept.
Residential Professional Development Workshop High Tide, an exhibition of artworks
held in the new Woodgate Community Centre during September.
October In conjunction with AFAS, Disappointing Latitude curated by Marie Biggins for the
Institute of Modern Art as part of its regional support programme. It opened at the
Walter Reid Centre in Rockhampton in October.
October Exhibition: AFAS annual exhibition, Framing Experience, with Boulder Lodge
Concepts, at 270 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley. Opened by Her Excellency, Mrs.
Leneen Forde, Governor of Queensland. Regional exhibitions at Mt. Isa, Biloela,
Glenmorgan. Marie Biggins curator for regional exhibitions. Shell Co. to purchase AFAS
artwork for their Boardroom.
Nov.
AFAS Equity Initiatives: Within regional and remote Queensland, by far the largest
number belonging to a prioritised group for affirmative action are Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander artists. During 1992-3 the Queensland Indigenous Committee for Visual
Arts (QICVA) was formed. Its aim is to build a network of regional representatives and
members for the promotion of opportunities and the provision of training services in the
visual arts and crafts. Having Aboriginal Artist, Judy Watson, on our visiting artist team
during 1993 resulted in invitations being extended to AFAS to visit centres specifically
wanting contact with an Aboriginal artist, and additional studio workshops were undertaken
with new members in Boulia, Burketown, Mt. Isa, Doomadgee, Normanton and Injinoo,
and Thursday and Darnley Islands.
AFAS now has a commitment to working with QICVA towards the provision of a touring
program and support for projects initiated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Artists. This
collaboration will be trialled during 1994 on the basis that touring programs for our current
membership will be reduced from three tours to two per centre. (Gazette No. 60, 1993)
Nov.
Development has not been completed for the Visual Arts Degree. (Gazette 60, Nov. 1993)
Letter from Therese Stuart re Arts Queensland new regulations for funding.
Dec.
“Diversity of Voices from out there: Boulder Lodge Concepts.” (Courier Mail 7/12/93)
Dec.
Carol McCormack (Glenmorgan) wins $2000 Shell Art Award with a mixed media
sculpture. She lives on a family property at Dilga. Other Highly Commended works
were by Robin Bassingthwaite and Thuy Wick (Vietnamese). Shell sponsorship is
$22,000. (CM 2/12/93)
Alice McLaughlin, AFAS student, opens her home, Creek Farm Station at Alpha for
artists and tourists.
Student Successes:
April
Carol McCormack, Elaine Lyons, Sally Bridle, Glenmorgan, exhibiting at Downs
Gallery in Toowoomba.
May
Jennifer McDuff: With Digital culture becoming an increasingly visual form of global
communication. In response to the shift to technology-generated art Jennifer McDuff, a
FA tutor who had grown up in Bundaberg, received further training in the south, was
using computer-generated photo etching in her exhibition on the Vietnam war. The
exhibition was such a success it was purchased in its entirety by the Canberra War
Memorial in May 1993.
Jump Up Arts, radical art practice, starts up in Goondiwindi
May
Kathryn Brimblecombe Fox, Goondiwindi, exhibits at McWhirters Artspace in
Brisbane. Kathryn a member of ‘Jump-Up Arts’ an installation project in Goondiwindi
supported by Arts Queensland and Institute of Modern Art. Wins Australia Day 1993
Cultural Award.
July
Jess Noble of Bundaberg travels to Canada for tuition with Robin Hopper. She is now
showing her work at the Potters’ Gallery in Brisbane.
1993
Dec.
1994
Feb.
March
March
May
May
May
May
Robert McLaughlin, Alpha, producing work with scrap metal.
36
Christine Ballinger, Monto holding a papermaking workshop.
Ellie Neilsen, Biloela, arranges for local artists to exhibit at Biloela, Rockhampton, and
at the Arts Council Gallery in Brisbane.
Auda Maclean, Mixed Media artist from Baralaba thanks AFAS for her successes over
the years since she started with Mervyn Moriarty in 1971.
Peg McCumstie from Moree also thanks AFAS for her success in winning a number of
awards and prizes over the years.
Tutor Lucinda Elliott exhibiting at Milburn Gallery in Brisbane.
Financials. Deficit for 1993 of $24,640 reducing accumulated funds to $33.036.00 The
organisation currently holds approximately $80,000.00 cash reserves. Significant cost
increases occurred in: Program $9000, Newsletter $2000, Consultant $6500,
Depreciation $6000 (non cash), Travelling $3000 and Admin. $3000.
Four Gazettes: No. 61, May; No. 62, July; No. 63 October; No. 64 November.
Touring Artists: Anneke Silver (Mixed Media NW), Jennifer McDuff (Mixed Media
Central west), Colin Reaney (Mixed Media south), Rowley Drysdale (Ceramics NW),
Mary Lou Hogarth (Ceramics Cent.west), Jan Urquhart (Quilting Cent-west),
Anne Whitsed (Quilting NW).
Correspondence Courses have been dropped. Quilting is introduced to the AFAS curriculum.
Centre reps: 19 (mixed media), 13 (Ceramics), 13 (quilting)
Management Committee: Prof.Leon Cantrell Southern Cross University Lismore
(President), Dr. Robyn Stewart USQ (Vice President), Brian Tucker (Treasurer),
Ms.Lesley Richardson (USQ), Alan Hoffman (Shell Co.), John Topley (Griffith Uni), Ms.
Susi Muddinman (USQ), Brian Devereaux (Barrister), Doug Murphy (Barrister), Kath
Leonard Artist (Goondiwindi).
Staff Members: General Manager Glenda Nalder until resignation in April 1994,
Australian Flying Arts School becomes Flying Arts Inc.
Christine Campbell joins staff as the new General Manager from 31 Candidates.
She has a background in performing arts.
Wendy Balding (Pilot and Tour manager), Jacqueline Murphy (Project Officer), Sally
Ogilvie (Admin.Officer). Two casuals.
Publications: Following official confirmation of its change of name, FAI engaged the
services of Liveworm studios to redesign its printed and promotional material, retaining
Liveworm’s award-winning logo.
President’s Report. The Board responsible to Arts Queensland for ensuring the effective
management of Flying Arts for funding. Four meetings between Board, Flying Arts staff
and Arts Queensland advisors.
After the meeting AFAS received its largest ever grant in support of the proposed 1995 activities.
Mission Statement. The principal aim of FA is to “facilitate the development of
professional arts competencies by enabling access to current arts practices to those
normally denied them”. In reaffirming this mission the Board clarified its understanding
of what ‘professional’ meant in relation to its activities.
Shell Co. is still the only sponsor.
From Kim Mahood. The current interest is largely in the use of electronic technology,
predominantly the video and the computer, and the creation of a non-material realm for
art. It is in Townsville and Cairns that the new technology is being embraced with
enthusiasm by a number of artists. Satellite dishes have made TV available in the
remotest part of the country, making a broad spectrum popular culture accessible to
outback communities. Aborigines are now making their own videos and setting up their
own broadcasting stations for local TV.
Core Touring (Map of 1994 centres in 1994 Annual Report)
From Glenda Nalder. Technology has been heralded as the panacea for the problems of
distance. In the late eighties FA was already engaged in a pilot program of interactive
satellite broadcasts via TSN 11 to members and other activities through the Queensland
1994
May
May
June
Nov.
Nov.
1994
May
May
July
Open Learning Network. This funding also supported the production of FA’s
37
Foundation Visual Arts Course, currently disseminated in print format. The QOL
Network, which is a program of the Education Department’s Qld. Distance Education
Centres has grown to 40 centres, 25 of which have a two-way electronic communication
system in place. Artists in Australia and overseas have for sometime used digital
communications systems such as these as ‘virtual’ classrooms, conference spaces, digital
magazines and electronic galleries. There is an Australia based electronic network
especially for artists (Artsnet).
In 1994 FA streamlined its core touring program by running two tours - a total of 141
workshops in 45 centres - in each of its northern, central and southern regions. A mid-year
survey of members resulted in overwhelming support for a return to three. Nothing, it
seems, could replace the personalised contact and tutorial support on which the
organization was founded 23 years previously.
“Tapping into the heart of outback artists” (JCU art lecturer Anneke Silver heads
outback - AFAS goes to Burketown, Longreach, Richmond, Julia Creek, Thursday
Island and Cooktown. (Townsville Bulletin. 5/5/94. JOL).
Jump-Up Arts Goondiwindi Installation, under the guidance of Lyndall Milani,
professional installation artist, and IMA director Nick Tsoutas is being funded by Arts
Queensland.
Annual exhibition, Off Site, held in glass foyer of the state government’s newest office
block, 111 George Street. Opened by Hon. Tom Burns, MLA, Deputy Premier. Judges:
Professor Ian Howard, Provost and Director QCA, Elizabeth Bates, artist and QAG
Education Officer, Sylvia Hodgson Shell Australia. Shell Australia gave winner $2000
award. To visit Toowoomba, Bundaberg and Charters Towers. Professional Development
workshops to be held with
Winning artist Merle Wagner of Maryborough (reviewed by Sue Smith CM) ‘A
subdued work in dusty ochres, this image of Brahman cattle evokes both the transient here
and now of central Queensland, and the timeless spirituality of ancient rock art.... Each
Flying Arts show is a small marvel: a triumph of human tenacity and creativity over
drought, distance and isolation.
Lynnette Griffiths, Thursday Island: an eye-catching ceramic wall piece referring to
traditional message sticks left by Aboriginal beche-de-mer fishermen travelling through
Torres Strait.
54 artists exhibited - from Thursday Island to Mt. Isa and Wee Waa in NSW.
Robin Bassingthwaighte (Charters Towers), Mandy McGuire (Mount Isa), Leonel
Seekee (Thursday Island), Ellie Nielsen (Biloela), Auda Maclean (Baralaba) Jenny
Whitehead (Biloela) received Special Commendations.
Shell/Flying Arts Award: Non Acquisitive - $1600 cash and $400 travel and
accommodation.
Commonwealth Government Cultural Policy Statement: Creative Nation. It pledges
ongoing and increased support for the arts to the tune of $250 million new funding over
the next four years. Interactivity rather than passivity is the underlying philosophy of
Creative Nation. Regions to get a better access to a wider range of cultural experiences.
PROJECTS:
Rockhampton, Cairns and Goondiwindi to host Arts Queensland seminars in May,
Townsville, Noosa, Toowoomba and Ipswich in June and Barcaldine in July promoting
professionalism.
Collaborative Projects: Flying Arts increasingly involved in joint ventures with other
organisations. The first of these was the Earth Arts/Undara Creative Art Workshop
focussing on Natural Environment where Flying Arts provided organisation, membership
and infrastructural support to Earth Arts. One of the three tutors was FA artist Kim
Mahood, (mixed media). Other tutors: Ben Trupperbaumer’s woodcarving and Christine
Ballinger papermaking.
Lake Julius Conference and Workshop. Kim Mahood, conference convenor. In July
1994
July
July
July
July
Sept.
Oct.
Oct.
Nov.
May
May
May
Flying Arts hosted a workshop and conference at Lake Julius to examine the place of
38
landscape in Australian culture, both as an artform and as a cultural icon.
Many of the 23 participants were from grazing properties, or were local Mt. Isa residents.
Painter Mandy Martin, film-maker and photographer Tracey Moffatt and writer Kate Llewellyn
gave lectures and were active participants in the forum sessions. Other workshop tutors were
Tim Johnson, Ross Gibson, and Norito Udagawa. Shell Australia offers two bursaries.
Flying Arts also sponsored the participation of Jacquelyn Murphy, as FA Education
Officer in the central west component of Interfaces, a collaborative project between
Griffith University, Regional Galleries Assn. of Qld. and Arts West. It was an exhibition
of technology-based work curated by Beth Jackson of Griffith Artworks from Griffith
University’s collection of contemporary art which would tour Queensland in conjunction
with Flying Arts.
The industry support for Craft has diminished both privately and publicly and on a
national, state and local level. Australia Council’s 1987 amalgamation of the Crafts and
Visual Art Boards altered the pattern of craft subsidies to the point where only one third
of the grants were going to the crafts. However, in regional areas, such as the Central
West, craft dominates in the form of silversmithing, ceramics, quilting and more recently
woodwork. A large percentage of people in these areas tend not to be able to justify a
hobby or professional activity that does not pay for itself.
From Takeshi Yasuda, a Japanese-born British potter. Visual arts have become simply
visual. Painting, skulpture and crafts, in fact almost all aspects of our lives, have been
impoverished by the primacy we place on the visual at the expense of the other senses,
especially the sense of touch.
Flying Arts students want three tours a year and two-day workshops. Flying Arts
pledged to provide tutors who believe in extending and challenging artistic practice,
provoking lively debate about the validity of different art styles and forms, encouraging
members to evaluate and reflect on the positions and viewpoints of artists. Full membership
is now $20, Associate membership $10.
Creek Farm Residency to be held in September offering courses in silversmithing, ceramics,
woodturning, and photography. Cost $300 all inclusive or $150 for workshops only.
Theme of the October 1994 Gazette No. 63 is Professionalism.
Professional Development workshops for members were run in conjunction with each of the
regional exhibitions. Presenter was Susi Muddiman, curator USQ gallery. The results of these
workshops were displayed in three regional On Site exhibitions and the Off Site exhibition in
Brisbane. i.e. the new Regional Art Gallery in Toowoomba, Bundaberg School of Arts and the Don
Roderick Gallery in Charters Towers.
Charters Towers is planning the renovation and extension of historical buildings to build an
entertainment centre to be completed within a two year period.
Art and Technology Workshops. In late November, Paul Brown, (computer artist) a
consultant with Griffith University’s Information Services (Nathan campus), coordinated
Flying Arts first Art and Technology workshops on two of the university’s campuses,
Nathan and the Queensland College of Art at Morningside.... Overall, the workshop was a
resounding success. It provided an excellent environment to meet with talented and
motivating tutors,
and to share some of their enthusiasm for the technology that is reshaping our social
fabric. Hopefully, there will be broader ramifications as workshop attendees disseminate
information and ideas throughout their immediate communities. The next FA workshop
in the area will find many enthusiastic participants.
Student Successes:
Pamela Chambeyron, Mackay, exhibiting at Metro Arts Brisbane.
Jo Forster, Richmond, Symbols of Solitude exhibition, Flinders Gallery, Townsville.
Jo Forster (Richmond) and Ellie Neilsen (Biloela) receive Australia Day Inaugural
Cultural Awards for long service and contribution to the arts in their local region.
Tutor Jennifer McDuff exhibiting at Bundaberg Art Gallery in May - her paintings
1994
July
Oct.
Nov.
Nov.
Nov.
1994
1995
Feb.
March
March
April
acquired by the National War Memorial, Canberra - a contemporary work by a
39
woman of the Vietnam war.
Jump Up Arts installation by FAI students An Unbroken Existence held at Goondiwindi.
The country was in the worst drought since European settlement. Many locals thought
money was being wasted, the pressure resulted in a very high standard of work. Arts Minister
Dean Wells referred to Goondiwindi as being at the forefront of contemporary art in the state.
The installation was transferred to the IMA in Brisbane during September.
Gerry Unwin and Peg Carlyle from Buderim exhibiting at the Loading Bay of the
Museum of Contemporary Art.
Peg McCumstie at age 79 wins Inverell Art & Craft Society’s annual award for third time.
As the year progressed, the quarterly Gazette changed in style and format, culminated
in a 16 page Exhibitions Issue in November. Guest writers included John Massey, Sue
Smith, Peter Timms and Kate Llewellyn. Artists profiled were Marion Gaemers and
Jenny McDuff.
FAI embarked on an intensive in-house production of high quality flyers, brochures,
invitations and catalogues under the direction of its design-oriented Administration
Officer, Sally Ogilvie.
Recent acquisitions to the USQ Art Collection. There was an emphasis on collecting
works by contemporary female ceramicists. Artists included FA tutors Fiona Fell, Gwyn
Hanssen Piggott and Mary Lou Hogarth.
Financials: Gross $260,400.48, expenses $286,325.08 = deficit of $25,924.60. Cash
on Deposit $90,000 approx. Shell announced their continuing support. Arts Qld.
approved a grant of $172,000 for 1994.
Patron: Her Excellency, Mrs. Leneen Forde, A.C., Governor of Queensland.
Mervyn Moriarty selected for exhibition in the Blake Prize for Religious Art, Sydney.
Four Gazettes: No. 65 April, No. 66 June, No. 67 October, No. 68 December.
Touring Artists: Mixed Media: Anne Lord (North), Robyn Stewart (North Tour 3),
Ann-Maree Reaney (Central), Colin Reaney (South). Ceramics: Mary-Lou Hogarth
(North), Sam di Mauro (Central). Textiles: Susan Flight (Central), Rosemary Lakerink
(North 1), Anna Burch (North 2), Marion Gaemers (North 3).
Sam di Mauro lectures at Griffith University and is promoting a cultural tour to Japan in 1997.
Centre Reps (listed) 21 Mixed Media, 7 Ceramics, 10 Textiles. 107 workshops in 30 centres.
Management Committee: Prof.Leon Cantrell Southern Cross University Lismore
(President); Dr. Robyn Stewart USQ (Vice President); Kath Leonard Artist
(Goondiwindi) Vice President; Brian Tucker (Treasurer); Ms.Lesley Richardson (USQ);
Alan Hoffman (Shell Co.); John Topley (Griffith Uni); Ms. Susi Muddinman (USQ);
Doug Murphy (Barrister); Noreen Grahame (Grahame Galleries). AGM held at Gold
Coast City Art Gallery, 11 meetings a year.
Staff Members: General Manager Christine Campbell, Wendy Balding (pilot), Jacquelyn
Murphy (Project Officer until May) Jillian Moss (Administration Officer), Rebecca
Dexuanni (Program Manager), Sally Ogilvie (Administration Officer), David McGuinness
(Research Assistant) and 5 volunteers (includes Anne Thompson artist).
President”s Report Throughout 1995 the Board was actively involved in developing and
monitoring the policies by which Flying Arts was managed and run. Three key concepts:
*
the identification of new clients and market opportunities.
*
the enhancing of the product base.
*
the diversification of financial and other options.
Centre reps contacted local, state and federal politicians to write letters in support
of Flying Arts application to the Gaming Machines Community Benefit Fund to
subsidise a third touring round in 1995.
Flying Arts requested by Arts Queensland to develop new activities with Aboriginal and
Islander clients.
1995
Feb.
March
April
April
April
April
April
April
June
June
July
PROJECTS:
40
Flying Arts negotiated with regional and metropolitan universities to provide visiting
artists suited to its members’ stated professional needs for its 1995 Tour Program.
Universities were: QCA (Griffith Morningside), USQ (Toowoomba), James Cook
University (Townsville), Griffith University (Gold Coast). Southern Cross University
(Lismore) made available its Art Museum Director to act as professional curator for Flying
Arts regional and metropolitan exhibitions, conducting workshops in Professional
Presentation for regional members, and furthering the northern NSW involvement in Flying
Arts tour and exhibition programs. Allowing three instead of two tours, choice of tutors,
exhibition strategies and related workshops.
Regional Arts Writing Forum Gold Coast City Art Gallery, a new medium in a new
region for Flying Arts.
The Professional Development Workshop in conjunction with Arts West in Blackall.
Supported by Queensland Artworkers Alliance.
Creating the Climate conference on promoting and marketing Queensland Art.
Reflections of State and Commonwealth cultural policy statements.
Christine Campbell Report: One of the key objectives of Flying Arts 1995-97 Strategic
Plan was “to provide a touring program of high quality in which other organisations either
offer additional benefits to regional professional development or facilitate the offering
of Flying Arts’ services.”
Flying Arts receives a $10,000 grant from the Gaming Machines Community Benefit
Fund to upgrade its computer equipment.
Screenprinting workshops were conducted for the Bama-Ngappi-Ngappi Aboriginal
Corporation at Yarrabah, visiting artist was Anne Lord in the second round of touring.
Two final year Bachelor of Creative Arts indigenous students to conduct a weekend
workshop for ATSI community members in drawing and papermaking.
Visiting artists on the central route joined forces to offer members from Bauhinia,
Banana, Biloela, Rolleston and Baralaba the opportunity to experience all three mediums
in round three of touring.
Blackall: Two-day Professional Development Workshop in April. FAI in
collaboration with Arts West.
Art and Technology Workshop in connection with Interfaces to be held in
collaboration with the Division of Information Services in the QCA at Griffith
University. Tutors Wendy Mills and Paul Brown.
An expansion of the touring program from 2 to 3 rounds in 1995 and the inclusion of
new centres, particularly in the far north of the state and offshore to Papua New Guinea.
Flying Arts accepted an offer from communication consultants, Media Link
International to provide in-kind support with promotions and marketing. A new
sponsor, Media Link International will oversee public relations, advertising and
marketing for the Flying Arts 25th Anniversary exhibition to the value of $1000 per
month for 12 months.
Centre rep. Diann Lui advised that Uzu Air will sponsor a Flying Arts ceramics tutor’s
flights to and from Darnley Island in all three touring rounds. The hired Cessna 310
cannot land there, the landing strip is not long enough. Booked commercial flights for
Mary Lou Hogarth.
A total cash and in-kind contribution of more than $75,000 from sponsors.
Two casual staff through Commonwealth Government Job Skills program.
Sponsorship from BHP enabled the extension of the northern tour program to the OK Tedi
Mining centre of Tabubil in Western New Guinea. BHP also supported the Dysart groups’
workshops. Organised by Centre Rep. Rosemary Anderson who lives in Tabubil. She
persuaded BHP to fly their executive jet to Horn Island to collect Flying Arts tutors and take
them to PNG for two days to teach both expatriate and indigenous people. BHP to pay all costs.
Art & Technology Workshop at James Cook University of Townsville. Conducted by
graphic artist and former Flying Arts tutor Wendy Mills. Speakers: Peter Timms (Editor
Australian Art Monthly), Geoff Levitus (Periphery), Kate Ravenswood (SCU Lismore),
1995
Peter Anderson, John Millington and Anneke Silver.
41
July Flying Arts goes online. $25,000 grant to Flying Arts from the Australia
Foundation for Culture and the Humanities to further develop its electronic
communications technology.
Sept.
In response to Qld. government’s Building Local: Going Global cultural policy statement
Flying Arts ran a two-day conference Creating the Climate in late September hosted by QUT.
Aim was to enhance networking opportunities for artists and arts organisations. Promoting and
Marketing Queensland Art was opened by Hon. Matt Foley, Minister for the Arts.
Flying Arts Founder Mervyn Moriarty holds workshop in Mackay.
1995 Exhibition:
Dec.
Sense of Self in Cairns Regional Gallery, Mackay Entertainment Centre and Belvedere
Gallery Nanango. 52 works were selected for the Shell Art Award presentation and
exhibition in Brisbane. Only one male - Mark Dutney, Bundaberg.
Held in Brisbane at foyer space 111 George Street. Exhibition Curator Kate
Ravenswood. Allstate Printing and Graphics supplied catalogues and invitations.
Sandra Burchill (Innisfail) winner of the 1995 Shell Art Award of $2000 (silk paper and
linen piece). The first time the award had been presented to a textiles artist. She won
another prize in Townsville.
Jill O’Sullivan, Mt. Isa, Margot Grant, north Queensland, Highly Commended.
Margot a member of experimental groups Kick Arts (Mt. Isa) and Umbrella Studio
(Townsville). She was selected as one of 16 Far North Queensland artists for a touring
exhibition No Piece of Cake.
Lynette Griffiths, Highly Commended. Visual Arts Co-ordinator at Thursday Island
College of TAFE, exhibiting in Brisbane. Work reviewed in Periphery.
Ellie Neilsen (Biloela), Shelley Burt (Cooktown), Patti Thompson (Mt. Isa) received Commendations.
Mackay rep. Lyn Kaddatz said successful district artists included Karen Norman,
Rosemary Payne, Irene Coburn, Lyn Kaddatz and Lesley Kane (all Mackay); Denise
Vanderlugt (Proserpine) and Dysart artists Pam Bartley and Gail Ferguson.
Student Successes:
Feb.
Peg McCumstie, Moree, exhibited in Survey 4, Toowoomba Regional Gallery.
March Lynette Griffiths, Jennifer McDuff, Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox, Carol McCormack
selected from over 100 applicants to exhibit in Common Ground, Bartleme Gallery, Brisbane.
March Anneke Silver, Townsville, a major retrospective of painting and drawing, 30 years in
North Queensland.
April
Val Keenan, Cairns, creates a Mixed Media group in Kuranda.
April-June
Jo Forster solo exhibitions of Weipa paintings at Richmond and Mt. Isa.
June
Vivienne Heckels, Toowoomba, with a theme of the current drought and economic
downturn in the bush at the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery.
June
Ellie Neilsen, Biloela, wins a Rees R. & Sydney Jones Fellowship, one of only 8
people accepted for a five-week workshop at Studio Camnitzer in North Tuscany.
Christine Elcoate and Patti Thompson from Mt. Isa created Moving, a collaborative
piece. It was exhibited at a Cairns Kick Arts Inc. contemporary art exhibition and with
Mt. Isa’s contemporary art group Stack Arts.
Dec.
Financials: This year a surplus of $34,728.14. Program Receipts $36,129. Grant and
Sponsorships $215,000, Other $31,175.76.
Map of tours in Annual Report. Flying Arts is still at Milton.
1996
Feb.
Four Gazettes No. 69 April, No. 70 June, No. 71 September, No. 72 December.
Touring Artists: Three new painters/mixed media: Steven Royster (North), James
Guppy (Central), Andrew MacDonald (South).
Ceramics: Sam Di Mauro (North), Steve Davies (Central - new), Textiles: Marion
Gaemers (North), Ken Smith (Central - new).
Supplementary Workshops: Wim de Vos (Printmaking), Jill Kennear (Textiles &
Marketing), Zanette Kahler (Sculpture), Sue Guilfoyle (Art and Technology).
1996
March
March
March
March
June
June
June
Sept.
Tutors received special praise from Blackall, Bundaberg, Wee Waa, Maleny,
42
Innisfail, Kuranda, Rolleston.
Guest artists from APT Triennial. Nalini Malani (India) represented India at the
Johannesburg Biennale in 1995, Francesca (Keka) Enriquez (Philippines), Tom Deko
(Papua New Guinea) who has won numerous awards for his metal sculpture.
Management Committee: Prof.Leon Cantrell Southern Cross University Lismore
(President); Dr. Robyn Stewart USQ (Vice President; Brian Tucker (Secretary/Treasurer);
Ms.Lesley Richardson (USQ); Alan Hoffman (Shell Co.); Ms. Susi Muddinman (USQ);
Doug Murphy (Barrister); Noreen Grahame (Grahame Galleries); Ms. Sharon Donoghue
(former Biloela rep.); Mr. Glen Miller (Co-ordinator Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Tourism at the Qld. Tourist and Travel Corporation). Melissa Smith (Account Executive,
Media Link International).
Staff members: Executive Officer Ms. Christine Campbell; Jillian Moss
(Administration Officer); Rebecca Dezuanni (Program Manager); Debra Powell
(Publications Co-ordinator); Christine Sayer (Project Manager); Kellie James (Project
Assistant), Andrew Barlow (Pilot).
Sponsors: Arts Queensland - the Office of Arts and Cultural Development, Shell
Australia, Media Link International, BHP in Dysart, Uzu Air in the Torres Strait and
Minter Ellison Lawyers Brisbane.
Patron: Queensland Governor - Her Excellency Mrs. Leneen Forde A.C.
In line with the Strategic Plan, the proportion of total budget drawn directly from the
Queensland government arts ministry continued to fall.
The enhanced 1996 program attracted a great deal of publicity for Flying Arts, a high
priority for the management committee. Tutors are carefully chosen from among the best
artists available and the management committee regularly receives feedback on their
performance.
From Anne Cameron, Centre Rep. Roma. “We read, become involved in workshops, read,
refer, put down thoughts, make sketches and, sometimes, the muse sits on our shoulders and
sometimes she doesn’t. We become involved, become committed, become passionate,
become disgruntled and dismayed and, sometimes we end up with a completed work.
Meanwhile we cement friendships.
In 1996 visiting artists/tutors conducted two rounds of workshops in more than 50
centres throughout Queensland and northern New South Wales.
New centres for 1996 included Weipa, Bedourie, Blackall, Rockhampton, Yeppoon and Moree.
Sam di Mauro (Ceramics) by arrangement with Griffith University’s QCA ran
workshops in the far north of the state, from the Torres Strait Islands to Cooktown,
Kuranda and Mt. Isa. Local company, Skytrans, was chartered to fly the northern region,
with Uzu Air continuing their sponsorship of the Horn to Darnley Island sector to enable
textiles workshops to be held on tiny Darnley Island.
The busiest region for Flying Arts was the central region, from Bundaberg to Mackay on the coast
through inland towns including Alpha, Rolleston, Roma and Dysart (which continued to be funded
as a centre by BHP).
With Toowoomba as the southern base, visiting artist, Andrew MacDonald, drove the
Flying Arts vehicle in an arc from Toowoomba extending from the Sunshine Coast
through border centres to Wee Waa in NSW to conduct mixed media workshops.
Bedourie is extremely isolated. Some people travelled over 200km for Marion
Gaemers’ basketry/papermaking workshop.
The Beattie Queensland Government introduces multi-year funding.
In 1996 Flying Arts introduced interim workshops and masterclasses to make its
program more flexible for centres. This option was taken up by Innisfail (Textiles with Jill
Kinnear), Biloela (a special silk-painting session with Ken Smith) and Maleny (printmaking
with Wim de Vos).
Guest Artists: The highlight of the second touring round was the inclusion of AsiaPacific Triennial guest artists on each of the tours - metal sculptor, Tom Deko, from
1996
Nov.
Dec.
Dec.
1996
May
May
June
June
July
Papua New Guinea in the north, painter and installation artists, Francesca Enriquez 43
from the Philippines on the central route and Nalini Malani from India on the
southern. The guest program was a joint Queensland Art Gallery/Flying Arts initiative
with special funding from Flying Arts’ major sponsor, the Arts Office.
Other tour guests included a freelance photographer/journalist from California, Bill
Nation and an ABC team which created a news segment around the Baralaba workshops
and long-standing member Auda Maclean’s property, Coolum.
1996 Regional exhibition Transitions - ‘we live in a time of rapid change and growth.’
Additional funding from Shell Co. of Aust. for $1000 awards at regional exhibitions at
Townsville, Gladstone, Warwick. Also sponsored by NQX Freight.
Winners: Fiona Joseph (Thursday Island), Colleen Heathwood (Mackay), Fay
McKenzie (Toowoomba), Robin Bassingthwaighte (Charters Towers).
Highly Commended: Jill O’Sullivan (Mt. Isa), Mary Newman (Roma), Jocelyn
Moloney (Toowoomba).
Commendations: Margot Grant (Kuranda), Gail Ferguson Rogers (Dysart), Kath
Leonard (Goondiwindi).
President’s Report: Overall 1996 was an excellent year for FA, one in which
significant progress was made towards achieving the long-term goal of developing a
client-oriented and responsive arts organisation.
Arts Queensland has been restructured and is now known as The Arts Office. Former
Executive Director, Greg Andrews, was remembered for championing regional arts and
raising the profile of the Queensland arts industry.
PROJECTS:
ReSiting: Regions Online with Flying Arts Inc. Flying Arts is funded by the Australia
Foundation for Culture and the Humanities, with support from major partners, to develop its
electronic communications technology. Participating members will be trained in Internet use
through their nearest Queensland Open Learning Centre: Atherton, Bamarga, Barcaldine,
Blackall, Blackwater, Brisbane, Bundaberg, Burdekin, Cairns, Charleville, Charters Towers,
Chinchilla, Clermont, Coolangatta, Dalby, Emerald, Gladstone, Gold Coast, Gympie,
Hopevale, Ingham, Ipswich, Logan, Longreach, Mackay, Maryborough, Moranbah, Mt. Isa,
Nambour, Rockhampton, Roma, St. George, Tara, Thursday Island, Toowoomba, Townsville,
Warwick and Weipa. The University of Southern Queensland and the Queensland Open
Learning Network (whose regional centres became training bases for participating members).
Web consultant, Marie Biggins, was engaged to create the new Flying Arts’ web site and to
monitor the Listserv, which was established by USQ (Media Services) on Flying Arts behalf.
Flying Arts funded ten percent of its members to use computers.
Sue Guilfoyle: “ There are more and more artists coming online with plenty to say about
the medium, and with as many points of view. There are claims that the net is a return of
the modernist machine aesthetic, and other claims that the net’s irrationality, anarchy and
fragmentation is the crux of postmodernism. Pop culture buffs occasionally argue that in a
society dominated by fast moving images, the net is the cultural future of the 21st century.
All of which leaves us struggling to apply concepts of critical theory to an ephermeral,
intangible medium that looms outside of any previously defined category or paradigm.”
Transitions: The Centre for Interactive MultiMedia at James Cook University of North
Queensland designs and produces the Transitions exhibition at Flying Arts’ web site.
Flying Arts thanked CIMM Director Geoff Arger, interactive instructional designer Barbara
White, and graphic programmer Christine Jones for creating a virtual gallery of specially
commended members’ works.
“Marathon Art Workshop runs at Cooee Bay.”. Workshop grew out of Moriarty’s
school twenty years ago. (Capricorn Coast Mirror 12 June, 1996.)
Cross Arts Collaborations. Maleny writer Lesley Singh was the first recipient of the
Queensland Council Everald Compton Regional New Writers Scholarship. Her article
was about an artwork by Flying Arts member Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox.
Anniversary Exhibition: Shell Australia’s 3x8+1. : 25 Years of Flying Arts. As a special
1996
commemorative event Flying Arts mounted a touring exhibition. The concept was
44
developed with a grant administered by the Regional Galleries Association of Queensland on
behalf of the Australia Council. It received substantial support from Flying Arts’ corporate
sponsors, Shell Australia, (whose support has been boosted by more than 50%), NQX
Freight System and the Gaming Machine Community Benefit Fund and attracting additional
contributions towards catalogue design and printing, conservation, insurance, crating and
framing. Launched at the main (Toowoomba) campus of its host institution, The
University of Southern Queensland. The event was hosted by USQ’s Alumni Association
and Ballandean Estate Wines. A six week season, coinciding with the inaugural Brisbane
Festival followed at Brisbane’s Customs House Art Gallery before beginning a tour of
centres from Cooktown to Lismore.
$1000 awards to be presented at each of the regional exhibitions.
August Artists’ retreat at The Haven, Emu Park on the Capricorn Coast to coincide with the
Bauhinia Arts Festival. Mervyn Moriarty was invited as a tutor. Painting and critiquing
sessions with Mervyn were paralleled by workshops in handbuilding, glazing and firing
techniques with ceramist, Yvonne Bouwman. The four-day residency was coordinated by
freelance artsworker, Christine Sayer, and included special guests, Central Queensland
artist, Pamela Croft, writer-in-residence at Central Queensland University, Jay Verney who
led a campfire storytelling session; and a Marketing and Promotions Forum with Lawrence
Bendle, Manager Arts Services, Rockhampton City Council, Steve Bishopric, Ceramic
Artist, Nob Creek Pottery and Mary Carroll, General Manager, Capricorn Coast Tourist
Organisation. It attracted artists from as far afield as Mount Isa, Mackay, Monto, Childers
and Bundaberg and stimulated a renewed interest in Flying Arts.
From Mervyn Moriarty on the importance of being creative: “In the pursuit of your
own vision and your own voice, the most readily accessible and perhaps most worthless
approach is to follow someone else who has had something worthwhile to say in another
time, place or culture. It is probably equally invalid to turn your back on your own
unique vision in favour of something that is attractive or fashionable in the hands of
someone else.”
Sept.
Computer Graphics Camp-out in September. Art and Technology workshop on Atherton
Tableland.
Sept.
BOLT Flying Arts responded to a request from the Queensland College of Art to participate
in a project titled BOLT, a touring exhibition of work by collaborative teams of emerging
and established designer metalsmiths, many of them regional. The BOLT exhibition opened
at the Dalby Regional Gallery. Flying Arts students prominent in these Sept. events.
Oct.
Mt. Isa Writing Seminar. Writers’ and Artists’ Workshop in October.
Student successes:
June
Bag Arts - a collaborative group of artists begin working in the Banana Shire. Ellie Neilsen
from Flying Arts is an organiser.
First Toowoomba Biennial Art Award & Exhibition. Total cash prizes of $15,000.
July
Arts West School of Creative Arts in July.
August Caloundra Arts Festival in August.
October Bundaberg Arts Festival in October.
Dec.
Gladstone Entertainment Centre exhibited 42 works by FAI Central Queensland artists.
Robin Stieger, Narrabri, winner at Warwick art Festival.
Dec.
Ellie Neilsen, Auda Maclean, Stephanie Broadhurst, Rhonda Rettke received awards
at the Brigalow Arts Festival Art Exhibition.
Dec.
Alice McLaughlin and Auda Maclean exhibiting at the Childers Regional Art Gallery.
Dec.
Christine Turner. Her work was purchased by Griffith Artworks, Brisbane.
Dec.
Valerie Keenan won the Mixed Media/Assemblage Acquisitive section of the Mackay Art
Society’s Artists and Art ‘96 exhibition.
Dec.
Local Government to become more involved in cultural policy and Planning.
Dec.
Financials: Profit this year of $15,910.25. Grants: Arts Qld. $185,350.0; Shell (Exhibition)
$12,500.00; Shell Aust. $22,000.00; Australia Foundation (ReSiting) $14,974.50. Gaming
Machine Community Benefit Fund $7,500.00; Media Link $12,000.00.
1997
Feb.
Feb.
March
March
March
March
Three Flying Arts Gazettes: 73 Autumn 1997, 74 Winter 1997, No.75 Spring 1997.
45
Touring Artists: Painting/Drawing, Printmaking, Wim de Vos (South), Peter Dwyer
(Central) Steven Royster (North - from last year). Ceramics, Simon Suckling (Central),
Peter Thompson (North), Textiles: Ken Smith (Central - from last year), Jill Kinnear (North).
Arts West and Flying Arts working together in seeking expressions of interest in
Enamelling workshops with Walraven van Keeckeren.
Flying Arts members encouraged to use ‘Demand workshops’ to comply with Arts
Office directives. Cost $250 day but for ten participants only $25 day - 11 artists to
choose from i.e. painting and Japanese calligraphy (Motoyuki Niwa), sculpting in timber
(Ben Trupperbaumer), painting and drawing (Jondi Keane), wearable art (Wendy Wright),
creative textile design ( Jill Kinnear), mixed media (Pamela Croft), papermaking
(Christine Ballinger), photography (Maree Cunnington), jewellery making (Sheridan
Kennedy), silversmithing (Seanne McArthur), ceramics (Mary-Lou Hogarth), and many
more.
Tours: Flying Arts ran 93 workshops in 28 centres for regional artists, the majority during
two rounds of sequential touring in April and September.
In conjunction with QUT and as a second stage of the Australia Foundation for Culture
and the Humanities project, ReSiting: Regions Online with Flying Arts Inc., artists, Di Ball
and David White, were special guests in the first round of touring, offering small group
and individual assistance to members interested in art and technology.
Guest artists: Di Ball and David White from QUT (Kelvin Grove campus). For a story of
a week in the life of a Flying Arts tutor see Flying Arts Gazette No. 74, Winter edition.
Centre Reps: Northern - 14 + Kalkadoon State High Sschool. Central - 17 + Capella
State High School, Southern - 5 + WeeWaa, Sunshine Beach, St. George State High
Schools and College of the South West.
Sponsors: The Arts Office (Qld. gov.), USQ, Shell, Minter Ellison, NQX Freight System.
Patron: Major General Peter Arnison, A.O. Governor of Queensland.
In 1997 FAI continues to deliver and expand its creative and professional development
services to artists and crafts people throughout and beyond the state.
Services offered by FA include practical sequential workshops in an increasing number of
mediums - from painting and drawing, ceramics and textiles to art and technology; an
annual residency for regional secondary school students; regional, touring and metropolitan
members’ exhibitions; and one-off professional or cultural development projects.
The mission of FA is to facilitate professional development by enabling access to current
arts practice to those isolated by a variety of circumstances. Its goal is to advance
artistic achievement and promote a professional attitude toward the visual arts.
Management Committee: New President - Mr. Douglas Murphy (Barrister), Prof. Leon
Cantrell Vice President, Brian Tucker Treasurer/Secretary. New student rep Ms Valerie
Keenan, (former Kuranda artist), Prof. Anthony Barnett (Dean USQ Faculty of Business,
333 Adelaide Street) and Ms. Ann-Reaney (USQ), Ms. Susi Muddinman (Grafton
Regional Gallery), Ms. Noreen Grahame (Commercial Gallery Director), Ms. Joyce
Watson (Artist/Curator and Mr. Michael McMahon from Shell Australia.
Assoc. Professor Robyn Stewart (USQ) becomes a Life Member of FIA.
Staff: Executive Officer Christine Campbell, Jillian Moss (Admin. Officer), Rebecca
Dezuanni (Program Manager), Cathryn Lloyd (Touring Exhibition Coordinator), Steven
Carson (VAEW Coordinator). 4 volunteers.
1997 was the first year of Flying Arts triennial funding agreement with the Arts
Office. It gave Flying Arts a degree of stability.
Minter Ellison Lawyers assists with legal advice and much of the desktop publishing.
September meeting held at USQ followed by launch of a CD Rom designed by USQ’s
Media Services Unit.
Flying Arts moved to 333 Adelaide Street after having offices at Milton for seven years.
USQ is also to be congratulated on hosting and maintaining Flying Arts web site and for
disseminating press releases through its marketing department.
Brian Tucker has been Treasurer for nine years i.e. since 1988.
1997
From Anne Cameron (Roma). In recent years, regional areas have been given
46
greater access to the arts through Queensland government grants. While this move has
been most welcome, those of us interested in furthering our knowledge of our chosen
area of the arts, have found that the time honoured institution of the Flying Arts still
has that special something extra to offer those who attend its workshops. Is it that the
Flying Arts staff have knowledge of, and ready access to, professional artists who are
keen and enthusiastic? Is it because the staff keep in touch with the ‘art scene’, and
with the latest developments in art and technology, so that a ready supply of information
is available? Is it because Flying Arts ensures through its commitment to curating and
touring exhibitions of the works of its members, that all Queensland artists, regardless
of the isolation of where they live, have an equal opportunity to be seen all over the
state? Is it because they run a visual arts residency for young people, so that the
organisation makes sure it remains a living, up to date institution, in touch with today’s
needs, and the community’s demands? My opinion is, that it is all of these things, and
more, which make Flying Arts Inc. unique”.
Townsville re-opens a Flying Arts Centre through an interview over ABC radio.
Photographer, Michelle Deanshaw, from the Cooloola Sunshine Institute of TAFE,
accompanied and documented the northern and central flying tours.
Jill Kinnear touring Torres Strait and Cooktown. At Horn Island entire families joined in
the production of tablecloths and lava lavas.
Flying Arts Tutor successful on the world stage: Judy Watson Aboriginal artist who
tutored with Flying Arts and whose work went on tour with Flying Arts has been artist in
residence in Bhopal-India, Norway, Canada and Western Australia. She has worked at an
artists’ camp in the Maradalen Glacial Valley in Norway. She won Australia’s most
prestigious art prize - the Moet & Chandon Fellowship. She has been selected to represent
Australia in the Venice Biennale in 1997.
1997
PROJECTS:
March Key focus areas for Flying Arts this year - youth activities and building relationships with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The State government budget is for
frontline arts grants to go to regional Queensland and youth in 1997/98. Funding to
individual artists and arts groups has been increased by 15 percent to $105 million. More
than half a million dollars has been allocated as part of a new Youth Cultural Policy. This
led to VAEW (see below).
May
Writing and Illustrating Workshop 9-12 May Perc Tucker Gallery, Townsville.
Jointly co-ordinated by Queensland Writers’ Centre, Queensland Arts Council and Flying
Arts leads to the formation of local writers groups in the north. Speakers Sue Pechey (a
specialist in Oral History), Rebecca Edwards (poet/writer James Cook University),
Gregory Rogers (illustrator), the first Australian ever to win the Kate Greenaway Medal.
June/JulyVAEW - Visual Arts Experience Week is a residential workshop for regional high school
students throughout the State. Brochures for the project have been disseminated to all schools
throughout Queensland and northern New South Wales. Bursaries are available along with a
design prize competition. VAEW was so successful it has become an annual event.
Flying Arts inaugural Visual Arts Experience Week attracted 69 upper secondary students
from throughout the state to a week-long residency in Brisbane. Students bussed, trained
and flew from centres as far away as Weipa, Mt. Isa, Charters Towers, Longreach,
Mackay, Moranbah and Cairns to participate in five full days of practical workshops and
performances around the theme, RADF supported a Moranbah contingent of ten to attend
the event at the Brisbane Girls Grammar School from June/July.
VAEW Metropolis. Students experienced a program of gallery and museum visits, a
walking tour of the New Farm/Fortitude Valley art precinct and art industry presentations.
An experimental approach to learning was encouraged, with students involved in core
workshops including 2D and 3D, art and technology, and performance art, conducted by
professional contemporary artists, including Brisbane-based Lucinda Elliott, Susan Gray,
Di Ball and indigenous artist, Pamela Croft from Central Queensland.
VAEW also involved students in afternoon project workshops in ceramics with artist 47
Karen Laird; photography with Sally Cox, and installation art and performance art with
artists Anthony Babicci and Peter Dwyer; all aimed at allowing a more thorough
involvement with visual arts activities geared towards the closing night event.
Major sponsors for the 1997 pilot event were the Australia Foundation for Culture and
the Humanities and the Gaming Machine Communities Benefit Fund. Bursaries made
available through the Regional Arts Development Fund, administered by the Arts Office
for the Queensland Government and from QANTM Cooperative Multimedia Centre
through its Youthworks and Indigenet programs. 10 students were of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander descent, these students received funding from government and/or
other sources (including that disseminated by Flying Arts on its sponsors’ behalf). A
number of students raised their own support from local community and service
organisations.
CD Rom for Re-Siting: Regions Online with Flying Arts Inc. at USQ.
Exhibitions:
July
3x8+1: 25 years of Flying Arts toured in July with 1997 seasons in Cairns, Townsville,
Gladstone, Mackay, Bundaberg and Lismore.
August The Torres News pays tribute to Flying Arts tutors in the remote communities of Thursday
and Horn Islands.
Nov.
Transitions: 1997 saw the second year of regional exhibitions around the Transitions
theme. As in 1996, Shell Art Awards and special commendations were presented at the
three regional venues - Dalby Regional Gallery, Mt. Isa Civic Centre and Bundaberg Arts
Centre. In each of these venues a selection panel of three was invited to nominate one
winning work and some special commendations.
Opened at Customs House in Brisbane in November by new patron, His Excellency Major
General Peter Arnison, A.O., governor of Queensland.
Student Successes:
April
Ellie Neilsen Great Australian Icon, at Michel Sourgnes Gallery, Ascot, Brisbane.
May
The Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville to host a Writing and Illustrating workshop for
28 north Queensland artists from Julia Creek to Cooktown to Mackay in May.
June
Judy Watson, former student and tutor of FAI, became the recipient of Australia’s
most prestigious art prize, the Moet & Chandon Fellowship France.
June
Christine Turner Tribute to Frida II, purchased by Griffith Artworks, Brisbane.
Christine Turner’s work is in a virtual gallery at Greenaway Gallery website.
Valerie Keenan won Mixed Media/Assemblage Acquisitive section, Mackay Art Society ‘96 exhibition.
Alice McLaughlin, Auda Maclean, exhibit at Childers Regional Art Gallery.
June
Peg McCumstie opens exhibition Ear of the Chair, at Wee Waa along with other members of
the Wee Waa Art Group. Peg is one of Flying Arts’ longest serving members. She instigated
and organised this exhibition and is an inspiration in her dedication and prolific artistic output.
June
Lynette Griffiths, Thursday Island, teaching at Cooroy Institute of TAFE.
June
Mandy Maguire, Mt. Isa, teaching art at Sunshine Beach State High School.
June
Susi Muddiman, management committee member appointed Director, Grafton Regional Gallery.
August Janet Fountain Leanne’s Ugg Boots, a finalist in the 1997 Silk Cut Award.
August Del Luke, Barbara Bettely, Maryann Lister, Carol Miller, Kaye Dahlenburg, Jenny
Gardner, Pat Deller-Smith, Clare Ohl included in Seeing and Feeling, an exhibition of recent
paintings, pastels and vibrant wool works responding to aspects of rural life in Central
Queensland at the Queensland Arts Council Gallery at Dutton Park.
August Blackwater Art Society Rhapsody in Blue (predominantly blue paintings, pottery and textile
art) attracted almost 300 people in just over a week.
August The Caloundra Art & Craft Festival in August will have a total prizemoney of $25,000.
August Ellie Neilsen, Auda Maclean, Stephanie Broadhurst, Rhonda Rettke receive awards at
Brigalow Arts Festival.
Sept.
Moree Plains Gallery, NSW, featured work by Flying Arts students from Moree and
surrounding towns.
1997
1997
Australia’s first regional gallery began in Ballarat in 1884. There are now
48
about 100 regional galleries throughout Australia and collectively they present over
2000 exhibitions. Gazette No. 75.
Sept/Oct The Bundaberg Arts Festival in September/October will have over $10,000 in prize money.
Oct.
The Maroochy Arts Festival in October will award prizes to $9,500.
Mervyn Moriarty selected for exhibition in the Sulman Art Prize, Sydney.
Nov.
Treasurers Report: (Net profit of $41,923 for the year. Income was $396,479.42.)
Another successful year, financially and operationally. Income from the Flying Arts
program increased by $32012.00, the majority being generated by the Visual Arts
Experience Week. Grant income was reduced by $13,299.00. $20,000 in one-off grants
was received in 1996, there was a modest increase. Other receipts increased by $7675.00
so that overall there was a 7% increase in income to $396,479. Income from The Arts
Office represented 47.7% of total income, achieving the objective - to reduce their Grant
to less than 50% of total income.
Touring and program costs were maintained at 1996 levels while administration costs
increased by only 1%. This combination of increased revenues and contained costs
contributed to a surplus of $41,936.00, bringing accumulated funds to $99,673.00 of
which $62,492.00 is a working capital surplus (net assets less fixed assets). The result is a
credit to Chris’ prudent management. Grants from Qld. office of the Arts ($189,000),
Australia Foundation ($17,025.50), Shell Aust. $22,000) In Kind support ($13,000)
1998
Feb.
March
March
March
March
April
Three Gazettes: No. 76 Feb/March, No. 77 September, No. 78 December.
Touring Artists: Northern: Barbara Cheshire (Painting and Drawing) replaces Steven
Royster, Jill Kinnear (Textiles), Karen Laird (Painting & drawing and Ceramics).
Central: Garry Andrews, Peter Dwyer and Karen Laird (Painting & Drawing) Karen
Laird (Ceramics), Ken Smith (Textiles) and Shirley Wilkins (Ceramics), Southern Wim de
Vos (Painting & Drawings and Printmaking). Six regular tours in the year i.e. two northern,
two central, two southern.
Management Committee Douglas Murphy (President), new Vice President Ann-Maree
Reaney (Senior Lecturer Visual Arts USQ), Ms. Noreen Grahame replaces Brian Tucker
as Secretary, with Craig Morrissey (Partner Kitchen & Morrisey Chartered Accountants)
as Treasurer, Committee: Prof. Anthony Barnett, Valerie Keenan (Artist and Members’
Rep.), Susi Muddiman, John Topley (Research and Advisory Consultant) and Joyce
Watson. New Committee members: Carolyn Barker (CEO Aust. Institute of
Management Qld. & NT), Ellie Neilsen (Artist and Members’ Rep.), David Nothdurft
(National Commercial Manager NXQ Freight System). Prof. Leon Cantrell and Brian
Tucker left the Board.
Staff: Christine Campbell, Mary Robinson (Program Co-ordinator), Christine Boulsover and
Anastasia Anderson (Administration), Tracey Heathwood (Project Assistant), Cathryn Lloyd.
(Touring Exhibition Coordinator) and Natasha Shaw (VAEW Co-ordinator). Six volunteers.
Flying Arts Mission: To provide opportunities for artistic experience, development and
achievement for those with limited access.
Two touring workshop programs involving 40 regional communities during the year.
Exhibitions held in Cairns, Rockhampton and Toowoomba.
Anne Lord receives life membership. Anne is the seventh member to receive this, others are:
Mervyn Moriarty, Jeff Shaw, Robyn Stewart, Professor Leon Cantrell, Brian Tucker and Lyndal Moor.
The Art of Transition exhibition touring Queensland - Cairns, Toowoomba, Rockhampton, the
Northern Territory and New South Wales. The Gaming Machine Community Benefit Fund will
sponsor the Exhibition. Other funding is coming from the Australia Council via the Regional
Galleries Assn. of Queensland Exhibition Development Fund and the ongoing support of NQX
Freight System.
Arts West advertise 8 workshops in the Flying Arts Gazette.
Flying Arts one off Demand Workshops also being advertised.
Images of Australia 1890-1995, a major exhibition from the Queensland Art Gallery, to
1998
open Queensland’s newest regional Gallery, the Outback Regional Gallery in the
49
Waltzing Matilda Centre at Winton on 9 April.
July
July 9-10 Flying Arts in association with The University of Southern Queensland and the
Queensland Arts Council presented Within Range, a gathering of cultural, tourism,
economic development and local government representatives of more than thirty
communities within the south western region of the state, to discuss and debate, map and
plan for the future cultural development of the region.
Sept.
One Nation targets the Arts as ripe for funding cuts.
Nov.
1998 Flying Arts/Shell Australia Exhibition (dis)connections, a theme that would explore
the tensions inherent in wanting to be an artist with a regionally specific practice, and the desire
to be part of an international mainstream. Curated by Michael Snelling, Director, IMA.
Winners: Southern Queensland - Lesley Hawker (Goondiwindi), Bernice Dixon
(Toowoomba), Jennifer Ryan (Moree), Wendy Hallet (Roma).
Central Queensland - Rhonda Rettke (Biloela), Narelle Lewis (Bundaberg), Auda
Maclean (Baralaba), Mark Dutney (Bundaberg).
Northern Queensland - Janet Fountain (Mt. Isa), Graham Boyton (Cooktown), Robyn
Burch (Townsville), Catherine Lodewyck (Mt. Isa).
From Michael Snelling on regional artists: Many artists working outside the metropolitan
areas often feel that they don’t have access to some kind of mainstream, the place where the
action is. (This is all relative - many artists in, say, Sydney or Melbourne want to be in Berlin,
New York or Tokyo). Throughout the latter part of this century there has been a push to
globalise, both economically and artistically. The language of much art across the globe uses
the same terms. Regionally specific practices, however, resist this push towards homogeneity.
And just to confuse the issue, it has been argued that post modernism, as an international
movement promoting regional inflections, gave Australian artists the chance to free
themselves from the tyranny of feeling always in the shadow of European and American
artists. I would think that some of the most interesting work currently being made comes
from artists who are using the languages of international movements to say regionally specific
things. Much indigenous Australian art turns this entire premise around - it exists entirely
outside the languages of international stream, drawing on its place within Australia for its
form and meaning. Yet it is highly desired by the international art markets. Flying Arts
Gazette No. 76, February/March 1998.
Mervyn Moriarty living and working on isolated Monaro property. Holds a solo
exhibition in Sydney. “The figure” charcoal works on paper from life.
1998
Student successes:
May
Christine Elcoate (Maleny) first prize for textiles at the Mt. Isa Art Show.
July
Leoni Frangi exhibited at Doggett Studio, Brisbane.
August Graham Boyton won prizes for ceramics at the Annual Discovery Festival.
August Noela Mills (Maleny) invited to be artist-in-residence at Uluru Centre, Northern Territory..
August Ellie Neilsen, Hazel Mann shared an exhibition with Zonta, a women’s service club.
August Del Luke (Clermont Rep.), Pat Deller-Smith exhibited at Flinders Gallery Townsville.
Sept.
Marion Berry won a number of prizes for her ceramic work at the Blackwater Annual Art Exhibition.
Sept.
Pam Bartley (Dysart) exhibited with the Queensland College of Art exhibition
Nov.
Narelle Lewis (Bundaberg) has her ceramic and clay sculpture featured in the Capricorn Local News.
PROJECTS:
June/JulyThe second Visual Arts Experience Week residency for regional secondary students at
Brisbane Girls Grammar School. Cost $375. Special Guest tutor Judy Watson.
A south west Queensland regional cultural summit, Within Range, held in Toowoomba
in conjunction with USQ and the Queensland Arts Council.
Significant research into regional service delivery of the visual arts as part of a 1998
program enhancement proposal funded by Arts Queensland.
A new Business Plan to guide Flying Arts through to the year 2002. With the assistance of
consultant Neil Drury and under the auspices of the Australian Institute of Management
Committee. Key staff invested a great deal of time and thought in developing a plan
designed to position Flying Arts as “a leading Australian force in advancing arts practice”.
1998
Christine Campbell attended the International Council of Museums conference,
50
Museums and Cultural Diversity - Ancient Cultures, New Worlds in Melbourne, a national
regional arts conference, Changing Landscapes in Mt. Gambier and an Australian Institute
of Arts Management marketing seminar in Sydney.
May/Nov.Teleconferences held in May and November to involve Flying Arts reps in policy and
planning decisions.
Mackay Centre Rep Irene Coburn joined forces with Management Committee member
Ellie Neilsen to launch the first Centre Reps newsletter, the Flying Arts Flyer, as a means
of strengthening the network and exchange ideas, news and helpful information.
The most significant evidence of Flying Arts’recent success is the effective diversification of its
program and the subsequent increased scope of program participants. At the same time, the
organisation has maintained core aspects of its program, most notably its seasons of touring
workshops.
Nov.
Financials: This year total income was $411,784 with total outgoings of $409,547
leaving a net profit of $2,237 with Current Liabilities of $27,651 (creditors and accruals),
$4,906 (accrued income), $4,890 (provision for annual leave).
This is the second year of The Arts Office 3-year grant to Flying Arts.
The Arts Council of Australia has now become Regional Arts Australia.
1999
Feb.
March
April
April
April
Three Flying Arts Gazettes: April 1999 No. 79, September 1999, No. 80, December 1999 No. 81.
Touring Artists: Painting and Drawing: Rachel Apelt and Barbara Cheshire,
Ceramics: Karen Laird and Shirley Wilkins. Textiles: Jill Kinnear and Wendy Wright,
Printmaking: Louise Taylor.
Special guests: N.S. Harsha (India), Nguyen Minh Tanh (Vietnam) in Brisbane for the
opening of the Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art. Harsha’s and Tanh’s contributions
were funded by The Arts Office and coordinated by Queensland Art Gallery.
Management Committee Douglas Murphy (President), new Vice President Carolyn Barker,
Noreen Grahame Secretary, new Treasurer Jenny Parker (Partner Arthur Andersen).
Committee: Prof. Anthony Barnett, Valerie Keenan, Susi Muddiman and Ellie Neilsen remain.
New committee members: Peter Denham (Travelling Exhibitions Officer Queensland Art
Gallery), Shawn Ket (General Manager, Training & Education Services QANTM Australia
CMC), Alex McDonald (Campaigns and Trade Development Manager The Bodyshop
Australia & NZ), Sandy Pottinger (Senior Lecturer, Visual Arts, Faculty of Arts, USQ).
Management Committee meetings now held bi-monthly with sub-committees meeting in
alternate months. This has resulted in a more focused approach to management, marketing
and services.
Staff: Christine Campbell GM. In September Nicole Butler took over from Mary Robinson.
Robin Winter (Management Skills Workshop Coordinator), Anastasia Anderson, Tracey
Heathwood and Gabe Cramb new VAEW Coordinator. Ten volunteers.
A new centre has opened at Agnes Water.
President’s Report:
Aims: To satisfy the needs and develop the artistic potential of individuals and
communities; create a sense of community through the arts; and actively seek new growth
areas which affirm support for the value of the arts.
Flying Arts guaranteed the ongoing support of USQ. Also attending a special dinner
from supporters was David Ross, Professor of Flexible Delivery at INDELTA, the business
arm of USQ. INDELTA maintains and hosts Flying Arts’ website, it was also responsible
for trialing the first module of the Visual Arts Online course for Flying Arts.
Sponsors: Minter Ellison Lawyers - Gillian Brown, a partner with Minter Ellison
Lawyers, provides desktop publishing services.
NQX Freight System enabled the touring of the Art of Transition exhibition to three states.
McCafferty’s provided discounted freighting for members’ works and discounted travel
for attendees at the Visual Arts Experience Week.
New sponsor JSA Design redesigning Flying Arts logo with new brochures to be printed
by Copyprint Express.
1999
April
Sept.
Nov.
1999
March
April
June
Sept.
Sept.
Sponsors: The University of Southern Queensland; Arts Queensland; Indelta;
51
Families, Youth & Community Care Queensland; Queensland Government State
Development; JSA Design; Copy Print Xpress.
Ann Lund, Acting Principal Consultant, Visual Arts, Craft and Design, The Arts Office
also provided assistance.
After nine years sponsorship by Shell Australia FAI has a new sponsor QCL Group of
Companies.
The opening of Queensland Art Gallery’s third Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.
Flying Arts were actively involved with the program with APT artists accompanying Flying
Arts’ tutors on Central and Southern tours. VAEW also involved artists from the APT.
Exhibition: (dis)connections
1999 was the first year of the QCL Art Award at Customs House Art Gallery on
November 26. (QCL - Qld. Cement Ltd.). Curated by Michael Snelling, Director of IMA,
Brisbane. Opened by Hon. Matt Foley MLA, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice and
Minister for the Arts. A special preview and QCL prize selection was held at St.
Margaret’s School, Ascot in October. QCL inaugurates a purchase award to build its own
corporate collection.
As a new incentive for members, Flying Arts is also offering a $300 cash prize for a theme
and accompanying image for the QCL exhibitions in the year 2000.
Winner: Lesley Hawker with her installation Cultural baggage. A Centre rep from
Goondiwindi, her work used on the cover of the 1999 Annual Report.
Gary Schmidt, a former Flying Arts’ member from Goondiwindi, now with JSA Design,
created a new logo Copy Print Xpress used its expertise to add colour to future
Flying Arts publications.
Goondiwindi P& ASociety offering prizes up to $500 and Acquisitive Awards up to $950 for its local gallery.
PROJECTS:
A new exhibition opportunity during the DPI’s Primary Industries Week at the
Marriott Hotel March 15-26. Primary Colours: A sampling of the (Flying) Arts industry
in regional Queensland, aroused sufficient interest to inaugurate a follow-up exhibition in
2000 and to pilot a regional art award around the DPI’s 2000 theme, Primary industries in
the New Millennium. (Jayne Keogh, Javelin Consulting).
Ellie Neilsen and Valerie Keenan featured along with long-standing Flying Arts’ members
Vincent Bray, Auda Maclean, Carol McCormack, Bernice Dixon and Wendy Hallett both specially commended in the 1998 Shell Art Award and 1994 Shell Art Award winner
Merle Wagner.
INDELTA, the business arm of The University of Southern Queensland, is partnering
Flying Arts in the trialing of a Visual Arts Foundation Course module, to be launched on
Flying Arts’ website after Easter.
A good sampling of tutors and artists, from the near south west and from central
Queensland, attended the opening where a group of Flying Arts textiles members were
exhibiting at the Australian Institute of Management. Members and tutors sustained 12
months of exhibitions at the AIM Spring Hill headquarters.
Flying Arts selected as the state wide service provider for two south-west Queensland
regional projects, the Today, Tomorrow, Together banner art library at Warwick and the
Glenmorgan Cyber Mural with assistance from the Federal Regional Arts Fund through
Arts Queensland.
VAEW Experience Week a success: 35 students from all parts of the state enrolled. A
change of venue from QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus to Marist Brothers College at Ashgrove,
year 12 students down but year 10 contingent attracted to the new timing, from winter to
spring to coincide with the third Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art and the
International Society of Educators through Art Conference. Students had the opportunity to
gather information on tertiary courses and participate in workshops offered by staff of QUT
and QCA campuses.
Students treated to behind the scenes tours of the QAG and artists’ talks associated with the APT.
1999
Sept.
Sept.
Sept.
Sept.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
The Public Art Agency hosted a tour of inner city and Kangaroo Point cliffs outdoor
52
sculpture.
QCAN, YAQ, QAA and the Institute of Modern Art also contributed bursaries to students from
regional Queensland with Queensland College of Art (Griffith University), QUT’s Visual Arts
Department, Access Arts and The University of Southern Queensland in conjunction with
Flying Arts providing scholarships via Factor X. The Sunday Mail ran a logo design
competition which challenged the artist/student to “Picture yourself in the VAEW”.
VAEW supported by Arts Queensland, Dept. Families Youth and Community Care and
proceeds from Tucker with Tucker event.
McCafferty’s Express Coaches offering 30% discount on freighting to exhibitions as a
membership benefit and on travel for students to the annual VAEW. Shell are no longer sponsors.
The Art of Transition, commenced in August 1998, concluded with a special season at the
Brisbane Institute of Art in September 1999.
Flying Arts showcased the collection of former Treasurer and now life member Brian
Tucker at the West End market studio operated by Wim de Vos and Adele Outteridge. A host
of luminaries including Arts Minister Matt Foley, QAG Director Doug Hall (who curated the
exhibition), regional artist Ellie Neilsen and Janet de Boer (Editor, Textile Fibre Forum) turned
out to honour the arts industry’s favourite accountant and honorary multiple Treasurer.
Proceeds raised from Tucker with Tucker were directed to Brian’s favourite Flying Arts project,
VAEW. From Peter Anderson (Courier Mail). “In a way, Flying Arts helps to pull together a
virtual community, linked by tutors, workshops and regular moments of creative exchange.”
Management Skills Development Scheme: With professional development a focal area in
1999, Flying Arts was pleased to recognise and thank its Centre Representatives,
voluntary workers who enthuse audiences, promote programs, collect fees and act as the
Flying Arts regional spokespersons. It offered them and other regional colleagues access to
management skills workshops. The workshops were co-funded by the Office of State
Development on a dollar for dollar basis and covered a variety of topics from becoming a
professional artist, employment and educational opportunities, marketing, representation and
resources to regional success stories and business opportunities, throughout Queensland.
Visual Arts Online: In the second part of the year, online delivery of art education was trialed
with 16 participants throughout the state selected from a broad range of careers, from gallery
workers, to teachers, individual artists including a marine biologist.
The Visual Arts Foundation Course was first conceived by former Flying Arts Executive
Officer, Glenda Nalder with assistance and illustration by Karen Warnock, then of Wavell
Heights State High School. The course was updated firstly by Kate Ravenswood, and further
developed in 1999 by Sue Guilfoyle (inaugural VAEW housemother). USQ’s business arm
INDELTA designed and uploaded the course, and by years’ end, Arts Queensland’s Digital
Media Program agreed to fund the remaining units, with the launch of the full online course
scheduled for June 2000.
The 2000/2001 exhibition, Flying Arts INK: A Lyre Bird Press Production,
commenced bookings in late 1999.
Flying Arts co-sponsoring an artist-in-residence program at the Wesley Hospital in
Auchenflower Local artists Elizabeth Bach and Christine Morrow worked in the
wards and clinics of the Wesley Hospital for two three-week blocks. Art curator for the
Wesley Group of Hospitals Martin Davis said that this year’s residencies were the beginning of
an ongoing program. “We aim to export these to our satellite hospitals in Kingaroy and
Townsville particularly and there’s scope for an ongoing relationship with Flying Arts,” he
said.
Student successes:
Three Flying Arts’ members win bursaries to the McGregor Summer school: Linda
Price (Blackwater), Adele Jones (Greenmount) and Stephanie Broadhurst (Baralaba).
Ellie Neilsen receives Banana Shire Council 1999 Australia Day Award for personal
commitment and outstanding cultural achievement. Her work is being exhibited at the
Gladstone Regional Gallery.
1999
March
53
Ellie Neilsen, and Valerie Keenan featured along with long-standing Flying Arts’ members
Vincent Bray, Auda Maclean, Carol McCormack, Bernice Dixon and Wendy Hallett - both
specially commended in the 1998 Shell Art Award and 1994 Shell Art Award winner Merle Wagner
in Primary Colours: a sampling of the Flying Arts industry in regional Queensland at Brisbane’s
Marriott Hotel from March 15-16. Primary Colours, which coincided with Primary Industries Week,
was supported by the Department of Primary Industries and opened by the Minister for Primary
Industries.
April
Janet Fountain (Mt. Isa) had an exhibition of her copper smelter paintings at the Mount Isa Potters’
Gallery.
Ceramist Shelley Burt (Cooktown rep.) receives Australian Day Cultural award for a
leading role in the construction of Milbi wall.
August Carol Mylrea and Ellie Neilsen (Biloela) exhibit at West End, Brisbane.
Sept.
Jocelyn Moloney and Charlene Attard (VAEW high school students) have work being
exhibited at the Australian Institute of Management, Brisbane.
Sept.
Maree Cameron, Centre Representative for Dalby, won a Wambo Shire award of part funding
to attend the McGregor Winter school at the University of Southern Queensland. Baralaba
Centre Rep. Stephanie Broadhurst won the Champion Piece of Textile Art at the Baralaba
Show.
Sept.
Auda Maclean and Ellie Neilsen accepted for exhibiting at the Maritime Expo in France, part
of a Central Queensland exhibition.
Sept.
Jill O’Sullivan, Trish Nixon-Smith share open prize at Mt. Isa Rotary Annual Art Exhibition.
October Auda Maclean and sister Clare Page (potter and sculptor) exhibit at Baralaba. All work was
sold.
Nov.
Rosemary Payne, Mackay, is exhibiting in the United Kingdom this month.
From Susi Muddiman, Director, Grafton Regional Gallery:
As a member of the Management Committee since 1994, it is particularly gratifying for
me to be continually impressed by the very genuine sense of exchange that is still
demonstrated between selected tutors, mostly from urban centres, and their rural students.
What began in 1971 as one man’s inspired idea, has developed to encompass a variety of
achievements and programs which offer scope to regional artists.
1999
Tour Program: In the outback we have very few opportunities to expand ourselves
artistically and it is a wonderful experience to be given this opportunity. From a workshop
participant in 1999.
Flying Arts offer greater flexibility to workshop participants by advertising its workshops to
all regional artists, members or not, at the same rate.
Tutors offered across regions on a first-to-book preference scheme. It resulted in an increase
in workshop participation from an average of just over eight in 1998 to almost 13 per centre
by the second round of 1999.
I was so happy to have time with others who love to draw, also to have the opportunity
to explore my life through linear drawing. From a workshop participant in 1999.
The first tour round was heavily promoted in regional media, marketing being a priority
for the year, the exercise proved that advertising pays dividends. Program coordinator
Mary Robinson in demand for radio interviews. The majority of these took place in prime
listening time.
August Tutors travelled by train, bus, chartered and commercial plane, bus and company
vehicle to centres around the state, as well as to northern New South Wales. In all, 40
centres hosted workshops, with new centres and/or mediums introduced in Dalby,
Chinchilla, Miles, Mount Isa, Muttaburra, Barcaldine, Tully/Mission Beach, Hughenden,
Karumba and The Pioneer Valley.
The workshops took me out of my ‘comfort zone’ and challenged preconceptions. Inspiring
and fun. Can’t get enough! Even though I have attended only two Flying Arts workshops,
I have found them refreshing and motivational with exceptional tutors. You may read a
thousand books on ‘how to’ but there’s nothing like ‘hands on’ and just doing it. A
workshop participant in 1999.
1999
Nov.
2000
Feb.
March
March
2000
Feb.
July
One-off workshops with a wider range of tutors, mediums and times, continues to be
54
offered to communities and schools.
Financials: Flying Arts incurred an accounting deficit for the year which represents the
recognition for the first time of long service leave and annual leave provisions for employees.
The operating cost position for the year is similar to previous years. Income is slightly down.
Three Flying Arts Gazettes: No. 82 February 2000, No. 83 September, No. 84 December.
Touring Artists: Rachel Apelt, (Painting & Drawing), Majena Mafe (Painting and
Drawing), Donna Confetti (Painting and Drawing), Melanie Forbes (Ceramics), Wendy
Wright (Textiles), Normana Wight, (Printmaking and Collage).
Special Workshops: Cathryn Lloyd, (Silk Painting and Batik), Tom Justice (Paper clay),
Adele Outteridge (creative bookmaking), Helen Broadhurst (clay sculpture and mosaic),
Pippin Drysdale, New Surfaces (ceramics masterclass).
This year Flying Arts will reinstate Foundation Workshops for beginners. Combined
artists Pamela Croft/Chamay Bauer workshops.
Management Committee: President, Douglas Murphy, (Barrister at Law), Vice President
Carolyn Barker (Chief Executive Officer, Aust. Institute of Management QLD & NT.),
Noreen Grahame Secretary, Treasurer Jenny Parker (Partner Arthur Andersen).
Committee: Peter Denham (QAG), Ellie Neilsen (Artist, Members’ Representative),
Sandy Pottinger (USQ), Tom Carroll (Commonwealth Bank), Robert Heather (Regional
Galleries Assn. of Qld.), Graham Nash (Anglican Church Grammar School), Karyn Nina
Olsen, (DPI), Greg Roberts (Qld. Heritage Trails), David Ross (INDELTA).
Staff: Executive Officer Christine Campbell, Program Manager Nicole Butler, Projects
Coordinator Tracey Heathwood, Office Manager Anastasia Anderson (Jan-May) and
Emma-Jean Stewart-trainee (May-Oct.), Tony Longland (Oct-Dec.). Online Facilitator
Sue Guilfoyle, Contract Bookkeeper Jannette Spinks-Hill, Multimedia Trainee Wayne
Durack, Web Site Designer Tony Longland. 9 volunteers, 29 Centre Representatives.
Hon. Life Members: Prof. Leon Cantrell, Anne Lord, Mervyn Moriarty, Lyndal Moor,
Jeff Shaw, Assoc. Prof. Robyn Stewart, Brian Tucker.
Sponsors remain as in 1999. Contributors to 2000 events: Commonwealth Bank of
Australia, Brisbane City Council, Queensland Art Gallery, Queensland College of Art,
Queensland University of Technology, Rockhampton City Council, Department of Primary
Industries.
Justice Ian Callinan, a former Chairman of Trustees of Queensland Art Gallery donated
proceeds of a night’s performance of his play The Acquisition held at Brisbane Arts Centre.
Patron: His Excellency Major General Peter Arnison, AC, Governor of Queensland. In
November there was a cocktail party at Government House in appreciation of the work of
Flying Arts staff, volunteers, sponsors and supporters.
Fifty Queensland and Northern New South Wales centres participated in almost 90
workshops as diverse as bodycasting with paper clay, visual journals and fabric dyeing.
New centres at Gympie, Sapphire, Moura, Atherton, Gatton, Palmwoods, Yeppoon,
Biloela and Mirani. Eighteen secondary school workshops were held in 13 centres Oneoff workshops were held in Gladstone with Adele Outteridge (creative book making),
Innisfail with Helen Broadhurst (clay sculpture and mosaic), Roma with Cathryn Lloyd
(silk painting and batik), Mount Isa with Tom Justice (paper clay) and Hervey Bay with
Wendy Wright (machine embroidery).
Scholarships: Flying Arts piloting a scholarships program for tour one. Six scholarships
available - 4 to current members and 2 to non-members. Members can attend the first twoday workshop for the year for free, non-members receive a 50 per cent discount and free
Flying Arts membership for 6 months.
HIGHLIGHTS
Primary School workshops: For $250 per day FAI will provide a limited number of
workshops in painting and ceramics.
Flying Arts Book printed by Lyrebird Press, JCU through Anne Lord. On show in
2000
Duaringa Shire Art Gallery, Bundaberg Arts Centre, Brisbane Powerhouse, Gladstone
55
Regional Art Gallery and Museum before commencing its three-state tour. Flying
Arts artists who appear in the book were: Ellie Neilsen, Ivy Zappala whose work is
represented in Brisbane Parliament House and Museum of Villiers-Bretoneaux in France,
Anne Lord, Josephine Forster and Vincent Bray.
July
Artists at the Winter School were Lesley Kane and Irene Coburn (Flying Arts Book).
Visual Arts Online: Launched at QUT Kelvin Grove campus on 14 July 2000, thanks to
the Gaming Machine Community Benefit Fund and continued support from INDELTA,
the Online course ran again this year with a sizable enrolment in Units One and Two.
(Gazette No. 83).
One of Flying Arts’ new goals is to use computer technologies to meet the aims of its
charter. The first ‘foundation’ course is being trialed in 2000 and is setting the
foundations for a whole new way of thinking about delivering arts experience to remote
areas. Flying Arts would like to add that, in keeping with the theme, our workshops
cater for beginners.
Management and Marketing Online, a Flying Arts/Department of State Development
partnership co-ordinated by Neil Drury (Genesis Consulting) and Sue Guilfoyle (Visual
Arts Online facilitator), was launched this year and is now accessible to anyone entering
the Flying Arts web site. The site is designed to present resources to enable the
progression of artistic practices through developing fundamental business principles and
marketing strategies. It is divided into two major areas. The first presents ways to
promote a professional visual arts practice within the gallery system or via other
exhibition means with the support of government or private sector grants funding and/or
via the development of marketable works or goods. The other helps establish a
community arts organisation or other artistic collaborative and has numerous links to
significant information on the site or links to other sites.
August Masterclasses with internationally acclaimed West Australian ceramist Pippin Drysdale, a
highlight of this year’s Flying Arts workshop program. In collaboration with Queensland
Potters’ Association, Pippin to tour in August.
August The renaming of Flying Arts youth residency Visual Arts Experience Week (VAEW)
to Experience The Arts (ETA) Coordinated by Projects Coordinator Tracey
Heathwood. Now in its fourth year ETA reverses the organisation’s model of
transporting tutors to regional communities. 64 students from throughout the state
attended ETA 2000. It brings aspiring young artists from regional centres throughout the
State to Brisbane. Tutors selected to run the ETA workshops are professional practising
artists with a particular interest in nurturing confidence and ability in young students.
Lino printing with Majena Mafe, life drawing with John Armstrong, sculpture with
Melanie Forbes, design with Jill Kinnear, pinhole photography with Chris Handran,
installation with Rachel Apelt, fibre art with Melissa Hirsch and web site design with Di
Ball. There was also a drawing excursion of Brisbane City with artist Donna Confetti; a
trip to La Boite Theatre; a galleries tour of New Farm and Fortitude Valley and a behindthe-scenes tour of Queensland Art Gallery.
ETA exposes students to a wide variety of options for continuing visual arts at a tertiary
level with QUT, IMA, QCA or the Southbank Institute of TAFE. Bursaries were
awarded to 13 students by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, QCA, QUT, Brisbane
City Gallery and the Department of Families, Youth and Community Care.
It incorporates a significant Asia Pacific Triennial component with artist talks by
Vietnamese, Sri Lankan and Indian artists during triennial years. (Gazette 83).
August Melanie Forbes, Flying Arts tutor, opened the Cook town Creative Arts Group exhibition.
$1400 worth of sales made on opening night.
Sept.
Graham Nash (Article in Gazette 83) proud of the Australian Art Education after having
visited all Australian states, Canada, the Philippines and New York.
Dec.
Joe Furlonger: An exhibition of work by this nationally renowned Gold Coast based
artist and former Flying Arts tutor opened at the Gold Coast City Art Gallery.
2000
Exhibitions:
56
Sept/Oct. Annual Exhibition: Foundations, the 2000 QCL Art Award exhibition to be held
at Gladstone Regional Art Gallery in September/October and at Waltzing Matilda Centre
Outback Regional Gallery, Winton, from October to December. Curated by Frank
McBride, Director, Brisbane City Gallery. The winning theme of this and next years’
exhibitions, Foundations, was conceived by Suzanne Oberhardt, Arts Queensland’s
Senior Arts Officer (VACD/Museums).
This year Artist’s Award will increase from $2000 to $5000 with a host of special prizes,
including bursaries to Queensland and interstate arts residencies.
Winning artist was Susan Hutton (Childers) for Seed store unearthed. Sally
Cunnington’s Clean slate also stood out. Highly Commended were Narelle Lewis
(Bundaberg), Rosemary Payne (Mackay). Commended were Sally Cunnington (Sarina),
Jocelyn Moloney (Toowoomba), Auda Maclean (Baralaba), and Rhonda Rettke (Baralaba).
Other popular works were by artists Carol Seeger, Vivienne Heckels, Lesley Hawker.
Dec.
Inaugural DPI Regional Art Award held at Logan Art Gallery, Brisbane. 150 artists
sent in work and 90 were exhibited. Winners received a $2000 cash prize ($1000 in the
youth category) with winning works becoming part of the DPI’s corporate collection.
Selectors were Kerrie-Ann Roberts (Regional Galleries Assn. of Qld), Diane Baker
(Manager Toowoomba Regional Gallery) and Graham Dalton and Andrew Edwards
representing Queensland Farmers’ Federation. Successful artists were: Painting - Tarja
Ahokas (Redland Bay), Works on Paper - Carol Seeger (Pialba), Sculpture - David
Charlton (Slacks Creek), Fibre - Marion Curry (Oakey), Digital - Doug Spowart
(Toowoomba), Youth - Gayle Walpole (Rockhampton), Minister’s Award - Patrick
Petein (Toowoomba).
Student successes:
May
Linda Price (Blackwater), Marion Berry (Blackwater), and Del Luke (Clermont)
successful in the Blackwater State High School P&C’s annual arts competition and
exhibition.
August Elaine Ryan (Richmond) exhibiting artworks depicting the Flinders Poppy, an unusual
flower, specific to the downs country, has been the subject of several studies by Ryan.
Jo Forster exhibition Gulf Savannah River Aerials, showing at John Flynn Place
Cloncurry.
Sept.
Fay Kelly won $1500 prize for the Open Section at the Goondiwindi Show.
Oct.
Maree Cameron, Centre Rep. from Dalby holding solo exhibition at Chinchilla White
Gums gallery. A collection of 45 paintings completed by Maree over the past three years.
Dec.
Carol McCormack retrospective at the Balonne River Gallery.
Dec.
Financials: At the end of the year 2000 Flying Arts finances were in a highly
satisfactory position. Total income and assets were $179,101, total liabilities $102,717
leaving accumulated funds of $76,384.
2001
Jan.
Feb.
Feb.
Two Flying Arts Gazettes: 85 July 2001.
86 October 2001.
Newspaper Reports
Michelle Helmrich “Out of the Blue”, an article on Flying Arts. (Jan. 6 Courier Mail, JOL)
Mervyn Moriarty solo exhibition at Solander Gallery, Canberra. 8 Feb - 4 March.
Jennifer Kingma “Monaro Artist’s confronting nudes”. (Canberra Times 13/2/2001.)
Mervyn Moriarty writing art books: Art Education Publishing “Bullanamang” Jones
Plains Road via Cooma.
Touring Artists: Lucja Ray (Painting), Majena Mafe (Mixed Media, Painting,
Printmaking), Heather Winter (Photography), Bonney Bombach (Installation, Painting),
Malenie Forbes (Ceramics, sculpture), Jenny Mulcahy (paper clay), Glenys Mann
(Textiles), Pamela Croft and Chamy Bauer (Mixed Media Monoprinting).
International Textiles Artists: Marjan Boontjes (Holland), Jeanette Appleton (England),
B. Adams (America), Keshav & Bina Rao (India).
Experience the Arts with: Simon Grennan (Etching), Majena Mafe (Experimental
2001
March
March
March
March
June
Painting), Carl Warner (Fab Photography), Rachel Apelt (Think Installation), Tracey 57
Benson (Processing Identity), Nick Comino (Drawing - Tradition and Change).
Management Committee: Douglas Murphy (President), Vice President Noreen Grahame
(Director Grahame Galleries), Secretary Graham Nash (Qld. Art Teachers’ Assn.),
Treasurer Karen Mitchell Chartered Accountant. Committee: Elizabeth Bates (QAG),
Robert Heather (Regional Galleries Assn.), Christine Elcoate (Artist Members’ Rep),
Karyn Nina Olsen, (DPI), Prof. Maurice French (USQ), Suzannah Conway (Qld. Folk
Federation/Brisbane River Festival.)
Staff: Executive Officer Christine Campbell, Program Manager Nicole Butler, Projects
Coordinator Tracey Heathwood, Admin. Officers Blair Garland and Ruth Springett,
Contract bookkeepers Debra Mazzei and Jannette Spinks-Hill, Marketing Officers
Michelle Carter and Jodie Gordon. Online Facilitator Sue Guilfoyle. Sixteen volunteers.
President’s Report: In 1994 a newly christened Flying Arts (formerly the Australian
Flying Arts School) was emerging from a review process that could have seen the
organisation fold. Instead it went on to effect the recommendations of a Future
Directions strategy and has gone from strength to strength ever since. This year
assistance from CS Energy, the Australia Council for the Arts and Centenary of Federation
Queensland.
From Christine Campbell: 2001 was quite a milestone for an organisation that
commenced operations in 1971. To celebrate the occasion, CS Energy funded a Thirty
Years of Flying Arts commemorative exhibition in Mount Isa and Brisbane. Founder
Mervyn Moriarty and his partner Prue Acton travelled from Cooma for the Brisbane
season. Artists and supporters from throughout the years, including popular early
ceramist from the late 70s era, Kevin Grealy, attended the official opening. It was
preceded by a forum on The role of art in defining community which featured Mervyn
Moriarty, former Flying Arts’ President Robyn Stewart, who is an Associate Professor
(Visual Arts) at The University of Southern Queensland, and Glenn Cooke, Research
Curator Queensland Heritage, at Queensland Art Gallery.
Tours: The 2001 Tour Program catered to an increasingly diverse regional arts market
with almost eighty workshops in fifty centres. New centres visited included Atherton,
Cairns, Middlemount, Longreach, Proston, Ingham and Moura. Fourteen visual artists
travelled by plane, bus, hire car, company vehicle and tilt train to conduct
workshops in mixed media, painting, printmaking, photography, installation, paperclay,
ceramics and textiles. Artists were kept busy with exhibitions of participants’ work, guest
presentations and school talks.
School workshops increased by almost 50 percent with a total of thirty workshops as
well as the Experience The Arts residency for secondary students from throughout the
state. Flying Arts explored new markets with primary school workshops, professional
development days for teachers and vocational sessions for students.
From Ivana de Boni, Springwood State High School. “Flying Arts provides a wonderful
opportunity for schools to access professional artists with a great range of activities to
excite and engage students in the Visual Arts,”
A special feature of the 2001 program was the increase in partnerships with other
arts organisations including a number of regional galleries.
The Australian Forum for Textile Arts (TAFTA) provided guest artists from England,
India, Holland and the USA for workshops exploring block printing and dyeing, realism
in machine embroidery, feltmaking and 3D garments.
Experience The Arts 2001 (ETA) - an intensive week of practical workshops with
professional artists, excursions to galleries, performance events and site visits to tertiary
institutes and colleges in Brisbane. Hosted by the Anglican Church Grammar School in
East Brisbane, ETA 2001 catered for 64 students throughout the state.
Twenty-six students were awarded bursaries to attend ETA 2001, eighteen of these receiving
assistance from Arts Queensland through a special youth initiative. Other scholarships were
provided by Barcaldine Shire Council, Blackwater Arts Society, Brian Tucker CPA,
Queensland University of Technology, Southbank Institute of TAFE, Texas Regional Art
2001
Sept.
Gallery and the Interact Club in conjunction with St. Michael’s College at Merrimac.
58
Another 2001 phenomenon was the number of students attending ETA for the second
or third time.
June
Visual Arts Online: As early as 1996, Flying Arts began investigating the Internet’s
potential for augmenting the visual arts community through an online project Re-Siting:
Regions Online with Flying Arts. This project, funded by the (then) Australia Foundation
for Culture and the Humanities, made available the resources and training at Open
Learning Centres to extend Flying Arts and its partners’ artistic networks and increase
professional and development opportunities for artists and crafts people in regional areas.
The project underlined the significance of the internet in the creation of new learning
environments, particularly where this technology tends to overcome barriers of time,
distance and culture to generate new forms of art practices. It became the fundamental
objective of the current Visual Arts Online course (VAO) which, although still in its
infancy, continues to expand through the support of the Brisbane City Council, to
encourage new and emerging visual art practices and to facilitate a bridge to the full range
of Flying Arts endeavours.
Now in its fourth year the communication factor in building communities is a key issue
and VAO is filled with good humor and camaraderie which can be seen in forum
comments such as those by Colleen Gherashe from Dalby. However, there are problems:
July
The problems of running a computer in the bush: From Peta Warner of Cunnamulla.
“We have a blackout here at present so I’m typing on back up power. Couldn’t start the
generator by myself and everyone else is trucking and crutching sheep on our place next
door. Recooked the apple pie, burnt the outside rim of pastry but the middle is delicious.
Exciting discoveries are those that participants learn about their own creativity when
prompted to use a new medium, take a new approach, or just to spend time looking - at
our world and at other artworks online.
Anne-Marie Prince, from Kairi, wrote about her reservations in her drawing ability - but after
some Internet research following course links. Anne-Marie came across work that sent her
into a flurry of drawing activity. It highlights the benefits of utilising the internet as a teaching
medium, it enables far reaching research which can be self directed, serendipitous or
suggested by the course.
The Department of Primary Industries partnered with the QCL Group of
Companies to stage the QCL Art Award at Logan Art Gallery. The touring
exhibition circuit extended to three states with Flying Arts INK: A Lyre Bird Press
Production commencing the year in northern New South Wales and finishing in the
Northern Territory.
Flying Arts fifth youth residency and its ongoing Visual Arts Online courses.
With funding from the Audience and Market Development Division of the Australia Council
for the Arts, a marketing cooperative with Ausdance (Qld) and Youth Arts Queensland
enabled Flying Arts to better promote its own products in tandem with those of its partners
in other art forms.
October Exhibitions: The QCL Annual Art exhibition 2001: Thirty Years of Flying Arts proved
to be a major showcasing year for Flying Arts tutors, members, representatives, workshop
participants and regional artists generally. Exhibition activity commenced with the Thirty
Years of Flying Arts exhibition in Mount Isa in April. This event, sponsored by CS
Energy, was complemented by a season at the Brisbane Powerhouse in November which
also featured two life-sized new works by Flying Arts founder Mervyn Moriarty.
Thirty Years of Flying Arts comprised ten works by current and former Flying Arts
visiting professionals which form part of the CS Energy collection housed at Global
Arts Link Ipswich. The challenge of completing the exhibition was accepted by Doug
Hall, Director QAG who chose ten recent works by award winning members and a further
ten by students who had attended Flying Arts annual youth residences to complement the
CS Energy section.
The completion of the Flying Arts INK: A Lyre Bird Press Production exhibition with
2001
Nov.
seasons in Grafton, Gladstone, Mount Isa, Toowoomba, Chinchilla, Gympie, Wondai, 59
Thuringowa and centres in the Northern Territory.
90 works from all parts of the state and northern NSW selected to feature in the QCL
Regional Art Award in conjunction with the DPI. Artists took out more than $10,000 in
cash and incentive prizes, works acquired by the DPI and individual purchasers.
40 works from the QCL Art Award featured in Flying Arts first auction, hosted by Minter
Ellison Lawyers at their Waterfront Place premises.
As an International Year of the Volunteer special activity, Eclectica Gallery at the Grange
hosted Making Time, an exhibition acknowledging the enormous contribution Flying Arts
Centre Representatives make to its program and as artists in their own right.
Dec.
Financials: This year FA made a profit of $15,448.
2002
Management Committee: Dr. Sue-Anne Wallace, Director, QUT Cultural Precinct,
(President), Vice President Graham Nash (Qld. Art Teachers’ Assn), Treasurer Carmen
Quinn (Regional Business Analyst, Woolworths)), Secretary Christine Elcoate (Artist,
members rep.)
Committee: Elizabeth Bates (QAG), Audrey Hoffmann (Warwick Art Gallery), Ingrid
Hoffman (Hervey Bay Regional Gallery), Karyn Nina Olsen, (DPI), Prof. Maurice French
(USQ), Judy Kean, (Museums Australia, Qld.), Brendan Lea (Queensland Studies
Authority).
Staff: Executive Officer Christine Campbell, Program Coordinator Liz Grimmett,
Operations Manager Rebecca Carson, Publications officer Sue Guilfolyle (until Oct. 2002)
Trainee Administration Assistant Grace Bonnin-Trickett. Part-Time Faridah Cameron,
Janette Spinks-Hill, VAO Facilitator Judy Anderson, Website development John Reeves.
Three volunteers.
Tours Artists: Seventeen listed: Robert Andrews (Murals and Painting), Beverley
Bloxham (Banner Making), Bonney Bombach, (Installation, painting and drawing), Jo
Cruickshanks (Murals and Project Facilitation), Faridah Cameron (Painting and Drawing),
Amanda de Haan (Painting and Drawing), Lize Gaze (Jewellery Making) Don Hildred
(Photography), Glenys Mann (Textiles), Wendy McGrath (Printmaking), Jenny Mulcahy
(Ceramics), Lucja Ray (Painting and Drawing), Stephen Spurrier (Bookmaking and
printmaking), Nicole Voevodin-Cash (Installation), Mark Warne (Ceramics), Sylvia Watt
(Textiles), Elizabeth Woods (Installation).
Special Guest Artist: Ian Smith.
Experience the Arts (ETA) - Brisbane: with Sue Guilfoyle (Digital Imaging), Brendan
Lea (Drawing), Jemima Wyman (Printmaking).
Blackall: with Rachel Apelt (Installation), Don Hildred (Photography), Karen Laird
(Ceramics). 29 centre reps this year.
President’s Report: There were a number of changes to the management committee of
Flying Arts at the Annual General Meeting. In 2002, the new management committee, in
concert with staff, focussed on reviewing the strategic plan of the organisation and
developed a business plan for 2003-2005. The new vision: “Flying Arts connects artists and
communities”. It epitomises the philosophy that inspired Mervyn Moriarty when he
founded the organisation 32 years ago.
DPI has continued to assist Flying Arts through the regional art award exhibition, an event
eagerly anticipated by regional communities. It both encourages art practice and the study
of art works.
2002 a number of corporate partnerships developed. A partnership with Macair Airlines - a
perfect match between one of Australia’s largest private regional airline operators and
Queensland’s regionally-focussed Flying Arts. QantasLink, through the office of Acting General
Manager provides valuable support to Flying Arts. With two air services Queensland is well
covered and Flying Arts is kept airborne.
Minter Ellison Lawyers still a sponsor.
March
March
2002
March
.
60
The Year in Summary: “ The Year of the Outback” had a special relevance for
Flying Arts. In 2002, Flying Arts increased the scope of its services to regional
Queensland and northern NSW in response to feedback from the previous year. With
support from Macair Airlines and QantasLink, the number of tour program artists doubled,
the number of workshops trebled. The introduction of masterclasses and extended
residencies added new learning levels to the experiences Flying Arts offered regional
practitioners.
A special highlight was a cultural exchange with Arts West, funded by Arts Queensland,
which enabled Flying Arts to stage a regional counterpart to its annual Experience The
Arts youth residency in Blackall in the September school holidays.
The DPI directed its support towards a Year of the Outback regional art award exhibition,
which travelled from Dalby in the south-east to Bundaberg, Winton and Mourilyan.
APPENDIX II
KNOWN STUDENTS OF FLYING ARTS TO 1994
(Flying Arts Inc. have complete lists after that date)
Alpha
Alice McLaughlin
Robert McLaughlin
Karen Hall
Aramac
Chris Howie (rep.)
Atherton
Grace.Fong On
I. Cahill
E. Forster
Marie Cohen
Madge Witts
Sandra Burchill
Annette Tranter
Lyn Blake
Dawn Urquhart
Augathella
Josephine Gorman
Ayr
Bonny Hutton
June Barrett
Bob McLaughlin
Carol Norris
Babinda
Eula Jensen
Banora Point
Anne Calbert
Alma Stephens
Barraba
Dorothy McKid
Baralaba
Auda Maclean
Bev. Johnson
Sue Sawley
Jean Becker
Carol Hoadley
Nancy Nott
Stephanie Broadhurst
Kathleen Dunn
Doone Campbell
Glenda Gill
Barcaldine
Ruth Francis
Karen Brown
Lorraine Rose
Ranald Chandler
Jenny Chandler
Jane Krimmer
Eileen Dancey
Jan Hannah
Biggenden
Robin Hunter
Biloela
Margaret Johnson
Bev Johnson
Nola Grabbe
Jo McTaggart
Wendy Epp
Ellie Neilsen
Jenny Whitehead
Pamela Engelbrecht
Sharon Donoghue
Rosemary Anderson
Sheryn Bustead
Bingara
Joan Ball
Pam Hill
Mollie Frost
Binibuy
Maureen Fayle
Blackall
Jan Gall
Ros Kiernan
Karen Bignall
Helen Kowald
Judith Roughead
Kerry Van Mosseveld
Jay Van Mosseveld
Iris Orchard
Betty Turner
Sherry White
Brisbane
John Walters
Barb Limb
Clive Robertson
Eva Heckel
Glen Henderson
Bowen
Margery Bond
Jan Trackson
Irene MacDonald
Jenny Whitehead
Bundaberg
Peter Fenoglio
John Honeywell
Lynn Maughan
Coralie Busby
Jennifer McDuff
Joan Murray
Alan Murray
Fred Grose
Elva Paterson
Cath Hoffman
Lola Thompson
Marveen Ash
Robyn Olsen
Janette.Hurwood
Kitty McDonald
Veronica Echmann
Nola Grabbe
Jan Grabbe
Maryan Tomlins
Grace Wagner
Jan Cooper
Mavis Head
Trevor Lyons
Roma Henzler
Joyce Raffin
Barbara Lloyd
Anne Zaleski
Joan French
Christine Turner
Susan Moore
Elsie Stewart
Ashley Kingstone
Germaine Kennedy
Roma Hensley
Kathleen Nielsen
Ann Grocott
Mary Argall
Inez Melvin
Dawn Bates
Jess Noble
Mark Dutney
Bernie Dixon
Lisa Blainey
Renee Blainey
Chloe Blainey
Daphne Heiner
Buderim
Peggy Stirton
Gerry Unwin
Peg Carlyle
Helen Allen
Audrey Lawrie
Burdekin
David Paulson
Cairns
Bruce Hall
Gloria Medlick
Sally Grattidge
Roberta Donald
Lucy Thompson
Steve Simpson
Louise Vickers
Arlene M. Wienert
Wendy Gordon
Patricia Page
Bev Hill
Jane Williams
Deborah Hutton
Ludij Peden
Delia Gilligan
Calliope
Jerry Elliott
Joanna Demaine
Caloundra
Peg Perkins
Carinda
Margaret Johnstone
Kate Horsburgh
Cathy Hatton
Joyce Lord
Anne Mannise
Pamela Norman
Cecil Plains
Shirley Wilkins
Charleville
Phyllis Roberts
Bon Paynter
Gladys Lynch
Lillian Scott
Lynne Keenan
Jan Carlson
Jim Deignan
Joyce Washbrook
Donna Reynolds
Charters Towers
Diane Whitney
Therese Stuart
Tony Waldron
Colleen Moore
Mary Leahy
Chinchilla
Sue Pendergast
June Hodgson
Chris Gaske
Joan Hubbard
Sylvia Mann
Chinchilla Contd.
Fay Kruger
Cooktown
Shelley Burt
Alex Poberay
Clermont
Eryl Toomey
Sandra Wall
Pam Bartley
Lynda Garland
Cloncurry
K. Brownsden
Helen Monize
Cunnamulla
Trish Freestun
Prue Pike
Sophie Higgins
Denise De Waard
Dagworth
Carol Curr
Dalby
Kathryn
Brimblecombe-Fox
Jack Wilson
Jo Smiles
Mabs Blackband
Joan Gill
Joyce Francis
Thelma Dearling
Joan Bauer
Robyn Bauer
Leila Croft
Jean Howie
Irene Johnson
Judith Laws
Agnes McNamara
Maree Cameron
Joyce Bott
Jan Wilson
Ruth Comben
Jim Ammenhauser
Pam Kirkwood
Mary Mearhes
Val St. John Wold
Alma Flemming
Margaret Wellbrock
Fairlie Schmeizer
Helen Cameron
Joyce Rushbrook
Joan Pacholke
Christine Lacey
Delungra
Pat Lloyd
Durong
Fay Kruger
Dysart
Sandra Juides
Jan Martin
Peggy Towns
Bev. Porter
Eidsvold
Jean Mesner
Emerald
Marie Biggins
Margaret Dixon
Jane Templeton
Shirley Cook
Glenda Mogridge
Karen Farrow
Michelle Gray
Cathy Jacobson
Gayndah
George Kirk
Peter Anderson
Kay Ker
Shirley Mergard
Gladstone
Lesley Roberts
Judy van Geest
Joan Warmington
Mary Norris
Marie Norrie
Thelma Connors
Bev. O’Brien
Robyn Olsen
Francis Dooley
Judith Wright
Judy Brody
Gloria Woodward
Noeline McLean
Burnie Smith
Robyn Davey
Lany Popovic
Dianne Heenan
Carol Groenenberg
Noela French
Glen Innes
Kay Stephens
Bev. Jones
Glenmorgan
Carol McCormack
Janis Somerville
Penny Murphy
Liz Jackson
Joan Schwennesen
Penny Sharpe
Dorothy Gordon
Sue Hughes
Barbara Teufel
Sally Bridle
Jane Bridle
Elaine Lyons
Gold Coast
Enid Hogan
Goondiwindi
Pat Garner
Kath Leonard
Jocelyn Cameron
Bernice Dixon
Fay Kelly
Judith Banks
Helen Cameron
Winifred Ash
Diana Cairns
Heather Ferguson-Noud
Colleen Elsley
Ann Webb
Lois Martin
Jenny Jackson
Peg McCumstie
Mary Gaston
Gordonvale
Ivy Zappala
Gum Flat
Betty Greentree
Gunnedah
Val Fitzpatrick
Gympie
Margaret McCardill
Hervey Bay
Lyn Beck
Carol Seeger
Hinchinbrook
Jean Giarola
Pat Burnett
Barbara Horsley
Home Hill
Neta Alcorn
Hughenden
Mrs. Morrison
Ingham
Julie Bunce
Fay Morris
Barbara Horsley
Joan Bennell
2
Lorraine Abernathy
Su Cartan
Innisfail
Sylvia Ditchburn
Sue Bulman
Ivy Zappala
Viv Teitzel
Zena Dotti
Pottery
Vince Moylan “
Olive Kelly
“
Tom Murphy
“
Beryl Mitchell “
Jean Giarola
Robyn Edwards
Rebecca Sweeney
Betty Sinton
Inverell NSW
Pam Lloyd
V. Scrace
Peg Uebergang
Peg McCumstie
Ros Wilschefski
Jessie Jackson
Beryl Hamilton
Helen Palmer
Audrey Teksberry
Beth Harris
Robyn Chart
Merle Hollingworth
Pauline Campbell
Tony Chapman
Betty Greentree
Julia Creek
Gladys Cooney
Shirley Eckford
Myra Beach
Anne Lord
Marjorie Lord
Olwyn Slack-Smith
Val Hick
Heather Tracey
Kalkadoon SHS
Lynda O’Shea
Kingaroy
M.M. Rice
Merle Clarkson
Cherry Coultis
Graham Voller
Elwyn Perkins
Eunice Berg
David Bryce
Kingaroy Contd.
Beverley Barry
Mary Bradley
Sue Flintham
Marilyn Watt
Josephine Knight
Deanna Jones
Leslie French
Joanne Dansie
Edith Ramke
Peter Parsons
Helen Unverzagt
Anne Kinang
Kupuun
Leila Croft
Lightning Ridge
Anne Flanagan
Brenda Forster
Longreach
Ruth Francis
Jocelyn Moloney
Llyris Bird
Bob. Hanrick
Heather Hale
Colleen Hanrick
Kay Vinson
Ann Barrett
Mackay
Grace Ingham
John Airoldi
Peg Horsnell
Sybil Rodgers
Liz Rommel
Helen Broadhurst
Rick Wood
Jill Luton
George Reid
Cheryl Vidulich
Irene Miller
Cecilie Bolton
Wendy Cullen
Lyn Ahmat
Rowena Hart
Jacki MacFarlane
Joyce Myall
Lesley Kane
Lorraine Prim
Irene Coburn
Pamela Chambeyron
Lyn Kaddatz
Jock McLaren
Trisha Stevens
Malanda
Sandra Burchill
Mareeba
Judy Fitzsimon
Liz Henzell
Shirley Leswell
Maryborough
Julie Wight
Nicolaas Riphagen
Jan Beasant
Beryl Wilson
Maureen McCulloch
Nola Grabbe
Joan Alexander
Patricia Harvey
Rita Crawford
Lola Lynch
Doris Day
Dulce Cameron
Joy Wells
Merle Wagner
Lola MacFarlane
Willy Paes
Carol Seeger
Pat Harvey
Maxwelton
Marg. Krieg
Meandarra
June Brawne
Barbara Manuel
Penny Murphy
Miles
Narelle Karez
Patricia Hinz
Millmerran
Vivienne Heckels
Mingindi
Margaret Brosnan
Mitchell
Mrs. Douglas Cedarilla
Marion Moore
Effie Hartnell
Enid Gillespie
Mondure
Edith Ramke
Monto
Thel Williams
Ellie Neilsen
Ann Groundwater
Gai McDonald
Dot Bambrich
Shirley Parker
Peter Heading
Burnie Smith
Robin Chapel
Marie Hanley
Robin Chappel
Mavis Hockey
Marjorie Pollock
Maree Hinricksen
Rona Benecke
Laurel Otto
Katherine Forsyth
Mooloolaba
Peggy Stirton
Moree
Peg McCumstie
Carole Williamson
Val Egan
Rhonda Traecey
Margaret Jolly
Peter Lowrey
Moura
Mavis Bissell
May Hempseed
Mt. Isa
Vincent Bray
Margaret Caroll
Jackie Phillips
Idris McVey
Jenny Grey
J. Burton
Michelle Savoye
Janet Fountain
Carol Boyd
Dot Rowlands
Nancy Towns
Greg McGrath
Ian Elcoate
Marjorie Lord
Les Gallagher
Shirley McNamara
Christine Elcoate
Jill O’Sullivan
Patti Thompson
Kate Lodewyk
Jenny Whitehead
Cathy Decker
Mt. Larcom
Jo Williams
McKinlay
Lenore Batt
Mungindi NSW
Gemma Tonkin
Cookie Slack-Smith
Sue Hickson
Mundubbera
Peter Anderson
Peter Adamson
Scot McLymont
Shirley Mergard
Mungindi
Mary Wells
Joanne Grainger
Murgon
Belba Dionysius
Kim-Marie Sierritt
Josephine Knight
Muriel Smith
Ann Pollard
Madeline Rice
Elspeth Kendall
Narrabri
Joan Burrell
Carole Marshall
Heather Smyth
Gloria Auckett
Narromine NSW
Lesley Roberts
Andrew Robbins
Ruth Park
Oakey
Lee Digweed
Judith Laws
Mrs. S.A. Cameron
Margaret Dascombe
Margaret Loiterton
Palmwoods
Jill Simpson
Christine Elcoate
Pentland
Val Laidlow
Pialba
Ann Kruger
Port Douglas
Annette Simmons
Proserpine
Denise Vanderlugt
Adrian Vanderlugt
Cheryl Vidulich
Quilpie
Char Speedy
Joy Wehl
Judith Kent
Gwen Brown
Beth Tully
Patricia Hall
3
Richmond
Josephine Forster
Val Bennett
Sandra Fry
Betty Smith
Em Kelman
Larry Clewett
Mary Facer
Paul Richardson
Olwyn Slack-Smith
Elaine Ryan
Myra Kersch
Erika Krieg
June Cameron
Betty Smith
Jeanette Stacey
Jill Whiting
Rockhampton
Rita Kershaw
Carmen Beezley
Joyce Mullins
Marie Brown
Carmen Drake
Dell Nash
Bernie Smith
Deris Todd
Linda Frawley
Elizabeth Sayer
Bob Stack
Mavis McLean
Peg Jackes
Gloria Woodward
Olga Morris
May Askeland
Noel Cahill
Pat Martin
Loreli Bedford
Kevin Langford
Irene Hoffman
Robyn Chappel
Julie Thornton
W. Forday
Bernie Smith
Gail Black
Kay Lanyon
Rolleston
Patricia Perrett
Doris Binstead
Cecelia Parker
Bloss Hickson
Di Bell
Alison Roberts
Nytha Peart
Helen Peart
Wendy Gibson
Paddi Muller
Catherine Black
Faye Mayne
Alison Ogg
Alison McIvor
Roma
Peter Bright
John Morrison
Anne Cameron
Pam Steers
Almary Crowther
Barbara Tuefel
Roslyn Cranch
Robyn Kirman
Max Wyatt
Rubyvale
Robyn Wood
Carol Buckner
St. George
Teresa Holmes
Marcia Gunn
Sandy Kleidor
Lyn Goebel
Christine Price
Robyn Crook
Beryl Staines
Annette Scriven
Southport
Sue Brown
Springsure
Jackie Priddle
Marge Martin
Audrey McCamley
Faye Mayne
Jan Williams
Stanthorpe
Sue Whitton
Sue Brown
Maurice Passmore
Margaret Smart
Theresa Burton
Surat
Bob Nason
Jacqui Slaughter
Tambo
Maree Cameron
Libby Taylor
Tannum Sands
Carol Goenenberg
Thargomindah
Donna Hobbs
Theodore
Rosslyn Weatherley
Alma Winning
Lyn McCrea
Thursday Is.
Lynette Griffiths
Val Keenan
Jenny Bishop
Toowoomba
Margaret Dascombe
Lorraine Wilson
Vivienne Heckels
Penny Murphy
Fay McKenzie
Maret Dulhunty
Nicole Hohn
Fay Kelly
Thuy Wicks
Joclyn Maloney
Judy Ross
Hazell MacKenzie
Townsville
Gay Woodworth
S. Fussell
Anneke Silver
Heather Moore
John Walters
Murray Edwards
Tugun
Rose Smith
Tully
Elsie Salleras
Tumbulgum
May Thorley
Tweed Heads
Marjorie Wood
Walgett
Marion Ward
Susan MacKenzie
Wandoan
Olwyn Caswell
Mardi Harper
Loris Ryan
Cheryl Pulford
Betty Rogash
Warialda
Gwladys Cleal
Warwick
Denise Clarkson
Mary Dau
Fay Kelly
Thuy Wicks
Jessica Jackson
Wee Waa
Judith Cameron
Bev McKinnon
Judy Slack-Smith
Robin Stieger
Karen Knight
Weipa
Carol Mathews
Shirley Lyons
Carolyn Lennox
Patricia Gee
Westmar
Barbara Manuel
Wide Bay
Grace Wagner
Winton
Sally Ogg
Carol Curr
Wondai
Grace Baker
Josephine Knight
Yaraka
Jeff Armstrong
Betty Turner
Yeppoon
Sylvia Clayton
Towns Unknown:
Pam Hill
Colin Blumson
(Woodcarving)
Barbara Read
Val Dahl
June Kerr
Nelle Stevensen
Jean Becker
Ethel Madden
Doris Cornford
Janine Byrnes
Joan Hage
Liz Henzell
Roselyn Jones
Daphne Heiner.
Bev. Hill
Tony Waldron
Heddy Price
Judith Ross
Margaret Torlach
Murray Edwards
4
APPENDIX III
STUDENT COMMENTS AND BIOGRAPHIES
INDEX
B
Judith Banks
Robin Bassingthwaite
Marie Biggins
Vincent Bray
Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox
Mabs Blackband
Stephanie Broadhurst
Sandra Burchill
Coralie Busby
C
Chris Capel
Irene Coburn
Ann Cameron
Maree Cameron
Jocelyn Cameron
Gladys Cooney
D
Margaret Dascombe
Sylvia Ditchburn
Robyn Davey
Cary Davies
Kathleen Dunne
Mark Dutney
E
Shirley-Anne Eckford
Chris Elcoate
F
Karen Farrow
Josephine Forster
Katherine Forsyth
Janet Fountain
G
Marion Gaemers
Jan Gall
Pat Garner
Patricia Gee
Joan Gill
H
Nicole Hohn
Vivienne Heckels
Bloss Hickson
Donna Hobbs
J
Adele Jones
K
Leslie Kane
Valerie Keenan
Rita Kershaw
George Kirk
Narelle Karez
L
Judith Laws
Kath Leonard
Catherine Lokewyk
Page
Goondiwindi
1
Charters Towers 1
Emerald
2
Mt. Isa
2
Dalby
3
Dalby
4
Baralaba
4
Malanda
5
Bundaberg
6
Longreach
Mackay
Roma
Dalby
Goondiwindi
Julia Creek
5
6
7
7
7
8
Wandoan
Innisfail
Gladstone
Maleny
Barcaldine
Bundaberg
9
9
10
10
10
11
Julia Creek
Mt. Isa
11
12
Emerald
Richmond
Monto
Mt. Isa
13
13
14
14
Townsville
Blackall
Goondiwindi
Weipa
Dalby
15
15
16
17
17
Toowoomba
Toowoomba
Rolleston
Thrgomindah
17
18
18
18
Greenmount
19
Mackay
19
North Queensland 19
Rockhampton
20
Gayndah
21
Miles
21
Oakey
Goondiwindi
Mt. Isa
21
22
22
Anne Lord
Marjorie Lord
M
Auda Maclean
Carol McCormack
Kerryn Madson-Pietsch
Jennifer McDuff
Shirley McNamara
Jocelyn Moloney
Peg McCumstie
Josephine McTaggart
Fay McKenzie
Claude Marzik
Jean Mesner
Joyce Mullins
Penny Murphy
N
Bob Nason
Ellie Neilsen
Mary Norris
Nancy Nott
O
Jill O’Sullivan
P
Rosemary Payne
Linda Price
Christine Price
R
Elaine Ryan
S
Michele Savoye
Carole Seeger
Robin Stieger
Sue Shannon
Derinda Smerdon
Anneke Silver
Janis Somerville
Char Speedy
T
Jane Templeton
Julie Thornton
Betty Turner
Christine Turner
U
Peg Uebergang
W
Merle Wagner
Joan Warmington
Jenny Whitehead
Jack Wilson
Z
Ivy Zappala
Julia Creek
Mt. Isa
23
23
Baralaba
Glenmorgan
Innisfail
Bundaberg
Mt. Isa
Longreach
Moree
Innisfail
Toowoomba
Cairns
Eidsvold
Rockhampton
Glenmorgan
24
25
25
25
26
26
26
27
27
27
28
29
29
Surat
Biloela
Gladstone
Baralaba
29
30
31
31
Mt. Isa
31
Mackay
Blackwater
St. George
32
32
32
Richmond
33
Mt. Isa
Hervey Bay
Wee Waa
Tully
Tin Can Bay
Townsville
Glenmorgan
Quilpie
33
34
34
35
35
35
36
36
Longreach
Rockhampton
Yaraka
Bundaberg
37
37
37
38
Inverell
38
Maryborough
Miriam Vale
Mt. Isa
Dalby
38
39
39
40
Gordonvale
40
Jenny Whitehead has written an article
on the duties of a Flying Arts Rep.
41
APPENDIX 1II
STUDENT COMMENTS and BIOGRAPHIES
1
JUDITH BANKS
Goondiwindi and St. George
ROBIN BASSINGTHWAIGHTE
Charters Towers
Judith was trained in art at school and passed her
senior art examinations. Her teacher was a Miss
Wilde who was a student of Rubery Bennett. She
attended Flying Arts for two years in Goondiwindi,
going along to 6 or 7 classes. When she moved to
St. George she continued to go to Flying Arts
workshops. In 1974 the Council provided them
with an Arts & Crafts cottage.
The visits of Mervyn Moriarty to Goondiwindi
and St. George lifted our spirits. It brought those
of us with similar interests together which was so
important to those of us who lived on properties.
I travelled for three hours over dusty, bumpy roads
to get to Goondiwindi for his workshops because I
found myself stimulated into a different mind-set.
For me it could only be described as a lifechanging experience. I know it changed my life
and I’ll always be grateful to Mervyn for the
beginning of a great journey.
Mervyn’s emphasis in the early classes was on colour getting to know the colour wheel and learning how to
mix colours to get the required shade or tone. When we
were painting outdoors he emphasised the seeing looking to find the relative tones and then recording
little vignettes of scenes which moved or delighted us.
He heightened our awareness immensely and his visits
widened our outback horizons.
He showed us slides of famous contemporary artists
and encouraged us to try to find new ways to depict
our own world.
We left behind that general tendency to depict the
scene photographically or ‘traditionally’. Being
exposed to slides of Matisse, Cézanne, and the
impressionists we were encouraged to explore our
painting and we were free to experiment.
Lots of Mervyn’s students were successful at local
shows. After he came the standard noticeably
changed for the better. In 1978 I won first prize of
$500 at the Charleville Art Show, also first prize
of $500 in Brisbane at the Royal Agricultural
Show in the Open Semi-abstract section. Both
were judged by prestigious artists.
In 1978 I moved to the Gold Coast where I
opened a small gallery and we got together a
group of local painters. Mervyn came to tutor us
a couple of times. My work is now in the Tweed
River Regional Gallery.
Letter to Marilyn England 2001.
Born in 1948, I spent my early childhood in
the bush at Montville, Glenmorgan and
Cunnamulla, moving to Charleville for
schooling. During my last three primary
school years most Sundays were spent on
painting trips with Rex Backhaus-Smith and
his family. Charleville Secondary School did
not offer art as a subject, however after high
school I obtained a training position at Kelvin
Grove Teachers College as an art teacher.
The college was unable to fill its vacancies in
this course with students who had studied art
- luckily for me. After three years teaching, I
married, moved back to the country, and with
children, home teaching commitments etc.
found little time for art practice.
Ten years ago I returned to classes with Kim
Mahood, and later joined Flying Arts, and a
local painting group. During this time I have
found my art moving through stages of relearning lost skills, re-engaging with the
formal elements of art practice and towards a
deepening desire to clarify and express what
is meaningful to me, especially with regard to
my enduring fascination with the place where
I live - its physical make up and natural
rhythms; is spiritual essence, whether real or
projected; and its history, both real and
imagined.
Robin is a 1996 Shell Art Award winner with
the painting:
“If I was a horse they’d shoot me.”
Old graziers sometimes use these words.
These men have learned the necessity of
dealing with death as well as life, and have
faced the obligation of shooting well-loved
working companions at the ends of their
lives. This work is a memorial - to both the
horses and the men.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 72, December 1996.
MARIE BIGGINS
Emerald
In 1970 I was teaching adult education classes in
Emerald, Queensland, and one day received a
phone call from Mervyn Moriarty. He was
contacting people involved in the visual arts from
a list he had received from Arthur Creedy, the then
Director for Cultural Activities in Queensland,
with the aim of arranging public meetings to
launch the beginnings of Eastaus (later known as
The Australian Flying Arts School). Those early
days were heady and exciting ones, with visiting artists
such as Clifton Pugh and Keith Looby travelling with
Merv and Bela Ivanyi and a constant supply of slide
lectures and chatty newsletters with students’work
from the exercises in the lesson books.
So began my long association with this unique
organisation of which I was a member for ten years,
before going to Melbourne to complete a Bachelor
of Fine Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts. In
those days painting and printmaking were still my
area of interest.
My arts practice evolved into sculpture and
installation in the mid to late 1980s. (At this time
I also bought my first Macintosh computer and
my interest in multimedia steadily grew over the
following years).
I came from a rural background on a wheat
and sheep farm in Western Australia where I
spent my childhood, before going on to
boarding school, teacher training, and later a
posting in Esperance, Western Australia. After
this I moved on to live on a property near
Naracoorte in the south east of South Australia,
and then on to Emerald in Queensland.
At present I live in Yeppoon and work from my
studio on a small rural property overlooking the sea,
and teach in tertiary art education in Rockhampton.
Since the mid 1980s I have been working in
sculpture and installation, having had an initial
training in painting and printmaking. The two
major exhibitions of my installation work to
date have been at the Institute of Modern Art,
Brisbane in 1990 and at Gallery 14 of the
Queensland Art Gallery in 1992.
Flying Arts Gazette - May, 1993.
VINCE BRAY
Mt. Isa
2
Born in Mount Isa just before Christmas 1933 to
Harold and Ottlie Bray, Vince is the eldest of seven
children, four of whom still live in Mount Isa; Vince and
brothers Mich and Tom all work for Isa Mines. Sister
Telia is married to Mount Isa Mine’s Terry Casey.
Their mother, Mrs. Ottlie Bray, was always
sketching, just pencil and paper stuff, but they
remember it. She belonged to the Irwin family,
who lived at Bushy Park Station before there was a
Mount Isa. So the love of the bush which features
in so much of Vince’s work, is bred into him.
His mother died in 1959. Vince, as the eldest
child in those days, missed a lot of school to
help look after the younger Brays, and in fact
never got past grade five at the old St. Joseph’s
Convent. Despite that he is widely read, and can
hold a conversation at any level, not only on art,
but also on religion, music, literature.
After a stint working for the Mount Isa soft drink
firm of Gardner and Jones, Vince spent a total of
about eight years working for the Catholic Church
at missions in the Northern Territory and Darwin.
He was a truck driver, a welder, a builder, a fixer.
He spent three years in Papua New Guinea based
at Mount Hagen. Returning to the Isa in 1968 he
joined Isa Mines, and has been there ever since as a trucker, a mucker, a safety man, and finally in
1980, his job was Platman.
His love affair with painting began in 1972 when,
bored because he had no real hobbies, tired of reading
books, unwilling to become a slave to TV and sick of
going over to the pubs looking for company he
decided to learn to draw. His sister-in-law told him of
the Flying Art School run by Mervyn Moriarty that
visited the outback regularly to train country artists.
Mervyn Moriarty instilled in me the quest for
knowledge; he not only showed me how and what,
but gave me the desire to find out more.
Vince spent three years under Moriarty’s tutelage and
says he owes nearly all of what he has become to him.
He has had many solo exhibitions, won many
prizes and has work in collections all over the world.
During the years in Mt. Isa he gave a lot of support to
developing contemporary art and artists in the region.
Vince’s work tends to be large and very brightly
Marie is part of the team of ReSiting when
coloured. He calls it Expressionism. He is
Flying Arts went online in 1994.
constrained to working in watercolours because
most of his work was done in his room at Mt. Isa
In 1994 I received a grant from Arts
Mines single accommodation. He tried to get out
Queensland and travelled to Europe and the USA to the bush every weekend to paint from nature.
to research electronic arts. During that trip my
When Premier Wayne Goss officially opened the
first major contact with the Internet was at The
new mine on May 15 1990 his gift from MIM
Exploratorium in San Francisco where I attended was a painting of the site – specially
a number of introductory Internet sessions in July commissioned from Vincent Bray by the company.
of 1994.
(Excerpts from Peter Beard, ‘Starry Starry
Flying Arts Gazette - No. 69, April 1996.
Night’, Mimag October 1990.)
KATHRYN BRIMBLECOMBE-FOX
Dalby
Kathryn’s parents had a wheat farm 11 miles
outside Dalby. Her grandfather had been the
member for Maranoa for many years. Kathryn
attended Fairholme Private Girls School in
Toowoomba.
She was about 12 when she began learning art
with Flying Arts. Both her mother and
grandmother, Enid Ross, painted. She was thrilled
when Eastaus came to Dalby.
Kathryn studied art at school and did a BA,
double major in art history in 1978. She
worked at the National Gallery in Canberra for
a year, married in 1982 and moved to
Goondiwindi where she attended Flying Arts
until 1998-99.
Her early tutors were Mervyn Moriarty and
Jock Clutterbuck. Flying Arts toured Dalby
about four times per year, Goondiwindi 2-3
times per year. Workshops were held in a
woolshed at Goondiwindi.
We would bring our paintings to the class and
Mervyn or the artist he had with him would then
discuss the work so three quarters of the first
day would be spent talking about each other’s
work. This was great because it provided an
opportunity for self-reflection and getting really
good feedback. In the classes we were
experimenting rather than producing a work.
As a professional artist I think the Flying Arts
experience was just one of many that have added
to my life as an artist but as a child I found
Flying Arts was a challenge.
They didn’t visit very often but the fact that
they visited at all was fantastic. It was great
for the local artists to be exhibited at the local
art exhibitions with artists from the wide wide
world and be considered professional. I think
Dalby was pretty unusual in that respect.
I don’t remember Mervyn bringing out slides for
us to look at but I remember the art books. When
Flying Arts came out we mixed with artists and felt
that we were artists too, they provided the
atmosphere. I seemed to be the only ‘kid’ who
actually went along to Flying Arts. It was a
cultural experience and the best thing was the
discussions on art.
I know Gertrude Langer was involved in the
Dalby Art Group at one stage. She saw my work
and I think she gave me a couple of prizes, also
Irene Amos. I think Roy Churcher came to Dalby,
I certainly remember him coming to Goondiwindi.
He was a good talker, when he came to
Goondiwindi he would sit around and talk with us.
Some people didn’t like that because they wanted
to paint whereas I really liked the connection with
the city artists.
3
Art education at school was really fairly poor, it
still is, particularly at primary school and the
books put out by Flying Arts were great
groundwork towards my success as an artist. I
learnt a fair bit, there was a lot of information
about the type of paints and about how to glaze
and what oils to use and how to mix them. Flying
Arts wasn’t about how to do things, it was more
about looking. Once you see it, how can you
change it.
At the workshops a lot of people came in from out
of town, people would give up their whole weekends
to come in and paint and sit around talking during
lunch. In Goondiwindi there were people who
travelled for a couple of hours to get to town for the
lessons.
Later on Dalby had an artist-in-residence. It
wasn’t part of Flying Arts, it was more of an
adjunct.
Mervyn was very careful not to influence
students with his own work. That was interesting
because as a 16 or 17 year old I actually decided
that I wouldn’t go to Seven Hills Art College
because I thought that a lot of the student work
coming out of college was too much like the
tutor’s, too much like copying and I didn’t want
that.
I have won quite a lot of small competitions and have
received seconds, thirds, or highly commended. My
work is in the Stanthorpe Regional Gallery and at
Goondiwindi (which does not have a regional gallery
as yet) but a lot of my work has been bought by people
from overseas.
One of the biggest things about moving to Brisbane
is that I seem to be taken more seriously. In country towns
there is an assumption that it is a hobby, you can’t be a
serious artist, you are only going to paint gum trees. In
Brisbane my market is bigger and I am selling more of my
work.
In country towns a lot of people only want gum trees or
they want pictures of their homestead. I sold my work
in Goondiwindi but in the time I have been painting I
saturated my market. There are some people in the
country who like contemporary art but it is not like the
city where you have thousands more of such people.
The local Goondiwindi art show is run with the P & A
Society Agricultural Show, so you have grand
champion paintings like the grand champion bull. In
Goondiwindi we do have really good judges, from
people who are curators at the QAG, through to other
artists, and the standard is very high but we only have
an old warehouse, a hangar type building and the
hanging of pictures is compromised because it is all on
weldmesh wire.
I think one of the reasons why Flying Arts was quite
good was because people could come together and
you were among artists, others who were interested in
art. This is where Moriarty and Flying Arts were so
(contd. over)
Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox Dalby (contd.)
good though some people didn’t like the school because
they just wanted to learn how to paint a gum tree. This
still happened in the eighties and nineties in Goondiwindi.
In Dalby in the 1970s there would have been between
10-15 members in the Flying Arts Group. We used to
meet in an old council building beside Myall Creek.
This was also our gallery but paintings had to be
stacked against walls. Our storage was compromised
by the age of the building, luckily the dry climate helped
preserve them.
When Katherine was 17 she won the open section of
the State-wide Queen’s Golden Jubilee Art Competition.
The Queen awarded Katherine her prize.
Interview with Marilyn England 2001.
MABS BLACKBAND
Dalby
When Mabs joined in 1971 her tutor was Mervyn
Moriarty. Although she remained a hobby painter
she has paintings in the Dalby Regional Art
Gallery, Ipswich Gallery and Caloundra Gallery.
One of her paintings Frog Pond was hung in the
Queensland Art Gallery before going south to be
exhibited with a number of other paintings.
In her words: I strongly feel that energy forces
are closely connected with expressing ourselves
through the art of painting. My nervousness
inhibited me and it was Merv’s sensitivity which
enabled each person to be themselves. I still
remember how Merv would quietly observe what
each of us were about.
Mabs supplied newspaper cuttings:
Undated newspaper cutting (1974), A cavalcade
of cars travelled 216 kms. from Dalby to Brisbane
for the exhibition by the Dalby Art Group at the
Italia Gallery, Edward Street, city. The group has
become more than just country housewives
dabbling in oils. Dalby is considered the most
gifted country group in Queensland. Some of
Dalby’s paintings have been selected by the
Queensland Art Gallery and have been shown in
Canberra and Sydney. The group is made up of
housewives, students and three men.
Another undated newspaper cutting:
Last minute entry wins local art award for Dalby
housewife: Mabs Blackband takes out the prize
with an un-named painting which was judged by
Roy Churcher. She gained highly commended
awards with her other two entries.
In 1974 Dalby opened its local art gallery and a
number of Australian Flying Arts School students
had their work exhibited at the gallery.
Letter to Marilyn England 2001.
STEPHANIE BROADHURST
Baralaba
4
Stephanie has been with the school since 1982
when the local art group began. As a teenager she
was always sketching, mainly figures of women
so she was thrilled when Flying Arts came to
Baralaba. She particularly remembers Flying Arts
tutor Bev. Budgen with affection. She took them
for a class at Kangalu Caves, these are Aboriginal
cave art which is on Auda McLean’s property.
Bev. inspired them to paint using a cave theme.
Thirty paintings from the outing were sent into the
annual Flying Arts exhibition at Kelvin Grove. In
those days they were ten hours by bus from
Brisbane. Other Flying Arts tutors have been
Brian Dean, Jean McCaskill, Ken Smith, Wendy
Wright and Gladys Mann.
In 1984 her work was chosen by Brian Dean,
Head of the Art Department at Kelvin Grove, Bill
Robinson, Senior Lecturer in Art at Kedron Park
Campus and Pat Hoffie, AFAS tutor and lecturer
at the College of Art, Seven Hills, to participate in
the collection of work to tour to America with the
Arts Council in 1985. Called For the Love of it,
the exhibition went to the Memphis in May
Festival in Texas USA where all the artworks
were sold. Stephanie received a cheque from the
Arts Council for $150 for the sale of her work.
In 1995 her work was in the Regional Members’
Exhibition Sense of Self at the Mackay
Entertainment Centre which was put on by the
Brisbane Shell Art Award.
Interview with Marilyn England Baralaba 2003.
Stephanie won a Flying Arts’ bursary to the
McGregor Summer School held at The
University of Southern Queensland from
January 4-15, 1999. This is her experience:
I recently completed my two weeks at McGregor
Summer School, and what an experience. I thoroughly
enjoyed my time and have come home with a lot more
knowledge of my chosen areas, namely silk dyeing and
freehand machine embroidery. After consultation with
McGregor School Manager Margaret Clifford, I took
Ken Smith’s class. Even though I had worked with
Ken through Flying Arts I had missed two days of his
tour and felt he had a lot more to offer.
Ken has updated many techniques in silk dyeing since I
first started with him, and this proved to be most
interesting. Making good friends with the other students
and sharing information about the best place to buy silks,
dyes, etc. was very worthwhile. I completed one side of a
silk-dyed and machine embroidered vest and being able to
do this continuously for days was a great ‘boost’to my
learning process. I am much more confident now and
have no fear of carrying on by myself. I will also be
sharing my knowledge with other Baralaba textile artists.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 79, April 1999.
5
SANDRA BURCHILL
Malanda
Winner of Flying Arts Shell Art ward in 1995.
To walk into Sandra Burchill’s home is like walking
into a gallery. Sandra’s talents are many and the
work adorns the walls of her home. Not only the
walls either, there are cupboards bursting their seams
with bits and pieces of work.
School provided Sandra with the basics in
‘conventional’ painting and drawing but as she
matured she always dabbled with different things - in
Sandra’s words “weird, strange things”. In 1967 or 68
a visit to the Crafts Council exhibition in Townsville
showed Sandra that others did ‘weird’ things too!
She then became very interested in macrame and
joined the Fibres and Fabrics group in Townsville.
This made her more aware of textiles. This
awareness of what others were doing, plus the quality
tutors in textiles that F&F obtained from Flying Arts,
influenced Sandra to move into textiles. Also, large
macrame pieces are costly and it is hard to find space
to hang. She could fulfil her need for macrame by
creating her own miniatures and this led her into quick
machining to fill the space. Husband Doug developed
an interest in pottery which also interested Sandra.
Sandra is definitely a contemporary worker, not
traditional, and is open to new ideas at all times.
Her pieces cover areas such as dyeing, machine
embroidery and fabric manipulation, patchwork,
and of course her first love - macrame.
A ‘love affair’ with attic windows led to a series of
window quilts attached in a contemporary manner.
This led her into an interest in the Eschar triangle
and Sandra developed workshops for Quilt
Experience in Tinaroo in ‘91 and Minden ‘92. She
has also designed and crafted a series of church
banners which hang in the Malanda Uniting Church
as well as other churches on the Tablelands. Sandra
has travelled to many areas conducting workshops
for church groups, inspiring them to design and
create their own banners. Another interest is
backdrops for theatre productions which are, of
course, very large projects mainly using paint, but
Sandra does apply fabric in some areas as well.
Her studio is an airy, long room with plenty of
space as well as provision for her to hang these
backdrops to enable easy working conditions.
CHRIS CAPEL
Longreach
This is about going online
I have used electronic mail facilities from my
home for the last year and a half. I live 100 km.
north west of Longreach on a very dry (at
present) sheep station. I was originally prompted
(despite a healthy degree of technophobia) to use
electronic communication for a teacherlibrarianship unit I was studying externally.
I participated in a national school project called
Characters-on-line whereby children from schools
around Australia wrote to a character from a
book (e.g. Wilbur from “Charlotte’s Web”) and
we, the teacher-librarianship students replied in
character. During that time I learned how to use
electronic mail facilities and started to realise the
wonderful benefits for rural/remote people. I then
participated in a rural women’s email trial funded
originally by Telstra where rural women from
around Queensland were given Internet facilities
and asked to communicate with each other and
the researchers based at QUT. It was great to
communicate with women from other isolated
areas about things we had in common.
This year I have enrolled in Masters of
Education (research) in order to have an in-depth
look at remote use of computer mediated
communication and enjoy productive email
contact with my two lecturers at QUT in
Brisbane. This contact sometimes occurs more
than once a day and means that any questions I
have or issues I wish to discuss can be done
quickly and efficiently at a suitable time for them
and me. This is wonderfully supportive for an
external learner.
Via email I read various mailing lists on topics
of interest including rural women’s issues,
teacher-librarianship, Internet use for education
and so on and keep informed about current issues
this way. Email has also allowed me to lobby for
equal access to Internet for rural/remote people
on-line. The two way information flow to and
FROM the bush is immeasurably invaluable and
allows us to learn and communicate while
allowing others to learn from us and
Amongst her most recent list of achievements is communicate with us also!
a successful exhibition at a local gallery with four Flying Arts Gazette No. 70 June 1996.
of her ‘fabric friends’ known as ‘Artistic License’, In conjunction with Flying Arts ReSiting
winning the patchwork prize in Townsville Pacific program.
Festival Fibres and Fabrics Exhibition and, of
course, the Shell Art Award.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 58 December 1995.
CORALIE BUSBY
Bundaberg
My mother had been an artist and I had always
hoped to become one also, but I was living in a
country town with my husband and family and there
were no art classes or art galleries, not even a
library, as the local councillors felt that now we had
television people would no longer require books for
reading. When the Flying Art School started it
brought books, before then we would travel to Gin
Gin which had a small library and they would get
books in from Brisbane for us which we devoured.
Later I began collecting books for my own personal
use and now have quite a library of my own.
One day in the 1960s there was an advertisement in
the local paper asking those who were interested in
forming a painting group to come along to a meeting.
Thus we formed our local art group and it began with
still life drawing where we learnt basic skills. When
Roy Churcher came to judge our annual exhibition he
could see the group badly needed tuition from more
advanced teachers. Roy stayed with us, we discussed
our problems, and soon after this we heard that a
flying art school was being formed by his friend,
Mervyn Moriarty. Mervyn made contact with art
groups around the country and I was the first to enrol,
(Mervyn and Helen put my enrolment form up on the
wall of their studio). The school did not visit
Bundaberg for six months - they went on a small
circuit around the Darling Downs, eventually doing
the coastal route and also an inland route. Mervyn
was an excellent lecturer - we learnt so much; he
could talk, we could listen to him forever. He was
never boring, it was wonderful the way he could
talk about art, he just made it sound so exciting and
the books he wrote were a great help. Later tutors
were Bela Ivanyi and Roy Churcher, they were also
wonderful teachers. Then came a pottery tutor and
our Bundaberg potters began producing some very
fine work. As well as these there were guest tutors
from Sydney who often came along.
Mervyn and Helen would stay with my husband
and I for the two-day workshop which was held in
our garage. Our group became quite good.
Several of the students were already art teachers
in surrounding high schools and they would also
come along to the seminars. We were a more
contemporary group than the original Art Society
members who still held their annual exhibition, so
I formed a gallery for our members in the front of
my home. This was called the Allamanda Art
Gallery and I ran it for Flying Art Students for
eleven years. For me contemporary work was
always very exciting but Mervyn never tried to
influence my style. One of his first remarks was
that we never copy from pictures, we had to go out
and draw from the inspiration that nature gave
6
us; for him copying was not art and never would
be. In the beginning Mervyn had no financial
help, he really did it on a wing and a prayer and
we helped him so much because we knew that if
he gave up we would lose such a lot.
Once we got a taste for art we wanted to see
paintings but Mervyn would never show us any
of his work, he was so frightened that we would
merely copy his style and he wanted us to
develop our own individual talents. He
believed that art was like handwriting, we were
all different and we had to develop in our own
way. So we never saw any original art until we
went to Brisbane. This was the first time that I
had ever walked into a gallery and in Brisbane
we went firstly to the Johnstone gallery and
then the Moreton gallery. Edgells were
growing acres and acres of beans which were
picked by hand in those days so we would go
out for weeks and weeks to raise the money to
fly to Brisbane for our once a year gallery
crawl and it was absolutely wonderful. In
those days the Queensland Art Gallery was still
up on Gregory Terrace.
By the time Mervyn left Flying Arts my
husband had died and my children were grown
so I packed up and left Bundaberg and went to
Sydney where I studied and exhibited for eight
years. During that time I went to a workshop
on Long Island in New York and worked for
five weeks with artists from all over the world,
that was a great experience. I also went to
London and Paris to visit galleries there.
Coralie has held solo exhibitions in Bundaberg,
Rockhampton, Brisbane and Sydney. She has
won prizes in Bundaberg and Gympie and is
represented in public and private collections
throughout Australia. Her early “Wallum” series
paintings were purchased by the Bundaberg Sugar
Co., the Bundaberg News Mail and the Biloela
City Council. These were abstracts and they came
about through memories of the light and shadows
thrown by the Wallum scrub near her home.
Interview with Marilyn England, 2001.
IRENE COBURN
Mackay
I joined Flying Arts in 1993 and the constancy
of the visits and the quality of art education
offered continually urges me to advance my
own personal development as a mixed-media
artist, sculptor and printmaker.
Flying Arts book, Lyrebird Press,
Townsville 2000.
7
ANNE CAMERON
Roma
Anne has been painting for about 25 years. She
attended Flying Arts’ classes in Roma, her home
town, in the 1970s with tutor Roy Churcher.
After a break from Flying Arts she returned to
lessons several years ago. Her work is not
affected by the landscape around her but by other
influences and ideas that come to her from
nowhere and everywhere. She works in her
studio, located in the upper level of her
homestead, which is situated about an hour from
Roma. Artist Rachel Apelt has been important in
introducing her to installation work.
On our request Rachel Apelt, a Flying Arts
tutor, brought up slides of her installations
because some of us in the group didn’t know what
an installation was. I had seen very little
installation work and mainly only pictures of the
work. I was very scathing about installation, I
would say: ‘What a waste of space’.
After seeing Rachel’s work I could see that there
was a creative process not just in the overall
work but in every single item that made up the
installation, right down to the making of the fruit,
which were made from papier-mache, and which
were in varying stages of decomposition ... To me
Rachel poured her soul into the work and that is
what art is all about.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 86, October 2001.
I have just been made Secretary of the Dalby
Art Group, and have been Art Steward at the
Jandowae Show since 1990. I am hoping to
attend the McGregor Winter School again this
year, which will be the fifth time I have attended.
Letter to Marilyn England 2001.
JOCELYN CAMERON
Goondiwindi
Jocelyn trained with Flying Arts from 19741981. She had always had an interest in art and
received a few lessons from visiting artist Tony
Shielbeck. Her Flying Arts tutors were Mervyn
Moriarty, Bela Ivanyi and Roy Churcher who
came four times a year. Workshops were held at
the Civic Centre annexe, an old shed just out of
town. One of Jocelyn’s paintings was used as a
design for a wall installation and now hangs in the
Goondiwindi Cultural Centre. It received a
Highly Commended in a National art competition.
It was my tuition through Flying Arts which gave
me my success. Mervyn showed me how to
approach the subject with freshness and originality.
The Goondiwindi & District Creative Art
Group was established in 1969 and the group
worked in the shearer’s quarters at ‘Jindabyne’,
Bungunya. A few friends who were into craft
brought their spinning wheels, easels and
painting equipment along.
Over 60 people from the surrounding districts
attended the first four days and they all helped
each other to learn the three basic subjects MAREE CAMERON
painting, pottery, spinning and weaving. At the
Dalby
classes they also did some floral art and natural
I am a self taught artist who began painting with dyeing.
It was thought that Goondiwindi’s population
the Australian Flying Arts School in 1976. I won
was
too small to support a cultural centre but
my first prize for a portrait, followed by a Minister
Mr.
Creedy,
Director of Cultural Activities in
for the Arts Encouragement Award in 1987, which
Queensland, decided that the self-help efforts of
allowed me to spend a week in Longreach under
the group deserved financial assistance and gave
Flying Arts tutor Warren Palmer.
Others who have touched my painting career are them a series of annual grants towards tuition
and equipment.
Mervyn Moriarty, Irene Amos, Trevor Weeks,
Early in 1970 the group successfully launched
Wendy Allen and Pat Hoffie, while Jeanne
itself
at the Goondiwindi Showgrounds, then the
McCaskill comments on my papers. In 1997 I
venue
became the High School for the next 18
won the Arts Queensland Award, which enabled
months
until they had enough numbers to rent the
me to attend McGregor Winter School at The
Annexe
of the Civic Theatre in the main street of
University of Southern Queensland in
Goondiwindi.
The annexe and adjoining kitchen
Toowoomba. My first public exhibition was held
was
used
as
a
workshop
area for all subjects. It
on June 20 last year.
was
also
he
base
for
the
local
potters who used
Time is never wasted when it comes to ART.
the outside carpark for their two kilns.
This year I am passing on my techniques and
experience by teaching the Durong ‘Big Scrub Art A generous grant for building renovations from
the Dept. of Education allowed the group to
Group’ and another small group in Jondaryan. I
also took five other artists to Jondaryan Woolshed establish workbenches, screens, lights,
last year to promote the Heritage Complex, which blackboard, etc. which would become part of the
future Goondiwindi Cultural Centre.
was so successful that our group was asked to
Letter to Marilyn England 2001.
sketch and paint Oakey War Museum.
8
GLADYS COONEY - PAINTING
Julia Creek
When Mervyn arrived in little Julia Creek with his wild red
hair and his beard and sandals with Helen, his wife, in her
Indian cotton dresses, I think many of those who lived there
Gladys joined when Mervyn Moriarty first took were shocked but that soon changed when we began
attending his three monthly workshops and realised how
his school to the bush in 1971. She had no
ambitions to become a professional artist but she exciting they were. Some of the women would travel for
eighty miles to attend his workshops. We also loved the art
loved art and she loved the workshops and
books that Mervyn gave us, they taught us so much. One of
mixing with the people who went to them. She
our group, a nun at the local convent, was a naive painter
was a great friend of Jo Forster, a Queensland
artist who is well known to the people of Flying who was self-taught. Mervyn loved her work and was
terrified that she would change her style. When he
Arts. In 1958, in her efforts to make things
better for the women and children of Julia Creek, brought Clifton Pugh to us as a guest artist Clifton fell
in love with her work and offered her lots of money for
she became the first woman Councillor on the
a painting. However she wasn’t interested in money
McKinlay Shire Council where she served until
and so gave him the painting. It had been painted when
1975. In 1992 she received an OAM for her
she was stationed up in the Kimberleys and it featured a
contributions to the lives of the people of the
boab tree with some Aboriginals.
north-west. This is her story:
In those days we had our meetings in the local R.S.L.
My interest in art began at Teacher’s Training
Hall. At the workshop we would show samples of our
College in Brisbane where, as a future school
work and Mervyn would tell us how we could improve
teacher, I was taught the basics of painting and
it. I felt that he had brought culture to the region. We
drawing as part of my teaching qualifications.
would look at this great, broad country of ours that we
When I finished my training I was sent to
Cunnamulla where I was in charge of an infants thought was featureless, there were so few trees, but he
made us see the seasons. In the wet season the grass
class at the local school. After the war I
would be so beautiful and green but as winter came the
married and went to live at Julia Creek where I
became good friends with Jo Forster and in the green would disappear, yet as the grass turned to other
colours we found they were just as beautiful, especially
late 1960s Jo and I decided to start art classes
in the mirages which were dancing around us.
for the children in our area.
Sometimes when the classes were too small for Mervyn to
In the early 1960s Dr. Gertrude Langer had
come to Julia Creek I would travel down on the train to join
visited our town and over dinner we discussed
the class at Richmond. One time the railway line was washed
opening an Arts Council Centre in both Julia
Creek and Mt. Isa, so I became the north-western away by storms and I couldn’t get home. Mervyn and Helen
offered to fly me home to Julia Creek and on the way back I
representative for the Queensland Arts Council,
sat in the cockpit with him. Mervyn was a good flyer and was
travelling to Brisbane for meetings. I first met
always very careful but this day it had just stopped raining
Mervyn when he conducted an Arts Council
when he took off and I could see the clouds of
workshop at Mary Kathleen. The mine had
closed down so the government allowed us to use grasshoppers at the end of the runway and knew that the
the buildings for an Arts workshop. It was about birds would be flying in to feed off them, I was terrified
300 odd miles away from Julia Creek but we had that we would hit them and ducked but Mervyn was able
to miss them, although he told me afterwards that it was a
a wonderful time. As well as art they taught
close call. After they dropped me off Mervyn and Helen
pottery, ballet and drama. They even supplied a
continued on to their workshop at Mt. Isa. He taught us
chef so we all ate together at the old mess hall,
taking our trays along to pick up our food. Some new ways of seeing our country and then painting it. At
of the women had brought their children along so the Training College we had only learned to paint ladylike watercolours but Mervyn loved Indian music and we
when they told Mervyn that the children wanted
would sometimes paint to his music. One time our
to paint too he set up an easel outside and gave
Richmond class went out to the bush to paint, we went to the
them some paints and they painted a picture of
Flinders River where it was more heavily timbered and settled
Mervyn with his long red hair.
at a creek which was dry at the time, although it would flood
Through the Arts Council I attended a seminar held
at the James Cook University in 1970 where I renewed when the wet season came. Mervyn played his music after
giving each of us a big piece of white drawing paper and asked
my acquaintance with Mervyn and he told me he was
thinking about starting a Flying Art School. I remember I us to find our own place among the trees and quietly imagine
thought it was a marvellous idea and encouraged him to what we would put onto the paper. I know dozens of people
who became artists after he came out, he really brought out the
bring his school out to Julia Creek. At that time I was
creativity in us. Gladys has been living on the Gold Coast for
also the local correspondent for the ABC at Longreach
some years and during that time she kept up her art. She has sold
and asked all those who were interested to get in touch
her paintings and several times has received “Highly
either with Jo Forster at Richmond or myself at Julia
Commended” for her work, some of which have been
Creek to set up a local art workshop which would be
exhibited at the Gold Coast Art Gallery at Bundall.
conducted through Mervyn, so that is how it all
Interview with Marilyn England September 2001.
began in North Western Queensland.
9
SYLVIA DITCHBURN
Innisfail
MARGARET DASCOMBE
Wandoan
Born in Allora Queensland, 1943 Sylvia is a
figurative landscape painter in oil, acrylic,
watercolour and pastel.
She began her study with the Australian Flying
Art School through Mervyn Moriarty and Bela
Ivanyi and attended vacation schools with Ann
Thomson, John Peart, John Davidson and Colin
Lancely. She travelled extensively in Europe
and Britain in 1980.
She has tutored at workshops for women,
children’s workshops, TAFE and Artist in
Schools Programme.
She was Scenic Artist for Opera Sets and
Programme Design, Innisfail and Director of
Gallery 33 Innisfail.
Exhibitions: Solo at Paddington Gallery
Brisbane 1982, and Innisfail in 1983.
Participated in group exhibitions with AFAS.
Awards: Innisfail Historical 1973, Cardwell
Parliament House Award 1977, Ingham Open
1979, Cairns Watercolour 1981, Mareeba Shell
Chemical Open 1982, Ingham Watercolour
1982, Cairns Acquisition Award 1982, Tully
Open 1982.
Represented in Cairns City Council collection,
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville,
Hinchinbrook Shire Council, James Cook
University, Townsville,
Cardwell Shire Council, Artbank, Mt. Isa
Mines, Suncorp Brisbane, Maryborough City
Council, Innisfail Art Society, James Hardie
State Library, Cloncurry Art Society and
Corporate and Private collections in Australia,
New Zealand, Asia, Japan, America, Arabia,
Great Britain and Europe.
Artists & Galleries Australia, Max Germaine,
1984
Margaret began training with Mervyn Moriarty in
1974-1978, then with Flying Arts in 1985-86 and
in 1993-1999 and again in 2003. She attended
Flying Arts seminars in Wandoan, Oakey and
Toowoomba.
Flying Arts is still going to Toowoomba and there
are more students now than there were. A local
gallery started at Crows Nest near where she lives
in 1998. She exhibited at Crows Nest in October
2004.
She had had no previous training before Mervyn
came.
Other tutors have been Roy Churcher, Bela
Ivanyi, B. Morton, Wm. Pevoss, Lucja Ray and
others. They now have two x two-day workshops
a year at USQ.
There were a number of difficulties in taking up
art in the country, the biggest one was trying to
acquire information and finding the time.
Our town did have a library (because Bundaberg
did not have one in 1972 I asked other students
about that). The librarian would take the names of
books not available and would send to other
libraries for us.
Since beginning with Flying Arts I have entered
local art competitions and have won my share of
prizes. The biggest win was in 2003 at the
Dogwood Crossing Art Gallery at Miles. This
was put on by Flying Arts Inc., DPI and Murilla
Shire Council. This win gave me confidence to
continue although I am not a professional artist.
We all worked very hard when we had our twoday seminars and have gained a lot of
information from the tutors who must have
thought we were rather dumb sometimes.
Letter to Marilyn England 2003.
10
ROBYN DAVEY
Gladstone
CARY DAVIES
Maleny
Robyn Davey moved from Brisbane over
twenty years ago and she has been living in
Gladstone ever since. She has explored oil
painting and drawing although she has been
interested in dress design for many years.
Robyn moved with her husband to the United
Kingdom for three years and it was there that
she was introduced to modern embroidery.
This opened her eyes to the possibilities of the
medium and, during an 18 month stint in
Brisbane, she pursued this interest by attending
a Contemporary Textile Workshop at Carseldine
QUT. In recent years she has been attending
textile workshops run by Flying Arts. In 2000
she was successful in having her work accepted
in the statewide QCL Art Award. She has this to
say:
The Flying Arts workshop, ‘Wearable Art’ with
Wendy Wright was something I wanted to do. I
knew about her from articles in sewing
magazines. That was in 1999 and it was held
at Marguerita’s Patch. I wanted to improve my
technical skills. I had done a bit of free
machining and solveig work (which is the
soluble plastic) but I wanted to extend my
knowledge and learn new things. I am looking
forward to the Flying Arts workshop coming up
with BJ Adams in October. I am really
interested to see what her work is like. She is
coming from America to the textile workshop
that is being held in Geelong, Australia. Flying
Arts was able to get her to take a workshop, so
we are very lucky.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 86, October 2001.
Cary Davies was born in Melbourne, Victoria in
1947. She began her studies in 1982 at the
Queensland University of Technology completing
an Associate Diploma of Art. She has exhibited
in southern Queensland and New South Wales
and is represented in public, corporate and private
art collections in Australia and overseas.
During her artistic career, Cary has received
numerous awards. Most recently she received the
Contemporary Prize at the Maleny Art Awards.
In 1997, Cary had an impressive solo exhibition
at the Illustrators Ink Gallery in Toowoomba,
featuring her “Spirit of the Land” series of oils
and watercolours. Her work is on permanent
display at the Landsborough Historical Museum.
In 1996, Cary was the first Local Artist who worked
with a student from Maleny High School as part of a
work experience scheme. She is still encouraging the
artistic abilities of people of all ages, to express their
creative talents and provides her studio as an outlet
for them.
Comments from tutors – Ian Smith 1995:
She approaches her work in painting and drawing
with rare passion and energy always seeking new
materials, techniques and compositions to express
the most personal of subjects as only true
expressionists do - the sort of subject and
techniques that the average practitioners avoid.
Although she has conventional drawing skills her
work is more about personal search to trap
moods and emotional statements.
William Robinson 1995: Cary Davies is an artist
of tremendous commitment. Her vigorous works
are highly individual, powerful and direct.
Cary: I am inspired and mesmerised by the
nature and the spirit of the land. Living in the
Glasshouse Mountain area as a painter, I feel
using texture as my signature releases my
emotions and satisfies my soul.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 77, August/Sept. 1998.
KATHLEEN DUNNE
Baralaba
Kathleen has been with the school from 1991.
She is a full time stay-at-home mum with 6
children aged 3-13 but she finds the Flying
Arts workshops a fantastic opportunity to
immerse herself in ‘just art’
for a couple of weekends a year: I always
learn something new and the tutors have
always been so friendly, helpful and
challenging.
Kathleen gets her enthusiasm back after a workshop.
She has always been drawing from childhood and
did a Diploma of Secondary Art Teaching at Kelvin
Grove College. One tutor she particularly
remembers is Ian Smith.
Interview Marilyn England Baralaba. August
2003.
11
MARK DUTNEY
Bundaberg
SHIRLEY ANNE ECKFORD
Julia Creek
A General Practitioner by day, Mark received a
special commendation for his triptych
Alexandra Park. He recently exhibited other
work at the Australian Institute of
Management, Brisbane.
My art practice reflects my occupation as a
general practitioner in Bundaberg. My work is
thematic and therefore exploratory. It relies on
personal imagery, and is regularly derived
from automatic drawings done on doodle
blotters in my consulting room.
Apart from the FAI seminars I am self taught
and have adopted a sponge-like approach to
my extensive viewing of contemporary
Australian art in journals, catalogues and at
exhibitions.
Last September I had a solo exhibition at the
Bundaberg Arts Centre featuring a body of
work where I have used the stethoscope as a
stencil to draw with. The work is united by its
single-image focus, common format of 5 panel
squares and kite shaped panels. The work is
then disseminated to the margins of my visual
imaginings by manipulating the stethoscope
shape’s environment and spatial arrangements
to create “otherness” about the stethoscope
and its meaning.
Painting is important to me and the technical
aspects of manipulating paint and building up
layers are a constant stimulus to making new
work.
I like viewers to be able to see the journey I have
been taking in making the body of work, rather
than just seeing simply what works or doesn’t
work in a painting. My art making practices are
absolutely self indulgent. I enjoy the process of
painting, the unexpected results and path a
painting takes, the ideas that one painting gives
the next. The satisfaction of feeling a painting is
finished, and the sense of achievement in
completing a body of works for an exhibition.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 73, Autumn 1997.
Rarely do I paint just a picture. Painting for
me is a project where one painting is a part of a
whole body of work done to address or explore
a concept or an idea. Consequently each of my
paintings has a ‘group of friends’ who belong to
an exhibition of my work.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 80, September 1999.
Shirley is a long-time AFAS student having worked
with the school from 1971 to the late 1980s.
She believes that the number of students now is
about the same as it has always been. The nearest
art training establishment is the TAFE at Mt. Isa.
Shirley says art and pottery started at Julia Creek
in the early 1970s. Her daughter was teaching
pottery in Julia Creek in 1971.
There is now a Quilters group at Julia Creek. Classes
are held at local cultural workshop.
Julia Creek has had a cultural centre since 1972. It
has had a Regional Gallery since 2001.
Shirley’s work is in local regional galleries along with
many other past and present FA artists and potters.
She studied art at College and has been a potter since
1972. She always visits art galleries when she can.
Tutors: Mervyn Moriarty in the 1970s.
Her daughter introduced her to pottery, she was
also tutored by Roy Churcher.
AFAS meant a great deal to me. Their visits were a
wonderful benefit to artists and potters in these
western areas. My daughter Janette Eckford
commenced teaching pottery here in 1971 and I
was fortunate to be one of her pupils. When she
was killed in a car accident in July 1973 our group
folded up until October of that year. The Flying
Arts kept coming to our area and I worked away
with them to further my knowledge. I attended
many workshops over the next few years and
endeavoured to keep our potters together. I have
taught here ever since and still enjoy this wonderful
craft. I have entered many competitions, had some
success, but so much pleasure from pottery and the
people associated with it. I have never sold
overseas, however I have had work accepted by FA
to travel to other centres. I have travelled to Mt.
Isa, Richmond, Townsville, Winton, Blackall,
Barcaldine and last year to McGregor College.
Because of expense and shortage of pupils FA
ceased coming to Julia Creek in the 1980s. Those
who attended were both potters and artists however
not enough students to cover the expenses of two
workshops on each visit. Julia Creek artists shared
with Richmond, travelling alternately between the
two centres. I feel Flying Arts has come to our
areas in a much more approachable way and with
students only bearing the major expense.
The pottery workshops with Monica Bronson was
very well accepted. Monica appeared to enjoy her
visit and we would be very happy to have her
return to our area.
Answers to Questionnaire 2003.
CHRIS ELCOATE
Mt. Isa
Chris has been living in Palmwoods for the last six
years. She was FA rep. for Mt. Isa 1990 and is a
painter. She worked with Flying Arts in Mt. Isa from
1990. She had had two years training with
Rockhampton TAFE before leaving for Tennant
Creek. She travelled 600km to attend workshops
at Mt. Isa before moving into town. (Only Craft
was available in the Territory.)
There was no art gallery in Mt. Isa in 1990 apart
from a private collection with Mt. Isa Rotary South
which were running Acquisitive Exhibitions
annually until 2002.
Chris twice won the Acquisitive watercolour
award and in 2002 Works on Paper Award. Her
watercolour training came through TAFE but her
litho work was developed through Flying Arts.
I am now living in Palmwoods and have been for
over 6 years ...My FA life began when I was living
in Tennant Creek, daresay if we had not moved to
Mt Isa when we did, I am sure I would have had
FA up and running in the Territory. I was
introduced via Jill O'Sullivan after meeting her at
the USQ summerschool. I ventured over by the
Barkly Highway (over 600klm) for a weekend
workshop in Mt Isa. Hence my relationship with FA
began in 1990. As there was only a very strong
Craft Council in the Territory my arts practice had
fallen by the wayside and this was my chance for a
big revival. I had attended two years of a Fine
Arts Course through TAFE in Rockhampton prior
to leaving for Tennant Creek...apart from Craft I
found myself in an art vacuum. Flying Arts saved
my sanity. The art group in Mt Isa was very strong
and Flying Arts was well supported by them.
I have had many fond memories of FA workshops,
particularly one held at Shirley MacNamaras
property west of Mt Isa...We all slept under the
verandah, in the backs of utes. The local dentist
dragged his old iron bed out into the paddock and
slept under the stars. I was the local FA rep at the
time and had to deliver the tutor (Steven Royster)
out to Shirleys...we were held up for 15 mins. trying
to get thru one of the gates as her old horse
wouldn’t budge...it took a leftover Maccas burger to
shift her. We had an old press which we dragged
out to Shirleys...we even made up donkey/kangaroo
poo paper for printing...stoking up the old donkey
for showertime was also a cherished memory...those
were the days...red wine and a chat under the stars
with like minded human beings is a very satisfying
pasttime worth bottling....
I find things not quite the same as before with
not having to pick up the tutor from the light
plane at the airport...now in Palmwoods it is a
just a drive up to us...but I will never forget the
old days....
12
Flying Arts have extended me to such a point where
I feel confident I can hold my own in any gallery.
They also gave a humble housewife the opportunity
to be in involved in a book of prints which is now
held in Libraries around the Country...to be one of
the chosen few was a reward in itself...I have also
been given the opportunity to be involved in several
tri-state travelling exhibitions which is great for self
esteem.... which in the art world is quite a
rollercoaster.
FA is run as a very efficient ship which passes
through all parts of the desert stopping at any port
possible to fill the artistic desires of people who
need topping up with creativity......I think they kept
my passion going....twice a year with the bonus of
a curated exhibition at the years end....this made
my outback time a joy...it also made me energised
to become involved in community
happenings...artwise...I believe in FA and I will
always support them for what they've done for me
and my development as an artist.
An anecdote from her FA experiences:
Trekking out into the wide blue yonder with the
4WD packed to the hilt, Nance and I headed for
Mt. Guide Station. Linda volunteered to pick up
Steven Royster, the tutor, and also Tom, our
visiting guest artist from Papua New Guinea.
They passed us, just after the spectacular mound
of perfectly shaped balancing rocks which take
your breath away in the early morning and
evening light.
Steven is quite talented in bringing out the
creativity in artists at all levels. We had a diverse
workshop in colour with tips on transferring your
artwork with contact cement. It worked wonders
on Shirley’s images which looked superb
transposed onto rock from her property.
We all felt Steven had been pampered by his North
West groupies, so we could convince him to come
again. Our Brisbane Flying Arts’ squad are a
little more aware of our doings now, though I’m
not sure they’ll send another tutor out this way.
AND IF ANYONE IS CURIOUS, WE DID DO
SOME ART WORK!!!
Tom, our guest tutor, was a little non-plussed
about us all, but I think being able to go down to
the shed and actually complete two beautiful metal
sculptures, which were so full of movement and a
delight to look at, was a sense of fulfilment for
him. I’m sure Tom would have loved to take ‘the
dump’ from Mt. Guide Station home to PNG.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 72, December 1996.
13
KAREN FARROW
Emerald
Karen has been the centre rep. for Emerald
from about 1998. She is a painter.
She believes there are more students now than
there used to be. The nearest art training is at
the Rockhampton TAFE.
There has been a local art group in Emerald for
at least twenty years.
Their Regional Gallery is at the Exhibition Centre.
New gallery space for local art was opened in 2001.
Previously it was in an annexe of the town library
and run by the Art Gallery group.
Karen exhibits locally and was in an
Exhibition/Competition in November 2003.
Karen started art training at school in the 1960s
and at the Queensland University in the 1970s.
She loves visiting art galleries and frequently
attends art workshops.
Flying Arts goes to Emerald twice a year and
workshops are held in their local art rooms.
I am the Flying Arts Rep. in Emerald Qld. I
moved to regional Queensland about 5 years ago
and prior to my move had lived in urban areas
(Brisbane, Gold Coast, overseas). I have only
been associated with FA and aware of regional
access for the Arts since moving rurally/regionally.
Regional Queenslanders have issues of distance and
costs associated with travelling to attend workshops,
classes, galleries as well as the costs of tutors coming
to our centres. For that reason FA is an invaluable
organisation in sending professional artists to our
areas to provide some form of equity of access. The
artists in our Central Highlands’region have to travel
about 3 hours to Rockhampton, 3.5-4 hours to
Mackay, 6 hours to Townsville to larger urban areas
offering universities, TAFE art classes and to larger
Regional Galleries.
There are many artistic individuals scattered on
properties and in regional towns who value the
opportunity to meet together in workshops of artistic
pursuits. In Emerald we hold an annual competition,
at times partake in RADF funded workshops when
funds are available and our submission is accepted
and FA Workshops twice a year (Silversmithing,
Painting, Kite Making on tour 2, 2003).
We have a small regional Gallery run by a
volunteer Art Gallery Group that exhibits
travelling exhibitions as well as local art by
schools and art group members. There is an active
art group with presently 55 members who use the
council art room facility a few times per week and
30-40 children who attend Saturday morning
classes. I am involved in Visual Arts, but our town
also have active Patchworking and Potters groups.
So, for a regional centre we are quite active.
Written answers to Questionnaire, 2003.
JOSEPHINE FORSTER
Richmond
Josephine was born in Brisbane. She is a semiabstract painter using mixed media.
Jo was a nurse who first trained in art in Brisbane.
She was at the Richmond District Hospital for a year
when she was young. She then took a trip overseas
and came back to marry and live at ‘Trivaltore’. The
only way to learn art from there was by Stott’s
Correspondence courses. Work on the property was
demanding, ‘As do most country women, I had more
work than I could cope with in a day.’
She began her studies in Brisbane with Melville
Haysom at the Central Technical College. Moved into
creative art with Andrew Sibley and Roy Churcher,
then with Mervyn Moriarty and Bela Ivanyi at
Richmond through the Australian Flying Arts School.
She was a Board member of the Qld. Arts Council
from 1973-1976; a Committee member of the Qld.
Federation of Art & Craft Societies; a member of
the CAS Brisbane until 1973 when it disbanded;
from 1975 a member of the IMA in Brisbane.
She found her AFAS experience invaluable.
Exhibition: Her first solo exhibition was at the AFAS
gallery in 1977. She has exhibited with others at
numerous exhibitions throughout regional Queensland,
Brisbane and Sydney and is represented in private
collections in Australia and overseas.
Artists & Galleries Australia, Max Germaine, 1984.
Jo Forster joined Flying Arts in 1971, in the first
workshops with Mervyn Moriarty. She has worked
tirelessly in her isolated community, teaching and
developing art opportunities. At the same time she
has developed her art practice extensively,
becoming a highly regarded professional artist
from the North-west. She gained her Masters of
Creative Arts through James Cook University some
years ago, and has had many solo and group
exhibitions, as well as gaining some 80 odd prizes
for her works over the years. Her works are held
in many collections around the country.
Interview with Lesley Jenkins, Oral Historian, 2001.
Jo supplies an interesting description of what life is
like living on a property during the wet, and the
problems that confront students of AFAS:
The roads at the moment are 4WD passable. The
Flinders River is under its bridge, but the Saxby is
high and running. This is part of the “wet” season
here. Normally you can’t move at all, except by
helicopter in an emergency. We have to get enough
stores to last for about 12 weeks. This is the story for
Feb/March/April or earlier. Even your workshop
here for April 4 is a bit early - we can be still drying
out then, if the Monsoon comes. This is when we get
all or most of our rain - if it doesn’t come we’re in
‘BIG TROUBLE’. This is why I may not be able to
get to the Regional Arts Writing Forum.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 65 April 1995.
14
KATHERINE FORSYTH
Monto
JANET FOUNTAIN
Mt. Isa
From Flying Arts student, Katherine Forsyth:
Born and bred in the rural town of Monto, I was
exposed to extensive landscapes and expressive
buildings. These I admired for their natural and
man-made beauty.
What held my thoughts and interest was the
difference between the traditional styles and the
modern art movement.
Resources led me to artists such as Fred
Williams, the ‘Fauves’ - Raoul Dufy and Matisse,
but Picasso captivated me most in my younger
years, with the simplicity and solidity found in
his work. Enthusiastic teachers assisted me in
finishing my schooling years with a progressive
folio and accreditations such as Youth Week
Poster Designer and the Australia Day 1993
Cultural Award.
Wishing to continue my Art studies I enrolled in
an intensive year at the Hervey Bay Senior
College, where meeting with other ambitious
artists and the exploration of the media, such as
photography and jewellery, gave my art a new
direction. The year widened my knowledge of
other art movements and media.
Art is like a diary entry, very personal: It may
be a year or a second of one’s life. As I paint,
sketch or construct a piece, I do not know
exactly what I am portraying until the end. I
look and look and finally I will see. I have
based some paintings solely on a feeling. Each
stroke is an experiment, a step forward, be it
wrong or right.
Art for me is like discovering the world twice,
seeing things others might not like - a tone, line
or a simple suggestion of something else. Each
work is a signpost for another, giving way to
each other, like putting together a jigsaw.
Now, through Flying Arts, I can converse and
exchange with other artists and try more new
media possibilities. It’s important to know what
other artists are involved in. Currently I am
studying photography, which is a medium that is
more instant and points out to me perspectives I
don’t see when painting. Observing other
artworks is similar to reading another dialect.
All this intrigues and inspires me. Art is best
described by Brett Whiteley as a “Difficult
Pleasure”.
Flying Arts Gazette, No. 66, June 1995
In 1998 Janet was judged Northern Region Shell
Art Award winner for her ten panelled 20 minutes
south (of Mt. Isa) featured on the cover of Flying
Arts 1998 Annual Report.
Janet spends most weekends painting ‘en plein
air’ in the Mt. Isa area. She has been involved
with Flying Arts since 1991 and was a former
Flying Arts representative with Jill O’Sullivan.
Janet studied science at university but she has
always been a drawer. She attended a workshop
with Mervyn Moriarty at Emu Park in 1996 and
has attended sessions with most of the tutors that
have come to Mt. Isa. She is a dedicated painter
who summed up her goals to Jill O’Sullivan in
this way: I just want to keep improving my art, I
just want to get better and better, I would hope my
work is good enough to survive 500 years. I want
to do great art. I am prepared to take a lifetime to
get there.
So much of my life is now directed towards my
art, you couldn’t stop me spending my spare time
thinking about it. I find where I can impose my
artistic skills on my paid work. I think Mt. Isa
Mines values the design effort that goes into the
interfaces I build for computer programs. Just
input forms for users, I make them friendly in
every possible way, I make them intuitive, I make
layouts that are easy on the eyes. I do everything
an artist would try and do in my programming for
MIM - so I don’t feel guilty if I think a little bit
about art.
Without Flying Arts I probably wouldn’t have
found art. I can’t see how I would have come
across art lessons and come across artists who
are so dedicated. I doubt if I’d have met such
challenging tutors. The biggest changes have
come from things that Flying Arts has introduced
me to and they were such powerful changes in my
perceptions they’ve had an enduring effect!
Flying Arts Gazette No. 86, October 2001.
In recent months I spent my weekend mornings at
the Copper Smelter, painting things I normally
write computer programs for. In April I had an
exhibition of my copper smelter paintings at the
Mount Isa Potter’s Gallery. That’s how I ended
up with such a great photo in the local paper.
I don’t recommend painting from the western end
of the copper smelter crane aisle. It’s down wind.
Your paint is constantly collecting fine coal dust,
your respirator starts to hurt the bridge of your
nose after an hour, and your safety goggles hinder
looking down into your paints.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 80, September 1999.
15
MARION GAEMERS
Townsville
Marion Gaemers came to Townsville when she was
seven. Her work could be described as basketry on
a sculptural scale, using traditional techniques and
materials to hand, often from her garden.
Primarily I am a basket maker. I use techniques
and materials that have been used for thousands of
years by basket makers. However, the final product
is not a conventional basket.
The material I use is critical to my work. Trying not
to pollute or use excessive energy to create art is
important to me. As a race, humans have attempted
to place themselves as the most important species.
However, it is necessary for humans to rediscover
that we are not more important than other
organisms that inhabit the earth.
Many artists today use the form of the Goddess
(Earth goddess, mother goddess) or her religious
concepts in their work. Some believe that if we
don’t have a radical change in our way of
thinking the earth will die and all upon it will
cease to exist.
With these concepts of the Goddess religion, I
have turned to the insect world for inspiration. It
is ironical that I use insects for inspiration as the
human race has attempted to destroy many of
these organisms. For my art work I have
examined two types of shelters produced by
insects. The first type are those that produce a
shelter to house several thousand of the same
species. These insects work together to gather
food, rear young and protect the colony. Within
this group there are wasps, bees, ants and
termites. The second group being examined are
insects that build themselves a shelter that is
worn like clothing. It is usually the larval form
of the insect that builds these. Two types of
insects from this group are the bagworm (or
case) moth and the caddisfly. It is this communal
living and co-operation that I have explored in
my work “Colony.” The work is made from small
units that were made from plant material
available within my living environment. Made
from coconut fibre (from discarded mattresses),
palm flowering stems and newspapers I have
stitched these all together to form a large work
which hangs from the ceiling. The small colonies
appear to be growing along the ceiling and down
to the floor. Another aspect of this work is that I
have received help in making the small colonies
from friends. Like the wasp colonies that rely on
the workers to expand the nest, I needed the help
of friends to complete the work. The strength or
survival of a colony relies on the co-operation of
all its members.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 62, July, 1994.
JAN GALL
Blackall
Textiles Centre Rep.
More than 25 years ago, there were almost no
opportunities for budding artists in the bush to
work with professionals. I was fortunate enough
to belong to a group who got together once a
week under the tutelage of Jan Douglas Shaw,
who was living in Blackall at the time.
Then, I think it was in 1969, we heard of this redheaded artist called Mervyn Moriarty who was
travelling out west, by road at this stage, to
teach. With Jan’s encouragement, several of us
decided to spread our wings and so went to
Barcaldine for a two-day workshop with him.
This was a very big adventure in those days. To
leave one’s home, husband and children behind
and stay overnight in another town was enough,
but little did we realise just how big an adventure
it would be. Mervyn’s ideas impacted upon us
and our horizons were broadened beyond our
wildest dreams. Enraptured, we then invited him
to Blackall so the other local painting enthusiasts
could share in our find.
It was around this time that Mervyn had the idea
of using an aeroplane to cover the huge distances
of the outback, and the Australian Flying Arts
School was born.
Today the people of the west enjoy, and take for
granted, any number of opportunities to learn
and develop their artistic talents, but this was not
always the case. I would like to pay tribute to
Mervyn Moriarty for being at the vanguard of
this development, and for having the initiative
and the courage to become a pilot for this
purpose - our knight in shining armour at the
time.
To my knowledge, Flying Arts is still the only
organisation using air travel to enable tutors to
tour.
After a long period of involvement in other things
I have recently returned to creative activities, this
time experimenting with natural fibres and
textiles. I have discovered that my room-mate
from the Barcaldine adventure is also back with
Flying Arts - in Wee Waa.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 70, June, 1996.
PAT GARNER
Goondiwindi
In 1971 a group of friends at Goondiwindi with
like-minded art interests formed an art group and
were looking for a tutor. Pat wrote to a friend on
‘Meandarra’ station for information on Mervyn
Moriarty’s Flying Art School. Her friend had
already spoken to a group from Glenmorgan who
were also thinking of joining the school. The
Goondiwindi group wrote to Mervyn and Helen
at Mt. Nebo, and in November 1972 he came to
visit them, asking Pat if she could arrange for
him to be picked up at the airport.
We had quite a large group of 16 plus so would
be able to have two-day seminars. Our first
seminar would be in 1973. Mervyn
complemented his workshops with 24 books of
written lessons. They were sent out quarterly to
everyone who joined the group. The books were
very comprehensive and they were on a level
which equalled the courses that city students
were receiving.
The first letter I received was from Mervyn’s
home at Mt. Nebo, the next one came from his
school at Adelaide House in Adelaide Street.
Then came the move to the 5th floor, 72-76 Eagle
Street. The administrator there was Audrey
Robertson who had a small staff to operate the
office and the new gallery.
In 1974 Bela started with Eastaus.
Harry Mainwaring was one of the pilots I
remember, he would gather up the fees for the
school while the artists were taking the class.
Mervyn believed that physical contact was a
powerful tool. He would alight from the plane
and greet you with a bear hug, it was repeated by
the others on board. Then they would repeat it on
entering the classroom. It was an icebreaker.
The action was electric in its effect on the class.
Later there were financial problems when federal
funding failed but Arthur Creedy came to the
rescue with a small grant which eased the worry
for the school of some 729 students.
Despite the low funding classes continued and the
visits now included a potter. The potters
occupied the southern end of the Annexe, Dianne
Cairns was their rep. Through all the funding
problems our classes never faltered in content.
We always received excellent tutoring with
dedication and commitment from our tutors and
our art grew and flourished.
By 1977 funding was causing distress and we
feared the school would close. All the Flying Arts
students rallied behind Mervyn with letters of
support and they lobbied members of Parliament
to help. Finally a lifeline was offered by Kelvin
Grove College which allowed the school to
continue operating.
16
I was the centre rep. for five years. Mervyn was
a guru to the people of the art-starved bush. Bela
complemented Mervyn’s mystical ways with a
more practical and down to earth approach.
We dips our lid to you Mervyn Moriarty.
Letter to Marilyn England 2001.
Pat advised that Eastaus had a growing library of
tapes and slides of the work of various Australian
and overseas artists. They were for student use
and would be distributed to each centre for use
over a particular time period. They were to be an
important supplement to other activities of the
school and would help in maintaining and
creating enthusiasm in individual centres - a
necessary and enlightening asset in lessening
communications problems.
Attached to the letter was a note from Arthur
Creedy dated 1974:
Eastaus, originally the creative vision of a
solitary Queensland painter, Mervyn Moriarty, is
growing like the proverbial mustard seed. This,
Queensland’s Flying Art School, is throwing out
both new branches and new roots. In only three
years Eastaus has vigorously established 26
centres around Queensland, extending to
Thursday Island and Yorke Island. Two Eastaus
planes are flying in regular painting tuition to
country centres four times per annum. Their
services in other cultural areas: visual arts
(sculpture), crafts (pottery), drama and music are
just beginning to get off the ground. Projects for
Community Arts, in the special form of artistic
integration, are being planned. Eastaus which has
been economically obliged to deny its services
which are vehemently desired by several other
centres, now, thanks to support from both the
federal and state governments, is able to pursue
its natural rate of growth. The art consultants of
the Visual Arts Board, professional
painters/teachers, are observing and contributing
to the work of Eastaus at first hand. The
enterprising Board of Eastaus is hoping to extend
the organisation’s work further into New South
Wales next year.
17
PATRICIA GEE
Weipa
JOAN GILL
Dalby
My husband was a bank manager and we were
moving about. We’d lived in Brisbane and
Townsville and then we’d been transferred out to
Hughenden. I had four small children then. My next
door neighbour was a mad potter and she thought I
was a bit housebound so she dragged me off to do
some pottery. They had a really good set up in
Hughenden. The council had given them this old
shed, they had a couple of wheels, even a playpen for
the kids, and everyone just helped everyone else. Of
course once I started that was it. They used to have
visiting potters and of course Merv. Moriarty used to
come out and do the drawing and the painting. He
was considered very way out at that time - there
were a lot of stories about Merv.
I actually went to a drawing class of Merv’s in the
early ‘80s when I moved down here. That was
really good. I enjoyed his classes - they were
different. But he wasn’t my focus in the earlier days.
Kevin Grealy was. I think the first time I met Kevin
must have been in Richmond one weekend, when he
was doing the potters and Merv must have been
doing the artists. Then my husband and I were
transferred to Weipa. When we got there, if I
remember correctly, they’d just started to put a club
together so several of us decided we’d try to get
Flying Arts up because they hadn’t been there
previously. I was in Weipa for three years.
Kevin was an excellent teacher, in fact I think
he’s probably one of the best teachers I’ve come
across, very good at showing you how to do a
thing. It’s a real gift being able to impart that
knowledge. It’s one thing to have the knowledge,
it’s another to be able to impart it. Kevin was
really good at that.
Interviewer: One of the problems our tutors have
these days is that participants in workshops are at
all different levels of skill. Was that the case in
Weipa? I think so but Kevin managed to cope with
that. He was really excellent.
We used to have a good time because if they were
staying for the weekend you’d have a function in
the evening and there was a lot of camaraderie
and partying on and so forth. It was always an
occasion - something special. I remember once
someone gave Kevin a huge fish, a salmon I
think, and he was anxious to get this fish home. I
was taking him out to the airport for his flight
back to Cairns, but as usual I was running late
and he was sure he was going to miss his plane.
He was a very worried man. We did make it, and
they held the plane for us - nobody would do that
nowadays - and he went off with his fish. He was
a nervous wreck though, and I don’t know that he
ever forgave me.
Flying Arts Gazette 79, April 1999.
Joan was a member of the Australian Flying Art
School, ‘Eastaus’ as it was known in those early
years, from 1971-1974. She was already a
practising artist and belonged to the Dalby Art
Group; her husband was the president and she
was secretary for the group. In the 1960s they
would all meet for a weekend painting seminar
every month or six weeks, sometimes with tutors
who had come from Toowoomba or Brisbane:
Ron Murray and Herb Carstens from Toowoomba
or David Fowler or Melville Haysom from
Brisbane. They met at their “Art Group Centre”
which was the old “baths” building on the banks
of Myall Creek, this had been allocated for their
use by the Dalby Town Council.
I joined the “Eastaus” school when Mervyn
Moriarty first came to Dalby. I found his teaching
stimulating, it opened up a new world of creativity
for me. He taught me a lot about colour and colour
mixing and I loved going along to the workshops.
My husband and I left Dalby in 1974 to live at Tom
Price in Western Australia. Later he was transferred
to Perth so I was able to continue my studies at the
Freemantle Tech. where I received my Diploma in
art. At the Tech. I did twenty-three units in five
years, these covered china painting, drawing, history
of art, oil and acrylic painting and watercolours.
After my husband died I gave art away.
I remember the day at the aerodrome when
Mervyn’s plane would not start and I had to call
on the local chemist, Chris Nearhos, to borrow
some ‘jumper leads’ from Chris’s plane to get
Mervyn going. After a lot of coughing and
spitting his plane finally started and Mervyn and
his entourage took off for Charleville. The plane
sounded awful but they made it through the tour
and were able to arrive safely back in Brisbane.
I know that I would not have gone up in it.
Letter to Marilyn England 2001.
NICOLE HOHN
Toowoomba
Nicole’s interest in art began in High School, she
studied for a Diploma of the Visual Arts at USQ
and always looked at art magazines and books.
In 2002 she began attending Flying Arts seminars.
I am an emerging artist who had only returned to
art in the last year. I found the Flying Arts
program inspiring and full of information, both
technical and professional.
My goal is to be a successful professional artist, and
I’m always entering local competitions and exhibitions.
I have found Lucja Ray to be a wealth of knowledge
and support in all aspects of the artworld.
Letter to Marilyn England 2003.
18
VIVIENNE HECKELS
Toowoomba
BLOSS HICKSON
Rolleston
Vivienne is the centre rep for Toowoomba. She
is a Painter.
She worked with Flying Arts from 1980-1985 at
Millmerran and from 1993-2003 at Toowoomba.
There is art training in Toowoomba and there are
more students with FA now than there were.
Flying Arts comes twice a year to Toowoomba now.
Toowoomba does have an art group which started
many years ago.
There is a Regional Gallery at Toowoomba which has
been going for over thirty years. Private galleries come
and go.
Vivienne has work in local galleries, others from Flying
Arts also i.e. Fay Kelly, Nicole Hohn, Thuy Wicks.
She began her interest in art when she was a child,
was self taught and was selling her work before
starting with Flying Arts but found their workshops
a terrific inspiration for her.
Tutors were Roy Churcher, Vivienne Binns,
Shelagh Morgan, Lucja Ray.
Vivienne always wanted to be an artist and was
selling her work before joining Flying Arts (no other
training). She entered a Junior art competition when
she was young and won a prize, someone then
wanted the painting. She didn’t sell it but gave it to
the gentleman who gave her a loan of brushes, oils in
a large box to give her the chance to keep on with her
painting. Being self taught she was free to
experiment with whatever she wanted to do. She
entered a painting in the Brisbane Exhibition which
won third prize. As she grew up she sent all her work
to a Toowoomba gallery which sold it for her. Then
she and a friend asked AFAS to come to
Millmerran. Vivienne loved mixing and talking
with other artists.
During a bad drought she sent her paintings to the
Qld. Art Council and they were sent to Canberra to
be part of The Heartlands Exhibition. From there
this series was exhibited in Brisbane and at the
Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery. This series also
appeared in the June edition of The Bulletin 1992
and the Autumn edition of Artefact 1992. Since
then she has been exhibiting mainly in
Toowoomba, she has not ventured out to other
galleries except through art competitions.
Vivienne attends Flying Arts to mix with other
artists and talk art. She is set in her ways and stays
with them so the tutor leaves her alone to paint in
her own fashion.
I think Flying Arts Inc. is great as we are exposed to
a number of different ideas. On the whole over the
years Toowoomba has been very conservative and
The Flying Arts School was like a breath of fresh
air that come in and filled the creative needs of
those who needed it.
Written reply to Questionnaire, 2003.
From Flying Arts tutor Lucinda Elliott: I first
met Bloss Hickson in 1992, on a Flying Arts
visit to Rolleston. Bloss runs a property and
spends much of her time in isolation. Her time
is filled with developing Landcare, publishing
the local rag, running the local Art group,
supporting environmental and local issues, and
rearing beef cattle. The isolation, self reliance
and practical application of personal philosophy,
makes Bloss and many other country people
impressive. I found myself constantly in awe of
these people who quietly move mountains.
Here is her story:
Painting is one of my greatest pleasures. Nothing
is more exciting than an exhilarating landscape
lying before you and a reason to sit there all day!
I love the bush and every fascinating relationship
within its complex makeup. The preservation of
the bush is probably the greatest driving force in
my life and painting it, my personal contribution
to its immortality.
I wish I had more spare hours to paint, but life
doesn’t dish them out. Thanks to the frequent
returns of Lucinda Elliott and Flying Arts our
art is kept alive, its value reinforced and our
keen little art group inspired. I still remember
her first class in the Rolleston Hall. She had us
painting self portraits and quite successful ones
as I recall. She is the most enthusiastic teacher.
Flying Arts Gazette, No. 71, September 1996.
DONNA HOBBS
Thargomindah
Donna is interested in pottery and writes:
I have only been involved with Flying Arts at the
Bulloo Shire for the past three years. In that time
we have undertaken the services of a Raku
Pottery tutor - Mark Warne on the 3 and 4
August 2002. This is the only time Flying Arts
have visited Thargo during those three years.
The class was held in the town hall. There are
no professional artists within this pottery group.
I did not attend the workshop myself, I simply
organised it as the RADF Liaison Officer.
Thargomindah has a pottery group of whom most
members attended the Raku workshop (12
participants). This pottery group was only
formed in 2002. There was a group many years
ago, but I am unsure of its history.
Our nearest art training school would probably
be Dalby - 700km east of Thargomindah.
Thargomindah does not have a gallery for art at
this stage. Any local sketches/paintings are
displayed in the local post office.
Written reply to Questionnaire, 2003.
19
ADELE JONES
Greenmount
Linda won a Flying Arts’ bursary to the McGregor
Summer School held at The University of Southern
Queensland from January 4-15, 1999. This is her
experience:
Imagine 11 days blissfully caught in an abyss of artistic
discovery and with artists of all abilities each searching
for their own creative evolution. Nothing to do but paint
and refine ones sensibilities and seek that sometimes
elusive heightened visual awareness.
I was recently treated to this by way of a bursary to
McGregor Summer School. No family, no cows, no
farm work. Could I trust them to remember to feed the
animals? I wasn’t sure but I wasn’t going to miss this
opportunity! I was going to live in at Steele Rudd
College with my own room and shared common room
and bathroom facilities. All meals were provided except
weekday lunches. I decided to join the gym at a reduced
cost to Summer School students and maybe indulge
myself and have a massage. I did, by the way, manage
to get to the gym a few times while I was there but
mostly in the first week, as the 6 o’clock starts became
harder to meet in the last week.
Emotions ran high as body and soul were immersed in
paint (literally) and the tasks at hand. As the days
blended and the nights went on forever, we would
crystallise our ideas and make sense of our emotions for
another day’s painting. Slide nights by the tutors were
not to be missed, as we could put a face to a name and
gain appreciation for their work. The entertainment
included recitals by the young music students, and the
McGregor dining hall reverberated as we aging rockers
grooved along to the sound of the ‘60s and ‘70s.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 79, 1999.
LESLEY KANE
Mackay
I have been a student of Flying Arts from around
1990 and still look forward to the Flying Arts
visits to Mackay because of the refreshing and
different approach to all aspects of creativity they
bring to our region.
Flying Arts, Lyrebird Press, Townsville, 2000.
VALERIE KEENAN
North Queensland
From the age of fifteen years when I left home,
I have bumped along from one destination to
another, one job to another. More a series of
reactions to people and places than careful
planning. I have been fortunate to meet people
from amazing backgrounds and share
experiences which seemed quite normal at the
time. In hindsight my life to date has been
extraordinarily rich.
My relationship with Flying Arts was something
I stumbled into. I had lived in some very
remote places and when I finally discovered
Flying Arts it was like receiving a lifeline. It
was the catalyst for me to cultivate serious
ideas about developing my latent creativity.
Tutors like Judy Watson, Anneke Silver, Anne
Lord and Steven Royster came along in an
order which suited my development.
This, added to external tertiary study now sees
me in my final years of a Bachelor of Visual
Arts at Qld. University of Technology, my sixth
year of study! It seems to have taken forever,
but Flying Arts has continued its support during
this time. The organisation’s commitment to
providing tuition in contemporary arts practices
to remote art practitioners, and, in conjunction
with The University of Southern Queensland, to
developing its role as an educator through the
Internet, is commendable. Although this is still
some years away, I am sure it will be
successful. In the future, we will not need to
leave our homes and disrupt family life to
further our skills base and receive higher
education.
Val Keenan, Flying Arts student, and 1997 first
tour guest artist, Di Ball, were two of four
recipients in the inaugural QUT Women’s
Creative Arts Grant Scheme.
Val received $250 for the purchase of archival
protection supplies for historical information
which will be used as resource material for a
proposed book and exhibition on pioneering
woman in Far North Queensland.
Di’s grant is for a proposed photo essay, Krystal
Ball, which will examine traditional uses of the
“beauty” industry products. The works will be
displayed at QUT’s annual women’s spring
dinner in November.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 75 Spring 1997.
RITA KERSHAW
Rockhampton
20
Our favourite outside drawing spot was at sixmile, a rather wild picnic spot on the Fitzroy
River. There were huge paper bark trees there
Rita has been a pivotal member of the Flying Arts
Rockhampton Group from its beginnings and later and plenty of shade in Rockhampton’s summer.
Eastaus was then a group of members from within
in introducing contemporary art to Rockhampton.
RQAS. However, there was friction from other
In 1972 Mervyn Moriarty made these comments
members of RQAS and Mervyn and the President
about her painting, “Walk on the Beach”. It is
jumping for joy on the beach - it is a great painting had a falling out. In the meantime the Council
had bought an old warehouse now known as
with lovely line. Bars join up beautifully, to put
Walter Reid Arts Centre and RQAS were given
more line in would overstate. The most powerful
space there and sold their hall to the Contract
sensations of the sea edge I’ve ever seen.
Bridge Club. We then rented the Wandal
Problems with the Plane: When we first started we
had people from Emerald and Gladstone coming here. Tumbling Club when Mervyn visited, about four
times a year (the hall has since burnt down).
If it looked like the plane couldn’t come in, we would
all be ringing up to see if Mervyn could get through in Bela Ivanyi from Cairns was appointed an
the little aircraft. We would all be sitting here waiting alternative tutor. He and Mervyn were opposites
for him and some of us would go out to the ‘drome’to with the same feeling for art and we loved both of
them but some used to say there were Bela centres
pick him up. One day we went out there and there
and Mervyn centres. Alec Thompson took over as
was something wrong with the plane. It was circling
above the airfield and the ambulance and fire brigade rep. for a short while and then Joyce Mullins and I
took over. When Joyce left for Brisbane I continued
were following it round and round on the ground. It
until Flying Arts School from Kelvin Grove stopped
was nothing much, he came down alright.
coming to centres along the coast.
Sometimes the small plane would be held up by
In the meantime there was a name change to
fog or rain in Brisbane but usually got through
Australian Flying Arts School. We worked for a
eventually. Many of our group in those days
while in a room I hired in the National Fitness
came from outside areas, Comet, Emerald,
Rooms and then got space on the top floor of
Baralaba, Yeppoon, etc. so there would be many
Walter Reid’s Art Centre and completely left
phone calls etc. The officer in the tower one
RQAS. We now called ourselves Central
week-end got so many phone calls he said:
Queensland Contemporary Artists (AFAS) and
“who’s this Moriarty?” Bela was an impetuous
paid rent to the Rockhampton City Council. We
pilot. I spent a few times taking him to answer
did not charge rent to Flying Arts School and all the
questions to the Air Traffic Control. Once he
tutors, guest tutors and pilots were billeted.
flew in the flight path of the large planes.
Extra guest tutors were Roy Churcher, David
Rita started painting by going to adult
education classes which eventually became TAFE, Aspden, Keith Looby and we did have Pat Hoffie,
Dr. Adam Rich, Irene Amos, Beverly Budgen and
then I joined the local RQAS but it was Mervyn
others, but some could have been after 1978.
who really started all of us painting in
Eastaus had an exhibition in Brisbane in their old
Rockhampton. I was a student at his first class in
office space in Eagle Street and a number of us went
1971. Mervyn said he wanted us to paint the way
down for the opening. Mervyn brought slides with
we wanted to paint. He didn’t try to force any
him and we usually all got together for dinner at night
particular style onto us. I went abstract straight
and then went back to our area for a slide showing.
off. I had a little bit of training in technique from
He also showed slides of students when he toured from
the adult education tutors but they weren’t very
other areas, and sometimes a couple of paintings.
good. They were just people who may have done a
One year he was allowed to give students throughout
little bit of painting because there really wasn’t very
Queensland five entries to a large Exhibition in
much in Rockhampton in the early days as regards
Brisbane. I remember I was one of them.
art.
We were sent two study books each three months on
When Mervyn commenced Eastaus in 1971 he
the course. The homework was done and
contacted the RQAS President in Rockhampton.
commented on by Mervyn before we started new
That was the only art group in Rockhampton apart
lessons. The ones who did all the books received a
from the adult classes at the Rockhampton College.
certificate at the end of the two-year course. The
Several of us went along to his talk and decided to
join. The first classes were held in the RQAS hall in numbers kept high for a number of years and we
were one of the strongest centres. The money we
Victoria Park. The Council had leased a corner of
paid helped to keep small groups going. We
the park to us and we had shifted a small hall to the
continued to improve and had a couple of
park for our use. We had about twenty students. At
first the hall was crowded but attendance fell off after exhibitions. The feeling by us all for Mervyn was
something special and we did worry about his health
a weekend of life classes. Our first guest tutor was
and his problems over keeping the school going.
Clifton Pugh. (1973)
Rita Kershaw (contd.):
Cooee Bay: Bela felt we needed longer than a
two-day seminar and he organised a ten-day
seminar at Tinaroo N.Q. in 1976 and Highfields
S.Q. in 1977. These proved very popular and it
introduced us to each other and we all formed a
special bond. The next year was C.Q. I found a
National Fitness camp at Yeppoon and we were in
the middle of organising it when Kelvin Grove
took over AFAS. Unfortunately they were not
interested in the ten-day seminar so Bela said,
“let’s do it ourselves.” It proved to be a fantastic
ten days and is still as strong as ever after twentysix years. I retired as organiser after twenty-two
years and Bela this year, but it still goes on with
many of the old Eastaus Group still turning up.
Most of us win many competitions and are
represented in galleries and overseas. We put a
book together earlier this year and it was
published at C.Q. University. It shows how far
we have come from small beginnings. Many of us
now are professional artists and all give praise to
Mervyn and his Eastaus school for giving us
something that enriched our lives.
Australian Art Stories Flying Arts online 2001.
Letter to M. England 2001.
GEORGE KIRK
Gayndah
NOELLE KAREZ
Miles
21
Noelle has always had an interest in art and
began with Flying Arts in the early 1970s and reenrolled around 2000. Over the years her tutors
have been Mervyn Moriarty, Paul Griffin,
Stephanie Broadhurst, Lucja Ray, Kay Kane, and
Bill Cox.
As an AFAS student I would like to say that the
use of mediums I found exciting and challenging
and something I really enjoy.
Each tutor can tell a student many useful hints in
composing a painting, positioning of trees and
persons and what would best be left out and what
is the centre of interest.
Often the tutor has some of their own work either
in photos or loose work for our inspection.
We have a friendly and wonderful group in Miles
and I feel privileged to be a part of it.
Letter to Marilyn England September 2003.
JUDITH LAWS
Oakey
Judith was born in Charters Towers Queensland.
She has lived on the Darling Downs since 1957
George says he is a weekend painter who now runs
and with her veterinary surgeon husband and
over to Monday sometimes.
family has been deeply involved in the rural life
He owns and runs a Braford (a cross-breed of
of the community.
Brahmin and Hereford) cattle stud outside Gayndah,
She studied painting with Rex Backhaus Smith
300 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, on land first
and then with Mervyn Moriarty and Irene Amos
settled by his father in 1902.
and the Australian Flying Arts School. She has
He is also, in the words of artist-tutor Beverley Budgen
“one of our most creative painters”.
also attended a master class with British artist,
George started painting seriously in the mid-1970s, when John Davidson.
cattle prices dropped drastically when my work on the
Exhibitions: Linton Gallery Toowoomba 1979;
farm became less practical, so I had the time to paint.
Wesley Hospital Brisbane 1978, 1979, 1980; Tia
He has been coming into town for AFAS classes since the
Gallery Toowoomba 1980; Gosford and Sydney in
early 1970s. In 1980 an exhibition of his works was held
1984. Also at the Bonython Galleries, Adelaide
in a Brisbane gallery. His paintings have been sold to
and the R.J. Harvey drawing exhibition held at the
collectors in the United States and throughout Australia.
Cultural Centre, Brisbane.
He says he has learned a great deal over the past 15
Awards: Prizes in Toowoomba in 1978, 1979 and
years, and still attends the AFAS classes because of
the teaching and the contact with other artists. I come 1980. Warwick in 1979, Ascot in 1980 and the
to the classes because of the contact you establish
Caltex Award Brisbane in 1980.
with the artists from Brisbane and the other folk I’ve
Her work is represented in Parliament House,
met here over the years. After a while, though, you
Brisbane, the Toowoomba City Collection and
have to paddle your own canoe, though there is
private collections in Australia and overseas.
always something to learn no matter where you go.
Artists & Galleries Australia, Max Germaine,
Working in isolation as we do out here, we miss being
1984
affected by short-term trends in painting. Trends
travel past us here. And We’re more objective out
here, being closer to the environment.
During the months between AFAS classes, George
Kirk has his art books at home to refer to, and
works in his studio in a shed on his property.
Carmel Tremble, “Art Takes Flight over a Bush
Landscape, Queensland Profile May 1986.
22
KATH LEONARD
Goondiwindi
CATHERINE LODEWYK
Mt. Isa
Back in 1971 Mervyn Moriarty flew into Goondiwindi.
Prior to that, a group of us had been painting and
attending the odd seminar, however, we realised we
needed more. We’d read about Mervyn and his
aspiration to bring Art to isolated areas, so invited him
here, and of course that was the beginning, his course
was what we needed. We were hooked - we studied
our books - met between seminars - did our exercises
and were determined to unravel what seemed at the
time like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle.
At this stage, the Painters and Potters shared a
large working space in the centre of town. It was
an interesting and exciting period in our lives, we
had heaps of fun - the humour - but most
importantly, we learnt. The most wonderful part
was the fact that this tuition was coming to us, and
of course it still is. We didn’t seem to have the
pressures that seem to exist now and we looked
forward to the Flying Arts School seminars
enormously. With the exception of a few, I think I
have attended every seminar in Goondiwindi since
its inception, so I feel I’m in the position to say that
although we’ve been through periods of
uncertainties due to lack of numbers, etc., the
Flying Arts School has stuck to us, and we are now
reaping the benefits. We have a very stimulating
tutor in Shelagh Morgan and we all hope we will
continue to have Shelagh for quite some time. The
School is doing their best to promote us and I think
the current ideas and initiatives are very sound. We
have a most enthusiastic group and attendances are
good. Our biggest problem is that most of us are very
busy people and with the exception of a few lucky
ones who are in a position to work constantly at their
painting, we are not producing as much as we should.
We usually ‘wind up’prior to our annual local show
in May. This year Jeff Shaw had the unenviable task
of judging. He seemed to be pretty impressed with
the standard and although we do have lots of entries
from far away the AFAS students seem to manage to
steal the limelight. The major Awards this year went
to Ellie Neilsen. Her painting was acquired by the
Waggamba Shire Council. Bernice Dixon’s painting
was acquired by the Namoi Cotton Cooperative.
Recently I was offered the position to teach painting
at the new TAFE College in Boggabilla, which is
situated 10k from Goondiwindi on the NSW side of
the border. The course is Certificate in Painting.
Naturally my method of teaching is the way I have
been taught, and through knowledge acquired from
the many AFAS tutors I have had over the years.
When my students have completed their course I
will encourage them to attend AFAS seminars.
Flying Arts Gazette 15 October 1990.
Over the years Kath’s work has been acquired by the
Waggamba Shire Council and the Moree Civic collection.
She has won a number of prizes at local shows.
Catherine is a painter who trained at Mt. Isa with
Flying Arts in 1993-2002. She believes there are
less students now than there used to be.
The nearest art training school is at Townsville.
The Mount Isa Visual Art Society started as early 1958.
Mt. Isa has a pottery gallery and a Civic Centre
where art is shown, this began around 1950s. Her
work is in the local regional gallery along with
work by Jill O’Sullivan, Janet Fountain and Shirley
McNamara.
She began art training at school in England and since
then has been self taught through books and local
workshops put on by FA and the RADF. She loves
to go to any galleries whenever she can.
Tutors she remembers : Barbara Cheshire and Anne Lord.
Flying Arts comes out once or twice a year and
seminars are held at the art house.
Catherine is a professional artist, she is tutoring
locally and is exhibiting and selling her work full
time. Doesn’t earn a lot so her status is
recreational.
She was a member and rep. for FAI for six years
and will retire in 2004 but will maintain her
membership. She may do another FAI course
next year and recognises that her instruction
through FAI has made many changes to her work.
As an isolated artist I needed professional
recognition, improved skills and knowledge of
techniques. The amount I gained from each tutor
was various but I believe that each new experience
brought changes and ideas to my overall ability
and self-satisfaction.
She has exhibited at Mt. Isa, Cloncurry, Winton,
Camooweal and Brisbane and has won local
prizes every year since 1990.
She has sold from exhibitions, QCCU,
Accountants, Travel Agency, Airport, Craft Shop,
Pottery Shop and home - customers mostly local
residents, tourists, family and friends.
Her artworks are in private collections both
nationally and internationally.
She works an 8 hour day from home, and charges
$30 per hour plus costs. She is an active member
of the local Visual Arts Society (MIVAS) and
donates times and artwork to MIVAS and other
non-profit organisations. Her mediums vary, (will
try anything). Most of her work is painting and
drawing landscape, fauna and flora, social issues
and mining. She produces both traditional and
contemporary private and public works.
She tutors through MIVAS to Outback Arts, and
Schools at Camooweal and Boulia. She believes
it is very important to give others the therapeutic
outlet and joy she receives from art. She feel also
that it is important to educate the public in order
to increase sales outlets.
Answers to Questionnaire 2003.
ANNE LORD
Julia Creek
Ann inherited her love of art from her grandmothers who
were both creative, one had been a photographer, the other
a painter. As a teenager growing up she had studied art
briefly with Andrew Sibley and later with Betty Churcher
during her high school years at Stuartholme College in
Brisbane. After returning home to the family property,
‘Kilterry’, she was able to study with the Australian Flying
Art School for three years between 1971 and 1973 and
attended the art workshops which were held at Julia
Creek. For her the books were very important for the
instructions and exercises between visits. The workshops
were held at the RSL Hall in Julia Creek.
I first met Mervyn Moriarty when he flew into our
centre as a dynamic person, an artist who was
brimming with enthusiasm and creative energy, so I
immediately became a student with the Australian
Flying Art School, “Eastaus” Flying Art School as it
was known in those days. Mervyn exuded creative
thinking and after my high school training with Betty
Churcher he was extremely important to my
continuing interest in painting and later my going to
Art School in Sydney. It was he who told me that I
should continue with my work and suggested I apply
to the National Art School, so I followed his advice
and attended that school during the subsequent
changes it went through over the next few years. His
faith in my ability was important to me and it
probably kept me going to art school when I was
extremely homesick. Following his visits Mervyn
had always left me eager to progress with my work
and follow my dream to become an artist.
I remember that one of the early highlights was his visit
with Clifton Pugh: I was nineteen and was very excited
that they should be coming to ‘Kilterry’, our property,
which lay on a very flat natural grassland with very few
trees, at the time it was also fairly dry and hot.
I was anxious that Mervyn would be able to find the
airstrip. It was part of a main road leading to the
property and had occasional cattle trucks, the mailman’s
truck and local traffic using it to go into town. We
needed to make sure Mervyn would be able to recognise
this road as the airstrip so we set up four big tractor tyres
painted white to make the beginning and end of the
airstrip, two at each end. He found the airstrip of course
and he, his partner Helen, and Clifton Pugh were our
guests at the main house for a couple of days. In those
days it was kept in a very gentile manner by my mother
and formal dinners were always part of the evening meal.
I wanted to show them around the property so the next
day I took them via a dirt road to a place I thought was
interesting. It had a slight ridge which made it
different from the surrounding land and the horizon
was marked with scattered tree lines. I was used to
walking out into the paddocks with a paint box of oils
and canvas, but I think it was all a new experience for
Mervyn and Clifton. I can imagine now that I
look back on it that it must have seemed to them
like landing into the middle of nowhere.
The next morning Clifton climbed our windmill tower 23
to get a better view of the surrounding country. When
he came down he produced a sketch that impressed my
family very much and later he entered a little drawing
into our guest book which thrilled my parents.
In the following years I practiced my art, supplying
work for solo and group exhibitions and lecturing at
Townsville TAFE and James Cook University. In 1995
I was asked to go on tour as a Flying Arts tutor. It
involved the Northern touring program and in one tour
included New Guinea. It was fantastic, the experience
enabled me to give back some of what I had gained
from Flying Arts. Since then I have also helped to
curate the Flying Arts Inc. exhibition Transitions. In
2000 I was involved in helping produce a book through
Lyrebird Press which featured a number of Flying Arts
artists. This was followed by another solo exhibition
at the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery in Townsville.
While this was happening I continued with my
lecturing position at the James Cook University.
Anne’s work can be found in the Queensland Art
Gallery collection, Parliament House, James Cook
University, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, BHP
Collection, Artbank, Jupiters Casino, Hyatt
Regency, Adelaide Hilton, Cairns, Warnambool
Regional Art Gallery, National Library Aust., Allied
Qld. Coalfields, and Remm Group Limited.
Email interview with Marilyn England 2001.
MARJORIE LORD
Mt. Isa
I attended the first Eastaus classes (and probably many
others I can’t remember them though) when I was 9
years old. I can remember this very first one because
A: It was so exciting to have a real artist come to such a
small town like Julia Creek and
B: We had a hail storm. Unlike you city folks we
NEVER get hail storms, it is a very rare treat.
I spoke to Mervyn when I was at McGregors, in 88 I think
it was, I mentioned my childhood memory , he said he
remembered it also as he had to fly through that storm!
I can remember waiting for the smell of paints
everything was so exciting as a child. From the
child’s perspective that’s it.
Myra Beach would have been instrumental in
organising all the art classes in Julia Creek in those
early days. She is a wonderful lady who is now
residing in a nursing home in Townsville, she has
suffered a stroke that has made her immobile.
I have attended many Flying Arts schools as an adult.
but have not attended any for the last 10 years but
this year I started going again mainly for my studies.
I won a few competitions when I painted seriously ten
years ago but have no work in any of the state galleries.
I am doing my visual Arts degree externally through
Curtin University at Perth, and loving every minute of
it. I have just completed half of the first year.
My interests are really in the area of Art Jewellery now.
Letter from Marjorie Lord, 22 February, 2005.
24
Auda has been with school since 1971 and
believes that Baralaba student numbers are about
the same now as then. Apart from the Flying Arts
visits, the nearest art training centre is TAFE at
Born in Baralaba, Central Queensland, I have
Rockhampton. She attended the Rockhampton
lived within a thirty mile radius of here all my
Flying Arts classes a few times, but found them a
life, so I suppose I am a local of the area.
bit cliquey.
At about the age of eleven we moved to a
property six miles from Rannes and as there were Biloela was one of the first groups to join Mervyn
Moriarty in the early 1970 and Auda drove from
no school buses then, my sister and I had
correspondence lessons until we went to boarding Baralaba to attend the workshops there.
Mervyn liked the Biloela group who followed him
school. My lessons were often interrupted by
mustering - I was Dad’s right hand man and together into abstraction. Then they decided to be their
own life class and took their clothes off (in front of
we did all the mustering, branding, etc. During this
two male artists) for a drawing session.
period, with no other children to play with, my sister
Auda was one of the students who refused to
Clare and I drew a lot, and also found clay in the
creek bank and created motley characters with chook undress for the life class. The original Biloela group
did not last, it dropped off in numbers and was
feathers for hair and little seeds for eyes, which we
finally disbanded.
dried in the sun - I still have some of them. Clare
I always like Mervyn, he was a true artist and
later went on to become a painter and sculptor.
Two people helped me along the way - my grandfather, stimulated us all to become artists. In those days he
would take us to a bush spot on the first day of the
who had been a painter and photographer, gave me
some watercolours, and an elderly friend, who was an two-day seminars on a sketching trip. He came four
times a year, flying in to a local airfield (most
artist but was going blind, gave me her oil paints. I
properties had their own airstrip then).
spent hours teaching myself to use these.
I organised an art group at Baralaba after the
My drawing was put on hold for some years during
Biloela one folded, we needed at least seven students.
my late teens, and when I married and had small
children. However the urge to start painting and drawing Some have come and gone over the years but the art
group is still working thirty years on. Today our
again returned just before my fourth child was born.
tutors fly into Emerald on a commercial plane and
Not long after that, Mervyn Moriarty started
then come by car to our country workshops.
flying to the bush to teach art so I began driving
Her only training was with Flying Arts and her tutors
the seventy miles to Biloela to attend these
were Mervyn Moriarty, Bela Ivanyi, Bev. Budgen,
seminars. The first workshop happened to be a
life class - the first I had ever attended, and I was Bonney Bombach, Roy Churcher, Wendy Allen, Irene
Amos, Brian Dean, James Guppy, Peter Dwyer, Lucja
so excited about it all that when I was driving
Ray, Lucinda Elliott, Maureen Hansen, Ruth from
home afterwards my head was so full of what we
Tasmania and Jeanne Macaskill from New Zealand.
had been doing that I missed the turnoff to
Mervyn was often critical of student work but
Baralaba and kept going towards Rockhampton.
despite that he was a popular teacher and is greatly
During the ‘80s I spent many hours painting on
missed. Bela (who joined in 1974) has been to
our property, and after completing some of these
Baralaba a few times as a tutor.
paintings, I felt I would like to show them as a
Baralaba started a small art gallery at the Landcare
collection. It seemed they would be best shown
Centre in the late 1990s, the exhibitors were mostly
here in their environment, so this prompted the
AFAS students.
first exhibition in the old homestead here at
‘Coolum’. I asked my sister Clare to include her AFAS has been very valuable to me in many ways - in
expanding my knowledge of art, meeting other artists
sculpture in the exhibition.
and the fellowship that developed in our group. It
Looking back over the years since the first AFAS
helped me to see colour, shapes and rhythms in
seminars I went to, I know I would never have
everything, adding a new dimension to my life.
come this far with my art without the help and
I have entered many art competitions and have
support of the AFAS tutors. Being an artist
won quite a few. I have work in regional gallery
involves many highs and lows and lots of soul
searching and indecision. I felt lots of frustration collections and in the boardroom of the Shell
Company as well as in overseas collections.
at my failed attempts to paint in an abstract or
contemporary manner. Finally with the help of a Since she started with Flying Arts Auda has
few friends (including AFAS tutors) I have had the become a dedicated and successful regional artist,
usually working with pastels and acrylics (mixed
courage to accept myself as I am and do what I
media). Her work depicts people realistically but
do best and that is to paint people. New doors
she always gives character to the people and her
seem to have been opening to me lately with
pastels are very popular.
invitations to exhibit in Brisbane.
Interview with Marilyn England at Baralaba, 2003.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 60. November 1993.
AUDA MacLEAN
Baralaba
25
CAROL McCORMACK
Glenmorgan
KERRYN MADSEN-PIETSCH
Innisfail
Carol began her early life in the bush near Hughenden and
now lives on a Droughtmaster stud cattle property at
Glenmorgan. She is a foundation member of the
Glenmorgan Art Group and has been a member of the
Flying Art School since 1972. She is an established artist
who has had many exhibitions in Brisbane and Toowoomba.
Carol came to Glenmorgan in 1968 and the
Glenmorgan Art Group started in about 1969 with
five or six founding members. I think we must
have heard through the Meandarra Arts Council
that some funding was available for groups
joining Mervyn’s Eastaus Flying Arts School
which at that stage had been going for at least a
year. I remember going over as a group to Surat
and listening to someone from what was the
equivalent of Arts Queensland who was speaking
about regular seminars and a structured course.
We put our names down and had our first Flying
Art seminars at Dorothy and Dave Gordon’s home
at Myall Park. (This is a large property which has
a well-known botanic garden, it features Australian
wild flowers from the far west.)
I suppose what appealed to me most was
Mervyn’s analysis of how a painting was
constructed - you don’t look and blob. Even the
most abstract art has form and composition and
an underlying colour scheme which you have to
plan. There was something in his teaching
process that really opened a door for me. I could
then understand what I’d been brought up to think
was ‘weird’ art. For the generation of teachers,
my parents and other people who influenced me,
Impressionism was acceptable, but they couldn’t
cope with Sidney Nolan and the brilliant art that
was happening at the time. I suppose I didn’t
know much about it, or try to understand it.
Suddenly everything Mervyn said fell into place.
In art, there is no ‘how-to’ and you’re only limited
by what you can dream up.
Place is still the most important theme in my
work, though it is not always my place. I did a lot
of ‘home’ paintings in the drought of the early
‘90s, an enormously significant event in our lives
that needed recording.
Australian Art Stories, June 2001.
http://www.flyingarts.org.au/30years/about.htm
Interview by Lesley Jenkins, oral historian.
Kerryn came north from country Victoria, went
back there to train as an art teacher, then returned
north to work as an artist-teacher. She works
across a variety of media including drawing,
painting, coil basketry using banana fibre, screen
printing and ceramics, as well as mixed media.
She uses the colour and organic shapes of the
northern environment, and often works with
collage and photography for texture. Kerryn’s
work has the qualities of intense physicality and
movement, which she abstracts from her
surroundings. She is an active Flying Arts
member, and her screen printed linen was shown
with other finalists in the Flying Arts/Shell
Australia Regional Members’ Exhibition in Cairns
Regional Gallery. At the same time, in the Four
Seasons Exhibition she showed a large collaged
acrylic abstract work. She works as an occasional
art teacher and operates Artropica Innisfail Studio
Gallery. The work of her husband, Cliff Madsen,
is shown in this gallery.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 78, December 1988
Carol’s Flying Arts teachers over the years have
been Mervyn Moriarty, then from 1980s: Bev.
Budgen, Wendy Allen, Jenny McDuff, Colin
Reaney, Zanette Kahler, Shelagh Morgan and
Kim Mahood.
In 1993 Carol McCormack won the $2000 Shell
Art Award with a mixed media sculpture.
JENNIFER McDUFF
Bundaberg
Jennifer, who is now teaching with the Australian
Flying Arts School, has been a practising artist for
21 years. She states: Painting for me, is a little
like being a flying fox - either you hang in there
by your toes or it stands you on your head.
She is a veteran of 16 solo and numerous group
exhibitions, and is consistently an award winner
(including Suncorp, Martin Hansen, and Premier’s
Encouragement).
Jenny has had a long association with AFAS
which goes back to 1971 and the early days of
Mervyn Moriarty.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 53, January 1993.
Jennifer McDuff: Today digital culture is
becoming an increasingly visual form of global
communication. In response to the shift to
technology-generated art, Jennifer McDuff, a FA
tutor who grew up in Bundaberg, and began her
training with AFAS before receiving further
training in the south, used computer-generated
photo etching in her exhibition on the Vietnam
war.
Her exhibition was such a success it was
purchased in its entirety by the Canberra War
Memorial in May 1993.
SHIRLEY MacNAMARA
Mt. Isa
Shirley owns a cattle station and is also a
professional artist. She has been a Flying Arts
member since 1989.
Painting was the first art form for her but these
days she concentrates mainly on spinifex sculpture.
She feels that Flying Arts has played a major role
in her development as a professional artist, stating
that it is the best thing she could have done to
achieve what she has done so far.
Tutors: Three tutors especially stand out for Shirley. These
are Anneke Silver, Kim Mahood and Steven Royster.
Shirley has had work included in several overseas
collections and has had work in travelling and group
exhibitions such as Spinifex Runner, Land Mark,
INK, No piece of Cake.
Her most recent spinifex sculptures were shown at
the Customs House in Sydney in Inland/Island
curated by Dianne Moon.
Shirley gained an Australian Visual Arts grant two
years ago, and also is included in the recently
published Oxford Companion to Indigenous Arts.
Much of her work reflects her strong attachment to
the land.
Interview with Oral Historian Lesley Jenkins 2001.
Through the experience and dedication of tutors I
have discovered there are no limitations to one’s
creativity, formulating ideas and expressing them
without fear or intimidation of location. Flying Arts
enabled artists to receive an exposure to a wider
audience. Being a member for ten years, the
experiences shared with fellow members and tutors
are unforgettable and endless.
Flying Arts , Lyrebird Press, Townsville, 2000.
JOCELYN MOLONY
Longreach
Jocelyn started with Flying Arts in 1974, it is no
longer flying to Longreach. It was around 1970
when an art group was set up, and the first
gallery in Longreach (a private gallery) opened
around 1978. Her tutors were Mervyn Moriarty
and Bela Ivanyi.
My interest began when I was 40 years old, I had
never thought of art in a personal way prior to 1968,
but I always visited galleries and went to art shows.
In 1968 we employed two American girls
(tourists) on the property, and one taught me to
do batik work on some old sheets. The crackling
lines were so beautiful I kept on doing the work.
The Eastaus students in Longreach, Llyris Bird
and Ruth Francis, encouraged me to come and
join them to paint in the old ambulance
building in Ibis Street. This is where the
Longreach Gallery is today.
26
I joined Eastaus then and have always been a
member.
We eagerly looked forward to Mervyn’s visits and
he brought his wife Helen with him and so we had
a model for figure drawing as well as design.
Mervyn was never lavish in his praise. I will
always remember him walking along the line-up of
our works (completed since his last visit) and he
was unimpressed. He’d walk past with no
comment, but if he stopped at one or peered
closely, we knew it was OK. If he turned and asked
“who did this” it indicated he was quite pleased.
Afterwards he would take each student aside and
assess her work, but woe betide the student who
had painted a nice, little, real painting of a tree, on
creek, with cow and no meaning! “I don’t want
paintings; I want ART” He’d say loudly.
Mervyn gave us all a third eye. He made us
aware of our inner selves and encouraged us to
always paint what we KNEW, and as he was
musical, to include music in our creative efforts.
What a great Australian.
I am not a professional but enter art competitions.
I still think to this very day, when doing an artwork,
“What would Mervyn say?” And I still consult his books.
He never liked us putting stark white in our paintings.
Letter to Marilyn England October 2003.
PEG McCUMSTIE
Moree
Peg McCumstie has been one of AFAS’ longest
serving members, having attended workshops in
many different centres and rarely missing a year of
attendance. Over the years Peg has won a number of
awards and prizes, and has been a staunch supporter
of the arts and the Regional gallery in Moree, where
she has lived for more than twenty years.
I hadn’t picked up a paint brush until I was 55 years old,
and have always felt that such a beginning was heaven sent.
Six months later my husband, whom I had known
since I was 16, died very suddenly of a massive
heart attack.
For the years that have followed, 22 in all, my
interest in visual art has never wavered, but
increased. In fact, that interest seems to continue
to grow keener with the years.
I have much to thank the AFAS for and sincerely feel
indebted to such an organisation for the opportunity to
have attended schools in NSW centres at Moree,
Warialda, Inverell, Glen Innes and Wee Waa, and am
now a regular attendant at Goondiwindi in Queensland.
I have also benefited from several trips overseas,
where I have had the opportunity to visit many of
the best museums and galleries in Europe.
Lyrical, poetic art is what I endeavour to achieve.
If there is not an affinity between the subject and
me, I cannot attempt the work.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 60, November 1993.
JOSEPHINE McTAGGART
Innisfail
Born and educated in NSW Josephine had this
to say about AFAS:
Living in Australia the unique beauty and quality of
the landscape spurred me on to join up with the then
fledgling Australian Flying Arts School, becoming
one of the founding students of the school through the
Innisfail group. At this time my children were also
beginning to explore their artistic inclinations, the
girls leaning the piano, and my son Steven
developing an interest in dance . . . as an extension of
my painting and art work with the Australian Flying
Arts School, I volunteered to help behind the scenes,
painting backdrops and doing backstage work.
Following this small beginning in 1987, Josephine
is now highly regarded as one of this State’s leading
freelance scenic artists. Over the previous six years
she spent a collective eight months working with
the Australian Opera Company. She worked on
productions in a number of towns which included
Caloundra, Moura, Innisfail, Sydney, Gladstone,
Townsville and Nerang. She successfully achieved the
status of being Queensland’s only professional stage
artist, as well as being one of this State’s leading
painters, having won prizes at art exhibitions from
Gladstone to Rockhampton and Caloundra to Cloncurry.
She believes that the further one travels west in
Queensland, the more there is a demand for the arts:
These people seem to have a tremendous
understanding of the meaning of life, and
demonstrate a readiness to depict it through
means of artistic expression. It is for these
reasons that the Australian Flying Arts School has
played such a vital role in Queensland - in fact it
is what I consider to be one of the best things
which has ever happened in this country.
Farmers & Graziers Magazine, December 1987.
FAY McKENZIE
Toowoomba
Fay began with Flying Arts when they located to USQ.
She began with TAFE when living at Tamworth
and was happy with her tutors there, but now that
she is living out of town the weekend seminars
with Flying Arts are more suitable for her.
I enjoy the opportunity to learn different
techniques; to hear about art from professional
tutors; to exchange ideas with fellow students; to
observe work done by fellow students; for the
opportunity for the tutor to give outside
perspective to your work; a feeling of
encouragement; and the inspiration to go home
and continue to make art pieces. Our group
meets occasionally at Fay Kelly’s home (in
Toowoomba) which is great to meet socially and
to continue working on perhaps a new subject.
Letter to Marilyn England September 2003.
27
CLAUDINE MARZIK
Cairns
Claudine came to Cairns from Basel (Switzerland)
about ten years ago. Her work is relatively large
– paintings on canvas in pale or dark pigmented
acrylic that she works back by hand or machine,
layer by layer, until the finished work has an
etched, burnished, ancient surface. Images are
potent suggestions, composed of shapes Claudine
finds all around her.
Thorough training in Europe as a florist makes her
especially aware of botanical forms and textures.
Her small potted garden in an outdoor sitting room
is a compendium of tropical forms and textures.
Claudine spoke of the physical impositions of the
hot, summer-humid climate. Because she works
with powdered pigment, she cannot use a fan to
cool her studio. The pigment dries the paint faster
so she must work faster, think faster, in putting
down her paint. Environment is directly affecting
her technique, but mainly in summer.
Claudine worked part time at Cairns City
Council’s Tanks Art Centre, until a recent
“restructuring”.
In the larger centres like Cairns and Townsville there are
lively professional art communities that are perhaps less
cut-throat than equivalent sectors in more southerly,
Arts-career rather than art-work oriented places.
Flying Arts workshops are always welcomed in
regional centres for the infusion of new ideas and
techniques they bring, and for the opportunity to
network. Where towns are smaller, artists are
often a very small group indeed, and need all the
support organisations like Flying Arts can offer.
But because the groups are small, the numbers
can be hard to find.
In these smaller towns there are probably larger groups
of Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal art-workers.
Certainly, recent shows have showcased exciting work
from communities the length of the coastal strip. West,
up and over the mountains would be the same probably.
There is some overlap between individuals, but not
much is apparent between mainstream black and white
groups. Other groups with strong art and craft cultural
traditions are almost invisible. Yet the marvellously
fruitful environment is the land that holds us all, and
art is a common link of unexploited strength.
Written by Sandra Hodgson, a writer, editor and
historian living at Boogan via Innisfail in Far North
Queensland. She is deeply interested in art and popular
culture and an enthusiastic Flying Arts member.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 78, December 1998.
JEAN MESNER
Eidsvold
Jean Messner, from Eidsvold, is one regional
artist whose association with Flying Arts will
see her work being exhibited in galleries
throughout the State and beyond. Jean’s work,
Figure of a Country Woman, is presently on tour
throughout Queensland and northern New South
Wales as part of the exhibition, Shell Australia’s
3x8+1: 25 Years of Flying Arts.
Central and North Burnett Times 3 October, 1996.
Jean Mesner started with Flying Arts in the
1970s. Her prize winning image, “Figure of a
Country Woman”, has been promoting Flying
Arts for over a year.
My mother used to tell how I drew a recognisable
human figure when I was fifteen months old. She
made up her mind then that I would grow up to be a
famous artist, but I don’t think I’ve fulfilled her dream.
Kind friends and relatives kept our little bush
family well supplied with crayons and those tin
boxes of doubtful water colours that children
use. Paper of a sort was always there, as my
father was a freelance writer in his spare time,
and ordered writing pads by the gross, though
brushes were a problem. They had a habit of
rolling down the cracks in our low-set verandah,
to be lost forever, and I remember that, desperate
for a brush, I made one with hen’s feathers
pushed through a quill. It worked, but not very
well. I was about eleven then, and beginning to
be frustrated with the available art supplies.
Later I learned to use pastels, but the high school
I attended, Clayfield College, had no art course
at the time, so I was sent to Saturday morning
classes at the Brisbane Tech. where we drew beer
and wine bottles, using charcoal. The next year I
attended full-time art classes at the Tech, where
apart from two hours of geometrical drawing a
week and some lettering, we drew beer and wine
bottles using charcoal; not a spur to my
enthusiasm, though I still draw a good bottle.
In 1938 my family let me go to a relative in
Sydney, where I attended East Sydney Tech. I did
life drawing, a little freehand, lettering and one
term of Design which I really loved. I would
have liked to stay and work for my diploma, but
money was short and I had to return home.
The following year I began work in Jackson and
O’Sullivan’s art department, earning the princely
sum of fifteen shillings a week. I began with
retouching negatives and graduated to doing
graphs and meter charts, a very exacting job. I
was also gofer and tea-girl, but it was interesting
and I learned a lot about printing. I was there
for two and a half years and then my allergies,
unheard of then but very real, took over and I
became quite ill.
28
Apart from making the family’s Christmas cards I
had done no work at home during this time,
though there was quite a lot of pressure. My
grandfather wanted me to do political cartoons for
the papers; for Mother, pretty little greeting
cards were the way to go.
Past experience had made me detest water
colours, and the smell of oils was quite sickening
to me, so I decided to give up art altogether, with
the good excuse of ill-health, and went off to the
bush to become a governess.
I hardly gave art a thought for thirty years, as I
married and raised a family of five, later working
as a dressmaker. It was only then, when we
moved to Dalby on my husband’s retirement, that
I heard of Mervyn Moriarty’s Flying Art School
and decided to join. It was a wonderful eyeopener to me and I learned a lot. I found that
acrylic paints, which hadn’t been invented when I
was young, were very kind to my allergies. For
two wonderful years I really enjoyed painting
and learned a lot, but then my husband became
ill and we moved to Brisbane where he died.
When I remarried in 1977 and came to Eidsvold I
found that attending Flying Arts entailed a lot of
travelling and nights away from home, and I only
attended sporadically. I joined the closest art
group and began exhibiting in local shows, but I
am a very private person and have a curious
reluctance to display my work. Then, bored with
endless traditional landscapes, I let the art lapse
again and took up creative writing with very
moderate success.
Art called me again in 1993 and I attended
Lucinda Elliott’s seminars in Monto, really
enjoying them. I had trouble with cataracts and
missed the following year, but went back to be
tutored by Ann-Maree Reaney in ‘95, and at last
found the medium that really suits me - mixed
media. I love it! Not too much paint - still a
bugbear - but fabric, string, paper, you name it.
Marvellous! Thank you Flying Arts. I’ve left it
pretty late, but I’m having fun!.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 74, Winter 1997.
In 1996 Jean won first prize in the touring
exhibition 3x8+1: 25 years of Flying Arts.
29
about colour. But I’ve worked with clay ever since
primary school and again when I was at technical
college studying commercial art. When I heard
Flying Arts was going to bring out a pottery tutor I
Born in Rockhampton in 1930 Joyce is a
was very happy to dump painting and go straight
progressive contemporary painter in acrylic,
into the clay class. We had a number of tutors.
pastel and charcoal.
Kevin Grealy was always marvellous, he became
She studied with Mervyn Moriarty and the
known as Mr. Clay. He developed a correspondence
Australian Flying Arts School and at the Arts
course for Flying Arts and I completed that. There
Council Vacation Schools. Studied printmaking
was a group called the Brigalow Creek Pottery Group
with Brian Hatch in 1981. She is a member of
and the first of three small brick kilns was probably
the Half Dozen Group and teaches painting for
built with the first Flying Arts School tutor. We would
TAFE in Queensland.
Joyce Mullins’ interest in art began in 1964 but it meet once a week. We didn’t do many firings with the
was not until the early 1970s, when the Flying Art tutor because we concentrated on learning new
techniques. Kevin’s work was very practical and very
School began, that she really began to develop
nicely designed and he would encourage that. Most of the
her talent.
tutors taught wheel work although Lyndal Moore was
A move to Brisbane with her family in 1976
more hand work and glazes. I did pottery for about twenty
meant she was able to concentrate full-time on
years. During that time I had two small shows in
her painting.
Toowoomba and then some combined show.
Since then she has held four solo exhibitions and won
the Telegraph, Petersen and Contemporary Art Corinda Flying Arts made the Glenmorgan Art Group so much
stronger and more interested. I think the whole district
Awards. She has been a regular at the Cooee Bay
became more interested in the art that was being
workshops every May for the past six years.
Cooee Bay was attended by up to 50 artists from produced. There was a lot more talk about it and a lot
more shows with better work to show and it flowed on.
as far afield as the Atherton Tableland,
Interview with Lesley Jenkins, Oral Histories, 2001.
Townsville, Mt Isa and Goondiwindi and from
remote and small settlements such as Maxwelton
between Richmond and Cloncurry. (All AFAS
BOB NASON
centres.) The workshops were started by the
Surat
Rockhampton art group as part of the Flying Art
School circuit.
The work of Joyce Mullins is now widely known Bob Nason grew up in Surat, a small rural centre
located on the banks of the Balonne River. In 1879
and is in private collection as far away as Los
Cobb & Co. coaches began services which terminated
Angeles.
Her colourful, vibrant paintings reflect her happy in 1924, with the last one operating between Surat and
nature, and the cheerful philosophy of her teacher, Yuleba. Bob has painted two murals in the
Mervyn Moriarty.
remodelled Cobb & Co. changing station. This
Mrs. Mullins, a foundation member of the school, building was purchased by the Warroo Shire Council
says . . .
and became the Cobb & Co. store and museum, the
having a good teacher like Mervyn made such a
Balonne River Gallery, the Warroo Shire Library and
difference to my life.
the ‘Window to the Balonne’Aquarium’. Bob’s first
Kate Eagles, Qld. Country Life, 2 August, 1984.
mural depicts life along the Balonne riverbank. Bob’s
second mural, completed in 2001, depicts a horse
PENNY MURPHY
change along the Cobb & Co. route. Bob is a
Glenmorgan
landscape painter whose love and concern for his
Penny Murphy completed an art course at the technical country shines through his work. Despite major time
college and became a commercial artist in Brisbane.
constraints he has had a number of exhibitions.
When she moved to Glenmorgan she joined the local
My training with Flying Arts has made me aware
art group and continued painting. She joined in visual
of the visual arts generally and this has rubbed
art classes with Mervyn Moriarty but decided to turn to
off on my wife and family and the school kids
pottery under the guidance of Flying Arts tutor Kevin
I’ve taught art classes to. The great thing has
Grealy. In recent years she has made silver and
been a visual awareness of the rhythm of nature.
cloisonné jewellery which she has exhibited and sold.
Tutors were Mervyn Moriarty, Kevin Grealy, Lindal Moore. The relationship of land to sky, to water, to trees,
to everything in the natural environment. With
I’ve always been a very traditional pen and wash,
watercolour landscape painter. I love doing old
an appreciation of the visual arts you can see
buildings and things like that. I didn’t manage to change things that other people just don’t even see.
very much either. Mervyn did want me to change and in Flying Arts Gazette No. 86, October 2001.
the early days at Glenmorgan he did teach me a lot
JOYCE MULLINS
Rockhampton
ELLIE NEILSEN
Biloela
Ellie was born in Brisbane in 1927. She is a modern
painter in acrylic, a printmaker and a muralist.
She lives on a property in the Capricorn region’s
Banana shire, between Biloela and Monto. She has
worked as a governess, stationhand, housekeeper,
cook, assistant windmill repairer, as well as
eartagger and tailtagger amongst other things, but
her true passion for the past fifteen years has been
the art of etching.
She began her studies with Mervyn Moriarty and
the Australian Flying Arts School and at the
Capricornia Institute of Advanced Education.
Neilsen’s work is wry, tempered with humour and
very appealing. She has won many awards and is
represented in both private and public collections.
Exhibitions: Her first solo exhibition was at the
Allamanda Gallery in Bundaberg in 1981 and 1982.
Her work is represented in the Monto
Kindergarten and in private collections.
Artists & Galleries Australia, Max Germaine,
1984.
Ellie joined Flying Arts when it came to Monto in
1979 and her tutors over the years were Bela
Ivanyi, Mervyn Moriarty, Irene Amos, Roy Orloff,
Beverley Budgen, Jeanne Macaskill, Wendy Mills
and Ruth Propsteen. Here are some of her
reminiscences from the early days.
When we came to Monto and ‘Rawbelle’ which
was a big cattle property I heard that Flying Arts
travelled to Monto and Theodore teaching painting
and drawing, but it wasn’t until we moved closer
to Theodore that I was able to attend. My first
tutor was Bela Ivanyi. Because I didn’t
understand what it was to be creative in those days
I remember I became annoyed with him for
chastising a lady for copying from photographs.
There were other influences besides Flying Arts
but it was the only consistent school. I think
Mervyn managed to get through to me that
painting is not just a matter of getting the paint
down. Even if they are only random marks you
have to think about them before you make them.
I only ever had Mervyn once as a tutor because
I came in right at the end of his time. I always
worked loosely and thought it was awful but Irene
Amos made me realise that painting loosely might
be a good thing after all. I think, looking back, that
my work was more representational than anything
else. I was introduced to etching by Peter Indans
30
at the Institute at Rockhampton and I liked the way
marks were made on the plate. From the
beginning I went to every workshop I could go to.
Bev. Budgen, Jeanne Mackaskill, Wendy Mills
and Ruth Propsting were also important to the
development of my work. I just picked up every
workshop I could go to. I went to Flying Arts
and McGregor, Armidale, Irene Amos, and John
Rigby when I was coming out of using only
black and white or sepia and cream. That was
all I could do in etching and I wanted to learn
colour. There were just a huge number of
people that had input and they were all very
generous with their time and their friendship. I
remember saying that it wasn’t a good idea to
send the same tutor for two years because you
started to paint like they did and it was better to
sample the work of a range of tutors so that you
didn’t become the clone of anybody.
I have maintained my membership, not only for
what I can learn but for the friendships forged
with both other members and the tutors who
travel out to hold the workshops.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 86, October 2001.
Highlights of her artistic career include a six week
fellowship to a Master Printmakers course at Studio
Camnitzer in Tuscany (Italy) in 1995, a dozen or
more solo shows in Brisbane, Central Queensland
and interstate, and close to forty group exhibitions.
She has worked as artist-in-residence at Studio One,
Canberra (1989), and Callide Coalfields,
Central Qld. 1998.
She enjoys travelling throughout Central
Queensland as well as further afield, conducting
workshops for both primary and secondary students
in the techniques of etching, creative drawing and
printmaking without a press.
In 1994 Ellie was the recipient of an Australia Day
Award for services to the arts in her local
community.
In July this year Ellie was one of five members
appointed for their relevant artistic experience
to the new Peer Assessment Panel for Visual
Arts, Craft and Design, responsible for the
initial assessment and ranking of applications
for funding to the Queensland Government
through The Arts Office.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 75, Spring 1997.
.
31
MARY NORRIS
Gladstone
Mary Norris started with Flying Arts in the late
1970s. In those days there was nothing else there.
The Gladstone Potters Group was formed in 1973.
They met in a house that is currently the ‘Potters
Place’. Flying Arts tutors were Kev. Grealy,
Helen Charles and Yvonne Bouwmann. Kevin
developed pottery tuition books. The course
books would come before the lesson so you could
read it at your leisure. There was nowhere here to
buy anything for pottery until we set up our own
shop. When Kevin was coming there was always
hilarity in the group and there would be a function
at night. He would play his guitar and sing and
would stay with one of the student families.
Flying Arts pottery tutors stopped coming to
Gladstone and Gladstone Pottery came under the
auspices of the Rockhampton TAFE College.
Some of the pottery tutors who came then could
not teach.
Nowdays I teach young mums and dads and have
classes for the disabled - some physically, some
mentally disabled.
Mary’s work is represented in the Gladstone
Regional Art Gallery Collection.
Interview with Lesley Jenkins, Oral Histories
2001.
Mary Norris lives in Gladstone and describes
herself as ‘not an exhibition person’ although she
regularly displays and sells work at the Potters
Place Gallery where she also teaches and works
on her own pieces. Her work is represented in the
Gladstone Regional Art Gallery Collection and she
has won an award in Gladstone’s Martin Hanson
Memorial Art Exhibition. Mary has been a Flying
Arts Regional Coordinator and attended most
pottery workshops held in the area.
I think the Flying Arts tutors, Helen Charles and
Yvonne Bouwmann, have influenced me the most
because I do very little wheelwork, I concentrate
on handbuilding. I learnt that every hand built
pot didn’t have to be made by coil. You can
almost see the coils still in some of my early work
because nobody showed me how to get them out.
Helen and Yvonne demonstrated work where you
can hardly see the coils. We did our first salt
firing with Kevin Grealy with a funny little
antiquated kiln. We now have a really large one
which we fire with diesel and wood. Flying Arts
Flying Arts Gazette No. 86, October 2001.
NANCY NOTT
Baralaba
Nancy, from Darling Plains (Banana) has just
started with Flying Arts. Because she lives out
of town she cannot always come in to work with
the local art group. Her only previous art
training was at boarding school and this was
very limited. She loves the Flying Arts
workshops.
Interview with Marilyn England August, 2003.
JILL O’SULLIVAN
Mt. Isa
Jill is a member of Stack Arts, an experimental
art group in Mt. Isa.
Stack Arts was a contemporary art group
established by Mandy McGuire and myself in
1992, directly as a result of a curatorial
workshop run by Flying Arts tutor, Marie
Biggins. We decided to organise a
contemporary art group that would bring a
totally experimental aspect to the local
community. Made up almost entirely of Flying
Arts members, we jolted the locals somewhat,
but more importantly we raised our profile to a
much wider audience. Mandy McGuire is now
teaching at the Cooroy State High School in
Eumundi.
The Lake Julius (1994) four-day seminar run by
Flying Arts had a profound effect on many of us
who attended it. The impact of this event on our
art practices is still spoken of with awe by quite a
few of us.
Interview with Leslie Jenkins, Oral Historian, 2001.
Hosting the 1993 regional exhibition in Mt. Isa
was a great learning experience for Jill. Quite a
bit of hard work, but I had a good team. I found
it made the local community aware of what
Flying Arts was all about, including the local
council. The feedback was good.
Working in isolation as many regional artists do,
these exhibitions are a link with the outside
world and a boost to self confidence. Their
communities may also have more respect for the
artist’s work if it is selected for an exhibition.
The prospect of being selected for regional
exhibitions and possibly for Brisbane is an added
incentive for people attending workshops. Most
regional artists have little opportunity to have
work hung in Brisbane or even in other centres.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 64, November 1994.
32
ROSEMARY PAYNE
Mackay
CHRISTINE PRICE
St. George
I have lived just north of Mackay for the past nine
years and have taught painting and drawing at TAFE
during this time. My first encounter with Flying Arts
was whilst we were living near Baralaba. I enjoyed
the stimulus and companionship of other isolated
artists and the encouragement of the workshops
enormously. I have been a member now for 15 years
and feel I have benefited greatly from my
involvement. I wish to encourage as many other
artists and potential artists as possible to participate
in what Flying Arts has to offer.
Currently I teach, take workshops throughout
Queensland, exhibit locally and will be exhibiting
in the United Kingdom in November.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 79, April 1999.
Christine is the Secretary of the Textile Art
Group, Balonne Creative Arts Group (Inc.).
Flying Arts has been going to St. George from
1990 to 2000. It is a hobby art group.
It has been operating since 1973 and Christine
has been with them from 1987.
There are about the same number of students as
there has always been, a maximum of 25.
Flying Arts comes to their town when requested.
The nearest other art training would be at
Toowoomba.
The Tourist Information Centre at St. George
displays their work as well as bi-annual exhibitions.
The work of the group is in a regional gallery,
they did a community quilt for the Shire’s
centennial celebrations and it is hung in the
Tourist Information Centre.
Tutors have been Wendy Wright and Ken Smith.
Flying Arts would go to them twice a year but
they find once a year is sufficient for the group.
Workshops are held at the local cultural centre.
Over the course of the years the quality
workshops of Flying Arts with their inspiring
tutors have played an enormous role in the
continuation of the group which has both old
and new members.
The workshops have contributed to knowledge
allowing members to sell their work, but a
bigger emphasis is placed on contributing to our
community both in exhibitions at special
celebration times and projects for these. Also
we make projects for the aged people in our
community, the disabled and the people in
hospital.
Christine feels that any cultural experience is of
great importance to rural and isolated
communities both in personal development and
the social aspects of same. Cost of these
workshops is always a consideration and she
feels this should be kept as reasonable as
possible to allow all people in the community to
have access to professional tuition.
Christine has no doubt that the community of St.
George and the surrounding Shire has greatly
benefited from the Flying Arts program and has
encouraged people to further develop their
creative skills both with the paint brush and
other creative means.
Within our Group we have catered over the
years for Art members who later broke away to
form their own group. China Painters who are
still operative today, Spinners and Weavers,
Folk Art, Hat Making, Hand Embroidery and
predominately at the moment, Patchwork,
Quilting and Machine Embroidery.
Answers to Questionnaire from author 2003.
LINDA PRICE
Blackwater
Linda won a Flying Arts’bursary to the McGregor
Summer School held at The University of Southern
Queensland from January 4-15, 1999. She writes:
My husband Peter and I left Baralaba with Stephanie
Broadhurst early on the Sunday. We were very fortunate
that we were in a 4WD. The area between Baralaba and
Taroom had inches of rain overnight and most of the creeks
and gullies had flooded the road and were on the rise. We
weren’t too worried about getting washed away, though, as
the car was so heavily loaded with all our art gear!
Once we arrived we managed to find our accommodation
and classrooms without too many hassles, and I chose to
do “Light, Land and the Loungeroom” with Michael
Winters, an oil or acrylic class.
On the Monday Michael advised us of what he hoped to
achieve and asked what type of work we usually did. My
brag book was used quite often during the first few days
to point out typical mistakes. However, Michael felt that
my last painting, done under Flying Arts tuition (which
he was very complementary of), was the best yet!
I found the first day hard, however on the second I
settled in and enjoyed my painting. Our work covered
landscapes, still life, loungerooms and life drawing.
I found Michael Winters an excellent tutor. He was
very encouraging, and I feel that I’ve jumped at least
two years ahead in my work. I was also impressed
with Michael’s slides of his work. Slides were shown
each evening of various tutor’s works and although I
didn’t make it to all of them, I managed to see quite a
few. It’s always great to see what other people do.
I can honestly say that it was the best two weeks I’ve
ever had. We spent the whole trip back home talking
about the school and all the wonderful people we met.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 79, April 1999.
33
ELAINE RYAN
Richmond
Elaine is a painter who started with Flying Arts
in 1984.
Flying Arts still goes to Richmond but there are
less students than in the past. The nearest art
school is at Townsville which is 500kms away.
Elaine was involved from the 1980s but the art
group has now been disbanded. Richmond has its
own cultural centre. Mrs. Val Bennett, C/- Post
Office Richmond who was one of the first FA
students knows more about the cultural centre.
Elaine has no work in regional galleries. She
didn’t start art until her family had all grown up,
she had had no previous experience before that.
Flying Arts normally comes to them twice a year
but came only once this year for potting and
silversmithing.
Workshops are held at the Cultural Centre or the RSL Hall.
Tutors over the years have been Bev. Budgen,
Wendy Allen, Brian Dean, Irene Amos, Jeanne
Macaskell, Wendy Mills, Ruth Propsting in 1988,
Bonney Bombach in 1990-91, Kim Mahood in
1992, Steven Royston and Anneke Silver in 1996.
Flying Arts have meant a great deal to artists in the
rural areas. It means that people like me who have
been eager to learn art have been given the
opportunity.
Elaine says she is no great artist but she gets quite
excited when one of her pieces has been selected
for a Flying Arts exhibition at the year’s end. This
brings together all the student work from other
centres. It’s good to see what other people are
producing.
A couple of times a year Flying Arts have a
teleconference between them and the centre
reps. all over Queensland. It makes you feel not
so isolated.
Each year I enter my works in the various
competitions around the outback. I have won a
few Highly Commended but nothing major. I paint
mainly for my family and the love of it.
This year I was not able to get a group together
for painting and drawing as people grow old and
leave the district. I was able to arrange, by
distributing the booklet Flying Arts put out this
year, a pottery and silversmithing workshop.
I suggest you talk to Myra Beach. Myra was one of
the first Flying Arts students. Her paintings show
the love of her country. Myra is a lovely lady. In
my mind one of the best artists to come from this
area. She has helped me a lot with my art.
Answers to Questionnaire from author, 2003.
MICHELE SAVOYE
Mt. Isa
Michelle is a professional potter who became
involved with the Mt. Isa Potter’s group and
Flying Arts in 1971 when she arrived in
Australia from Europe. She was born in France
and moved to Poland at the age of five, where
she lived until she was fourteen.
Living and going to school in Poland provided
her with very good foundations in a great
variety of arts. The Communist state provided
opportunities for youth to learn all arts, with
schools being credited for involving and
encouraging the pupils to represent their
schools. This was the beginning of her love of
art. She was involved with puppet making and
performance, Russian dancing, organising
shows, and many other aspects of art.
At fourteen she moved back to France and at
seventeen entered a College of Interior Design. She
found the first year very interesting, but the second
year was quite boring. She wanted to experiment,
but couldn’t, as she was working in repetitive design.
She decided to travel, first to England, where
she worked as an Au Pair, and music became
the focus of her life for two years as all the
family were musicians. Then she decided to go
overseas, applying to both the Canadian and the
Australian Embassies. The Australians replied
first, so she came to Australia.
Australia was nice, but it was a culture shock. I
never realised how much tin was in Australia ...
tin roofs ...
After working in Brisbane she and her friend
hitch hiked to Mt. Isa. Mt. Isa was another culture
shock! We thought - oh! where are we, but the
people were so great, so friendly, so giving. So
that’s what convinced us to stay here. I took up
cooking and discovered the Pottery Club. So I
thought I would try that. So I potted and fell in
love with clay. There were workshops and many
visiting tutors including Flying Arts.
Over the years Michelle has developed a strong
community involvement in art through her work
at the Potters Club.
Michelle has been teaching there for many years, and
also at small communities through the North-west
region and has been the local rep. for Flying Arts.
She has a high reputation as a potter throughout
Australia and her work has won many prizes.
Recently her pieces were selected for the Gold
Coast Award, and for an international show in
Hawaii.
She works both as a functional and conceptual
potter, with the landscape around her bearing a
very strong influence on her work.
Interview with Lesley Jenkins, Oral Histories,
2001.
CAROL SEEGER
Hervey Bay
Carol is the Centre Rep. for Hervey Bay. She
is a contemporary artist - painter.
Carol has been working with Flying Arts from the
1980s. Flying Arts goes to Hervey Bay and there are
more students now than previously.
The Hervey Bay TAFE teaches art and there is a local
art group which has been going for at least 30 years.
Hervey Bay has a regional gallery as well as private
galleries. The Regional Gallery has been going for
approx. 5 years. Private galleries have opened and
closed. Harbour Gallery has been going approx. 6 years.
Carol has work in Regional Galleries such as Bundaberg,
which regularly schedules local artist exhibitions and projects.
Carol began her interest in art in 1981 as a hobby
painter. In 1988 she did 12 months full time with
TAFE, she has attended the McGregor Summer and
winter schools and numerous workshops.
Tutors: Irene Amos, Hank Weedon, James Guppy, AnnMarie Reaney, Jenny McDuff, Rachel Apelt, Bonney
Bombach, Deanne D’Alport Guedes.
Normally Flying Arts only comes twice a year but in 2003
they came five times. Classes are held at the local TAFE.
She is now a professional artist. She became interested in
contemporary art after attending classes by Lola McFarlane
who had been heavily involved with Flying Arts. At that
time FAhad a strong presence in Maryborough with a large
following through the art society,
Carol began attending summer schools at DDIAE, now
USQ Toowoomba and also attended a winter school.
Flying Arts tutors were mainly drawn from USQ so
there was a continuation running through the FA
workshops and those at USQ.
TAFE Wide Bay campus have the only art
department between Brisbane and Rockhampton. In
2003 TAFE and FA began co-ordinating workshops.
The artists in Maryborough no longer run FAworkshops.
The artists who were committed to conceptual and
contemporary art practices have moved on and with them
the loss of the FAworkshops. Contemporary art and ideas
have all but disappeared. The annual art competition run
by the art society is usually a very traditional competition.
With no contemporary encouragement, the sponsors are
specifying “traditional representational” for the acquisitive
prizemoney. This has led to the competition being
another boring competition.
For these reasons Carol felt it was extremely important
to have FA workshops in the area and so became a
centre rep. she usually enters the annual art
competitions and have been fortunate to have had
work chosen to be hung and won the DPI prizes in
2000 and 2002. She also won the Courier Mail Art
34
Award (as a joint winner) and has won a number
of prizes in competitions. She regularly exhibits
in the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery and in July
2003 had a solo exhibition there.
She is represented in galleries in Port Douglas, Mission
Beach, Brisbane, Childers, Cooroy and Eumundi.
Her work is in public collections in Australia and private
collections in Australia, Canada, England, Japan, USA,
Germany, New Zealand, Argentina and Singapore.
The Hervey Bay Regional gallery has encouraged
Flying Arts workshop participants by holding
exhibitions of work during, or as a result of, the
workshops held here. In 2001 the then gallery director
Bronwyn Larner initiated a project in conjunction with
Terra Cognita a travelling exhibition from the
Queensland Art Gallery with the assistance of FA. It
was a 3-day workshop held in the gallery with FA tutor
Bonney Bombach. The works in progress were then
chosen and hung with the assistance of the tutor with an
opening attended by FA CEO. Since then the idea of an
annual exhibition of FA workshop works has continued.
I feel that my successes are directly linked to Flying
Arts. If I had not had the encouragement to
expand my thinking and broaden my art practices
by the high profile tutors Flying Arts offer, I would
probably be just another regional hobby painter.
Answers to 2003 Questionnaire from author.
ROBIN STIEGER
Wee Waa
The transition to flight and escaping, just in time,
was mastered at an early age. Robin successfully
disguised herself as a colourless angel, thus
avoiding some of the fear and retribution.
Being an artist has afforded me many adventures. I
have painted Walkabout Art clothing in the
Northern Territory, illustrated books in Sydney and
more recently helped to develop the talents of
Aboriginal artists through TAFE in Northern NSW.
I attended Preston Institute, Melbourne in the ‘70s
where I learnt the necessity of risk, exploration and
exposure in true creativity.
After going urban and rootless for fifteen years I returned
to my country and found my man and a balance of earth
and air. However, living in a conservative place and
having to make a buck sometimes overwhelms the
philosophy of ‘art for art’s sake.’
Flying Arts reminds me and takes me on more adventures.
I am very grateful. My boxes are about recreating the
unique experience of this child of the bush and revealing
the freedom that must run the gauntlet of the traps.
Robin was a1996 Shell Art Award winner.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 72, December 1996.
SUE SHANNON
Tully/Mission Beach
I live on the beachfront at Wongaling Beach,
between North and South Mission Beaches in far
north Queensland. I came to the far north in 1995
for my husband’s work, having lived previously in
Sydney and Adelaide. We have decided to stay
because we love the area, the relaxed lifestyle and
the friendliness of the local people.
I became involved with Flying Arts in Cairns when
we first came to the far north, as I was trying to
make contact with local artists and the local scene.
I very much appreciated the workshops, contacts
and support Flying Arts offered me through the
Kuranda Centre, and so, when I moved to Mission
Beach, I agreed to be the Centre Rep for the
Tully/Mission Beach area. Being over two hours
drive from either Kuranda or Townsville, our area’s
artists needed more accessible workshops and the
chance to meet together regularly.
I have a Diploma in Art from North Adelaide
School of Art, with majors in textiles and fabric
printing. I am currently setting up my studio in
our new home here at Wongaling Beach and have
recently moved towards works on paper screenprinting, plus mixed media works, using my
textiles background. In 1997 I held a joint
exhibition in Cairns through the Cairns Art Society
and hope to have exhibitions again this year.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 79, April 1999.
DERINDA SMERDON
Tin Can Bay
Derinda belongs to the Tin Can Bay Quilters Inc.
There has been no Quilters class before in Tin Can Bay.
The Craft group has been going for 6 years and
the Quilters group for 5 years.
Gympie is the nearest town with a Regional Gallery.
Her work has been exhibited at a recent exhibition.
She had no previous interest in artmaking.
Flying arts comes to them every 2 years.
Workshops are held at Tin Can Bay.
Answer to 2003 Questionnaire from author.
ANNEKE SILVER
Townsville
Born in Holland in 1937 Anneke Silver (nee Strik)
recalls that her first fragments of memory related to
her domestic surroundings: sunlight filtering through
thin curtains, patterns on floor lino and tiny bright
flowers in the garden. Brought up in a secure
middle-class home in The Hague, her early
childhood was disturbed only by
the first sounds of impending war. Although her
early school years were under German occupation,
her worst memories from this time are of the last year
35
of the war when the scarcity of food, lack of
electricity and the terrible cold brought her to a
sharp realisation that an urban society cut off from
Nature was essentially futile. After the war she
experienced a profound sense of liberation. The
natural world that had been closed off by barbed
wire and tank trenches was suddenly accessible.
It was in Amsterdam that she was first introduced
to the work of the CoBrA group, which stirred an
interest in expressionist idioms. Her training as an
art teacher was strongly influenced by the
Bauhaus philosophy of functionalism and the
language of form. When she came to Brisbane in
the late 1950s it seemed quaint and conservative in
its social customs and intellectual climate
compared to Silver's experiences in Amsterdam.
She attended life classes and still-life painting with
Melville Haysom and Arthur Evan Read at the
Central Technical College in George Street and it
was Haysom who taught her the craft of painting.
A job offer for her husband to assist in the survey of
the Mt. Isa railway line was eagerly taken up and
while in Mt. Isa she contributed to the revival of the
Mt. Isa art Group, taught art classes and participated
in group exhibitions with other local artists. These
experiences were to encourage her to pursue a fulltime career as an artist and teacher. For Silver the
only question was how and where to make her start
in her chosen career. After spending almost a year
living in Mt. Isa, the Silvers found themselves
somewhat cut off and isolated and yearned to live
near the coast once again. Townsville, the first
northern coastal town they had visited on their way
to survey the Mt. Isa railway line seemed much
more active and engaging than Brisbane.
A vacation school ran by Mervyn Moriarty was
important in engendering an awareness of the
relationships between the most diverse elements in
the landscape.
Anneke Silver was a FA tutor in 1994. She is a
lecturer in Visual Arts at James Cook University,
Townsville.
Anneke’s main interest is painting but she also
makes prints, photographs and installations. She
has been in 36 solo and 19 group exhibitions in
private and public galleries overseas. Her work is
represented in major Australian collections such as
the Queensland Art Gallery, Artbank, Qantas and
Suncorp.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 66.
In 1974 as a student with Eastaus she received a
grant of $2000 when in November 1983 the
Prime Minister approved a scheme to support
Australian artists on a $1 for $1 basis.
36
JANIS SOMERVILLE
Glenmorgan
CHAR SPEEDY
Quilpie
Janis was a member of the Glenmorgan Art Group
from 1970 until 1978. During this time she was
introduced to Eastaus and the inspirational influence
of Mervyn Moriarty. Janis left Glenmorgan to pursue
her visual arts practice in Brisbane and from there she
moved to residencies in Indonesia and a host of other
countries. In 1997 she co-founded Art at Work with
Pip Cozens. Today she uses her experience and her
artistic vision to enable participants and her audience
to understand a range of threatening environmental
and social issues. In those days the Glenmorgan Art
Group was just a small group.
We’d put our children in a play pen to play under the
trees while we would be painting just a short distance
away. We had heard about Eastaus and we were at the
point when we were very frustrated. We had been
working with watercolours with two local painters who
were our mentors. They could show us techniques but
they were conservative painters and were reproducing
landscapes. We loved the landscape but some of us
were hungrier for other things.
Mervyn would come four times a year for two days and
two nights. He slept in the shearer’s quarters. It was blue
ribbon national party country, it was very, very
conservative, a red-neck area. The dominating factor for
the local farmers was the use of the land and the use of
resources. Mervyn had a completely different idea.
When I left Flying Arts in 1978 and came to Brisbane I
sought out opportunities in other countries as an artistin-residence because I felt very stuck in Brisbane. I felt I’d
gone as far as I could. So I moved to Indonesia which was
a three-month residence and I ended up staying for a year.
It had a fundamentalist government and
contemporary artists in Indonesia at that time were
constantly under threat. I was sympathetic to the young
women, the way they were treated in their culture,
especially in art school. I decided to curate a show of
Indonesian women artists. Later I worked for the
Indonesian Art Delegation to the ASEAN Art forum. I
would work with the delegates to improve their English
(the official language of the ASEAN countries is English)
to develop a strategy for the outcome they wanted.
After Indonesia I worked in Singapore and later in
Japan and Thailand. I had a residency in Italy
supported by the Australia Council. We are working
almost every day in the streets somewhere with
performance art. We are working directly with
ordinary people and we have been doing that for
almost four years with Art At Work. We look at any
local issue that affects the quality of life. This was
started by Pip Cozens and myself in Germany and we
now have a small group in Belgium and one in
England. I go back to so many things that Mervyn
taught me. I can really do something with it now.
I know how to make it work but it took a long time, but
I think to be a late bloomer is the best thing anyway.
Interview with Lesley Jenkins, Oral Histories, 2001.
Char learned water-colour painting at HighSchool (Somerville
House) to Junior inBrisbane and worked at colouring
photographs with oil paints in Brisbane for two years.
Tutors: Caroline Barker and Pat Prentice (at school) and
Mervyn Moriarty and Kelvin Grove tutors with Flying
Arts which came four times a year. Workshops were at
the Art & Craft Centre in Brolga Street Quilpie, later the
building was bought by the Quilpie Cultural Society.
Quilpie now has two galleries. The Museum Gallery
opened in 1997 and the Outback Gallery (private) in 2000.
A group of interested people formed the ‘Quilpie
Cultural Society’ in 1971 with pottery classes. The
society also had a library. We raised some money
and had a Mrs. Cameron come to Quilpie from
Brisbane who taught us about clay, kilns, firing,
glazing etc. Some of us who were interested in
drawing and painting formed an art group and had
an art teacher come out from Brisbane.
Mervyn contacted us, I think he may have heard
about us from the Arts Council and we accepted his
offer to fly out four times a year, he would teach
painting and another artist would come with him to
teach pottery. I think he taught at Roma and
Charleville along the way. We had to paint in oils as
acrylics dried too quickly in this climate. We mostly
did landscapes and would go out into the bush.
He was really great with teaching the mixing of
colours. When he finished we carried on with
tutors from the Kelvin Grove campus with both
pottery and painting for many years. Mervyn and
his group always stayed in our building, he
preferred that to the hotel. Some students were
from the town but most were from the country and
would drive miles for the lessons. He didn’t give us
homework as such but expected us to bring in some
work for constructive criticism. Some of my work is in
Brisbane, Roma, Charleville and the local hospital
and school in Quilpie. At one stage a television crew
came to Quilpie to do a documentary on the local
artists. Mervyn chose a painting of mine and criticised
it quite dramatically. This upset a new student who
suggested I hit him over the head with the painting.
Since then our members have taught beginners in
Eulo, Thargominda, Romanga, Adavale, Windorah
and Quilpie. This is beneficial for beginners as
some are unable to cope with professional tutors
and like to practice their chosen craft at a local
level. My greatest challenge came when I was
asked to teach at the Quilpie State school for one
term. I was offered a grant so I accepted.
Interview with Marilyn England.
JANE TEMPLETON
Longreach
Born in Queensland Jane is a landscape artist in oil and
watercolour.She studied at the Australian Flying Art
School workshops which she drove many miles to attend.
Exhibitions: Two solo shows at Design Art
Centre in Brisbane 1976-78. Of her first
exhibition a critic wrote: The work of a talented,
highly individual, instinctive painter.
Artists & Galleries Australia, Max Germaine, 1984
37
BETTY TURNER
Yaraka in lower western Queensland.
Betty Turner is a wife, mother, artist and community
worker. She has been her children’s school teacher,
a Flying Doctor campaigner and farmhand and
could have been a clothes designer of note.
Betty lives on a 40,000 acre sheep property called
‘Merriman’, west of Yaraka in lower western
Queensland. The family property is drought
declared and life is far from easy.
Her earliest school education was carried out in the
country until such time as she was old enough to be
JULIE THORNTON
sent away to boarding school at St. Hilda’s at
Rockhampton
Southport during the Second World War.
Betty found that she had all the necessary
Julie is the centre rep for Rockhampton. She
qualifications to tackle professional dress designing
is a Textile artist and has been working with
and enrolled at McCabe’s Academy in Brisbane.
Flying Arts from1995-2003.
Flying Arts still goes to Rockhampton but there are Then she married a young ex-serviceman. After
ten years of marriage the couple had two
possibly less students than there used to be. The
children. Her husband was successful in drawing
school comes to Rockhampton twice a year.
a land ballot for property in the Yaraka region and
Workshops are held in the local hall or at the
the family moved west and set up home. Betty
cultural centre.
There is a TAFE at Rockhampton which teaches recounts this time as perhaps the hardest of her
life as the land was completely unimproved.
art and Rockhampton has its own substantial art
They lived in an 18’x10’ boundary rider’s hut,
gallery and a large community cultural centre.
used a kerosene stove, and carted water in
Julie does not have her work in local galleries
but there are a number of artists in Rockhampton buckets from a nearby creek.
who do. Rockhampton artists who paint, or work 38 years, and three children later, Betty is still living
in rural Queensland. She was instrumental in seeing
in photography, silversmithing and jewellery
the establishment of the Yaraka State School and is
exhibit locally, regionally and interstate.
Julie is a Textile artist making art to wear and her a key member of her local Church community.
expertise has grown out of her years with Flying Today, after her family has grown up and allowed
her more time to devote to other interests, there are
Arts as well as extensive reading on the subject.
two things which figure prominently in Betty’s life Tutors have been: Ken Smith, Wendy Wright,
her commitment to the Church, and her love of art.
Ruth Osborn, Glenys Ham.
She wouldn’t class herself as a professional artist Her initial involvement with painting and the
Australian Flying Arts School was less of a
yet but during the last couple of years she has
conscious decision to develop an artistic talent and
had some success with her ‘Art to Wear’. In
more of an act of making up numbers at the first
2002 She was invited to exhibit in the ‘Art to
Wear’ exhibition in Sydney at the Quilters Guild AFAS school into Blackall. Since that time
Quilt Show. Following this she sent her garment however, Betty has developed a passion for learning
and extending her interest in art. Roy Churcher said
to the Hobart Fashion Fantasia where she won
of her that with her interest and her commitment to
third prize in the Fantasy Section and won the
extend herself he would be prepared to travel to
Acquisition Award.
Blackall to teach, even if she was the only student.
In 2003 she sent a garment to the Australian
Betty sees her art as a challenge as well as an
Wool Fashion Awards and won second prize in
extension of herself - it brings her closer to other
the Fantasy Section and was the Best
country women and offers her the opportunity to
Outstanding New Designer.
travel to different parts of the country.
In April 1988 she hosted a workshop at the family
Julie exhibited again in Sydney and this has
property with tutor Beverley Budgen. She
led to an invitation to exhibit at the Knitting
opened the shearers’ quarters to house the many
and Stitching Show, Australian Art to Wear
women from regions such as Roma and Quilpie
Exhibition at London in October 9th - 12th.
who expected to learn more about the art of
So for the last few months of 2003 she has
painting - a workshop which is yet another
enjoyed recognition for her work and attributes
opportunity for country women to learn and grow
her success to Flying Arts.
in the company of each other.
Answers to 2003 Questionnaire from author.
Farmers & Graziers Magazine April-May 1988.
CHRISTINE TURNER
Bundaberg
I joined Flying Arts in 1988, shortly after I first
began painting. I had no formal art education, so
I found the workshops most stimulating. I
enjoyed the opportunity to meet other artists,
particularly those from my own region. They
were always such a diverse group and these
gatherings instilled a sense of community.
I began exhibiting my work regularly in galleries
in Queensland and interstate. The works were
mainly assemblages, primarily addressing
women’s issues. In 1994, I received funding from
Arts Queensland to exhibit my work. This was an
invaluable experience that extended the outcomes
of my work enormously. It enabled me to
experiment with installation, and has led to
further exploration through computer imaging.
Organisations such as Flying Arts, Arts
Queensland and Queensland Artworkers Alliance
have assisted me greatly to develop my career,
helping me to overcome the ‘tyranny of distance.’
Christine is a 1996 Shell Art Award Winner.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 72, December 1996.
PEG UEBERGANG
Inverell
Peg was living in Moree from 1966 but remembers
that in the early 1970s there were art classes at
Goondiwindi. She never had Mervyn Moriarty as a
tutor until she went to a Binna Burra workshop.
There was an art group in Moree and they would get
tutors in. This was before Flying Arts, but when they
came to Inverell she attended classes there. She felt
they were helpful because they asked students to do
their own thing and let their own ideas flow.
Art classes were held at the primary school at
Inverell, it was an adult class, around 25 attended.
I remember Mervyn and Roy Churcher and someone
for pottery so it was probably after 1978 when I went
to the Flying Arts classes.
When Flying Arts were coming it was really
something - something to look forward to. Mervyn
was great with colour. It was all about getting the
colour to glow in the paintings and he was very much
of a help in that direction - putting semi permanent
colours over a wash. Flying Arts was of great benefit
to my future as an artist. The freedom of expression
taught by the school was invaluable. The previous art
I had been doing with the local group at Moree came
out of a much more rigid training - Flying Arts was
more in accord with what I wanted to do.
Interview with Marilyn England 2001.
38
MERLE WAGNER
Maryborough
Ask Merle where she was born and she’ll tell
you that Mt. Perry in the ranges west of
Bundaberg is not just a pretty little town. It’s
also the smallest shire in Queensland. She’s very
vocal about Mt. Perry at the moment, having
recently returned to judge the hack and
thoroughbred section of the annual show.
Childhood wasn’t a particularly happy time.
Merle admires her 89 year old mother whom she
describes as a former governess, an
accomplished Bundaberg potter (who produces
incredibly detailed cattle and echidna figurines)
and a “formidable woman”.
Merle’s primary education was by
correspondence. With the exception of Saturday
afternoon visits to the old museum/art gallery,
she disliked the uniformed repression of
secondary schooling as a boarder at Brisbane
Girls Grammar and left, earlier than intended, in
Sub-Senior (Grade 11) to return to the family
property where she became an experienced horse
and cattle woman.
In 1954, following a broken romance, Merle set
off, alone, for England. Her travelogue is a
series of colourful anecdotes about remarkable
co-incidences. The four young women in the
next cabin were all Queenslanders. One was
from Eidsvold, the town next to Mt. Perry, two
were from cattle properties in the north and one
of these was headed for RADA (the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Art), with a young man
who was also auditioning. He just happened to
be Merle’s second cousin.
She spent her first winter in England as a trainee
housekeeper at the Mt. Royal Hotel at Marble
Arch. This was good experience for the second at
The Lygon Arms, a sixteenth century pub 15 miles
from Stratford where celebrities like the Oliviers,
Peter Finch and Frank Thring came to lunch.
Retirement in 1991 gave Merle the opportunity
to pursue her art interests full-time and she
immediately began a drawing course at Hervey
Bay College with Henry Breikers.
In the few years she has been painting, Merle has
increasingly incorporated the texture of string,
earth and the Queensland bush into her paintings
and, particularly this year, in consultation and
discussion with Jenny McDuff (her tutor in the
Central Region), has become more consciously
aware of shape, repetition of form and reading
her work interpretively.
Merle won the1994 Shell Art Award.
Summing up her life and her art, Merle Wagner
says she has come to realize that “the unseeable
is often the most important aspect of both”.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 64, November 1994.
39
JOAN WARMINGTON
Miriamvale
JENNY WHITEHEAD
Mt. Isa
Joan began with Flying Arts in the late 1970s.
She has lived in Miriam Vale for most of her
adult life. Flying Arts started in Gladstone
about 1978.
I still belong to Flying Arts in Gladstone but I
miss it now that painters are not coming to
Gladstone. I like the company of other
painters and I miss that now. No-one paints
like me here, people paint in a more
traditional way and I have no-one to talk to
about art. I first saw an ad in the paper and I
had heard about Flying Arts through a friend
of mine who went to lessons in Biloela and
when I saw her work I said:
“Gee I wish I could paint like that.” Bela
Ivanyi was my first tutor, what he taught was
so creative, I loved it. I remember Mervyn
teaching us watercolours and painting and
drawing the nude. Then Pat Hoffie came and
she was wonderful. Flying arts encouraged
all of us to have solo exhibitions.
As her own skill and experience developed she
began teaching painting to people in Miriam Vale.
Her contribution to her small community has been
considerable.
She has won a number of awards in the
Gladstone Show and the pastel section of the
Martin Hanson Memorial Art Award.
I lacked confidence and thought I would never
be any good. Now I think there is no good art
and no bad art. I just paint what I feel like
painting to please myself. I showed Mervyn
my first painting and he said to keep it and
never to sell it. He said that I would find that I
would go back to painting like that. I have
found in my later work that I have indeed gone
back to parts of it. Mervyn was a gifted
teacher.
Interview with Lesley Jenkins, Oral
Histories, 2001.
Jenny Whitehead has been a Flying Arts member
since 1979 and has been living in Mt. Isa for four
years but for decades she has been a gypsy
moving to different regions in Queensland. She
joined FA in Townsville (through Fibres and
Fabrics) and doing textile workshops with
Wendy Wright and Thel Merry. The workshop
was held under my house and we boiled out the
batiks in a 44 gallon drum down in the backyard
under a fire. The group were all women. They
were all very supportive of each other and there
were some quite strong friendships formed.
Later she moved to Collinsville and attended the
Bowen AFAS classes (Roy Churcher was one of
the tutors) doing painting, pottery and textiles.
After moving to Biloela she became the Flying
Arts rep in the early ‘90s. Wherever she has
stopped she has connected with Flying Arts and
continued her involvement with painting and
textiles. Jenny currently works in an airy room
filled with the materials needed for her next
creation. She is a passionate artist and an
articulate art’s advocate who has been involved
in promoting regional artists to their own
communities.
We moved because of my husband’s work and
when we moved to Biloela I eventually became
the Flying Arts regional coordinator for about
five years. Flying Arts had an effect on a lot of
levels. The community developed a greater
interest in art because we had some exhibitions
and because we had tutors coming out.
Eventually it probably was the catalyst for the
development of a wider community interest
resulting in an arts centre in the town. It also
encouraged individuals and it fulfilled a need
they had for some emotional expression in a very
stressful time - especially during the really bad
drought in the early ‘80s and the ‘90s. The
classes were ‘time-out’ from what you normally
did. The art became almost a therapy for many
of these people. You just spent a day or two
doing something totally different, something that
was totally yours and something you could give
expression to things. I think that sometimes that
was conscious expression and other times it was
totally unconscious. Sometimes you could get an
astute tutor who could pick that up. For others it
was a link back to the art that they had had
before in Brisbane. Wherever I have moved
apart from Brisbane, Flying Arts has been a way
for me to link back into the community and to
meet people - it is part of my moving strategy.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 86, October 2001
JACK WILSON
Dalby
Jack began painting with the Dalby Art Group in
1968 as he had always been interested in art
books and galleries. Although he has work in a
number of regional art galleries and private
collections he does not consider himself a
professional artist. He joined Flying Arts when it
came to Dalby in 1971 and his tutors were
Mervyn Moriarty, Bela Ivanyi and Roy Churcher.
Before Flying Arts, members of the Dalby Art
Group would drive to the countryside for a day’s
painting with a bottle of red. They just copied
the work of the tutors they had then, there were
lots of gum trees, and creek scenes with bunyas
in the background.
When Mervyn arrived he opened our eyes to
contemporary art and a new and exciting way of
looking at reality which freed us from the
narrowness of traditional painting as we knew it.
We were now free to use our imaginations.
Mervyn came as a breath of fresh air and
dragged us into the 20th century.
Flying Arts visited four times a year. Workshops
were held at the old Arts Centre in Marble Street.
In the early days we would hold the lessons in a
shed at the Show Grounds, but later when Mervyn
started coming, the Council turned the old Bore
Baths into a centre for cultural bodies. I would
pick him and Helen up from the airport. If they
stayed overnight it would be with Tom and Joan
Gill. As well as the workshops there was always
much discussion on art history and related subjects.
In the AFAS period Mervyn wore casual gear - a true
bohemian with his wild ginger hair and beard.
Sometimes we would have lunch at the RSL and we
would have to warn some of his accompanying artists
to wear shoes and shirts when we went to eat there.
As well as the 23 art books put out by Mervyn I also
have about fifteen Eastaus newsletters from 1971.
Jack has watercolours in the Dalby Regional
Gallery and the Global Arts Link at Ipswich.
Dalby Art Group started in 1958. The Adult
Education Dept. sent out the first art tutor - Don
Featherston, a watercolourist from Toowoomba
who came up once a month, held field days and
gave instruction. Ron Murray, also from
Toowoomba took over in 1962, teaching both oil
and watercolour painting. Later on Len
Blacklow, David Fowler, and Alex Roteveel held
seminars and regular field days. Another was
Herb Carstens, many other artists came and gave
seminars over the years.
In 1968 Mervyn Moriarty came occasionally to give
lessons and seminars, until in 1971 he started up his
Flying Art School, flying in to give four seminars a
year. As is well known, Mervyn came as a breath of
fresh air. The group owes much to his efforts.
40
In 1963 Dalby held its Centenary celebrations. To
help the festivities the Art Group ran an art
contest with open prize money of £130. Laurie
Thomas from the Queensland Art Gallery came to
judge, and gave the open oil to Irene Amos, and
the watercolour to Joy Roggencamp. The prizes
were non-acquisitive but with the profits the first
painting was bought from Herb Carstens. The art
contest was such a success that it was decided to
hold a similar contest every year. So from 1964
the Acquisitive Dalby Art Contest became an
annual event. These contests continued through
until 1974 and the exhibitions had Open Purchase
Prize Money instead. In 1979 it was decided to
discontinue holding art contests altogether. There
were various reasons for this, the main one being
funding. The Town Council gave grants towards
the contests from 1977 and the Visual Arts Board
of the Australia Council gave yearly grants from
1975-1979 under the Contemporary Arts
Acquisition Scheme.
In 1971 the cultural bodies of Dalby were given a
home, it was the old Bore Baths. Built in 1923 the
Hot Artesian Baths were said to contain “curative
properties unexcelled in any other part of the
Commonwealth.” The art group and the potters were
the first tenants. The two front rooms were set aside
for a gallery. In the early 1970s NSW had 20 regional
galleries, Victoria 16. Queensland had only two.
Written information to Marilyn England 2001.
IVY ZAPPALA
Gordonvale
Born in Gordonvale in north Queensland in 1933
Ivy is a semi traditional painter and portraitist.
She began her studies with the Australian Flying Art
School through Mervyn Moriarty and Bela Ivanyi.
Awards: Mulgrave Shire Council Centenary
Award 1976; Tully Open Award 1977; Herberton
Shire Council Award 1978 (to hang in Parliament
House Brisbane); Caltex Traditional Award,
Innisfail 1978; Atherton Open 1980; Mulgrave
Shire 1981; Wide Bay Open 1983.
She is represented in private collections in USA,
New Zealand, NSW and Queensland. Exhibits
her work at Trinity Gallery, Cairns.
Artists & Galleries Australia, Max Germaine,
1984
Ivy Zappala’s work is represented in Brisbane
Parliament House and Museum of VilliersBretoneaux in France,
MANY OF THE STUDENTS LISTED HAVE BEEN REPS. OVER THE YEARS AND JENNY
WHITEHEAD FROM BILOELA HAS WRITTEN AN ARTICLE ON BEING A REP.
The rep gets to know that interesting bunch of
people - the tutors - and their intrepid pilots.
Although the conditions reps operate under vary, the
basic concern is the same; we sign the slip of paper
agreeing to have for each seminar 7 people or
$140.00 (this was written in 1985, fees are now
$200 per workshop). That’s not hard, it’s getting
enough people together at the same place as the
tutors on the appointed day. Seven doesn’t sound
like many, but when the group is only small, it can be
tricky and take hours on the phone.
To help in this regard I decided to encourage
members to become paid up members so everybody
received the Gazettes and would know when the
seminars are on and also inclusion of the rep’s name
and phone number helped. I asked people if they
could ring me and let me know if they intended to
come. It saved me ages on the phone.
The more members there are the more chance of
enough members being available on the day. A bit of
PR seemed to be needed, so before each seminar a
small article (not an ad) was placed in the local paper
and it was from this source that most of our new
members came. Also, talking to people about AFAS.
I thought that AFAS needed to be a little more
widely known in the district. With this in mind I
tried to make the article interesting, mentioning
AFAS members who had been included in
exhibitions, etc., and a little about the tutors (from the
Gazette) about the venue and contact phone number.
If possible, include a photo. We also attend Arts
Council meetings and they mention our activities in
their newsletter and were very helpful when we
staged the Triptych Exhibition.
The Money: If seven people don’t turn up, there
isn’t $140.00. Everybody could pay more to make
up the difference but I always felt uneasy about
asking for more even though $20.00 is really a
bargain price for a day’s tuition. The other expenses
do add up - getting there (some people travel long
distances), materials and postage and freight on
same, not to mention juggling kids, farms and jobs to
get there.
We decided we’d start a fund. We didn’t want to get
involved in raffles, stalls, etc. as we don’t require large
amounts of money, but decided to put in $5.00 each as a
once a year donation to cover shortfall on seminar fees,
hall hire, tea, coffee and rep’s phone calls.
As most of our members are townies, we get together
fairly regularly - one evening a month and one
Sunday a month, so those who live out of town can
join in. At these get togethers, we put in 50 cents a
time to add to the funds. This means a bit of book
keeping, but it is worth it.
The one thing I really felt was a big part of being
the rep was the new members, especially the
beginner painters. The more people, the greater the
diversity of ideas, the more ‘sparks’ and creativity
flows through the group. Everybody has something
to offer from the person who has never put brush in
paint before to the successful artist of many years’
experience.
New members, especially the beginner, need to be
encouraged and given a friendly welcome. Talk to
them on the phone, explain how AFAS works, invite
them to get togethers and seminars. I think it is
important to explain that they can ask the tutor
questions about specific things they want to know, as
well as what is happening on the day. Introduce
them to the tutor and explain that they are new or
beginners and to be aware as the rep that they may
not immediately understand what is going on.
Last year, beginners were invited to come along and
take a look, meet the people, etc. and see if AFAS
was for them. If they decided to join in then the fee
applies. If they only want to see what’s what, no
charge - tea and coffee on the house. We’ve found
this to be most successful and avoids the situation
where a beginner pays up, comes along, doesn’t
understand or enjoy the day and goes away with
negative feelings about AFAS, which they no doubt
share with friends. It does mean the rep has to take a
bit of time out from her painting, etc. on the day, but
it is worthwhile making the effort, as not only do you
end up with new members, but new friends as well.
In our group we have decided to rotate the rep’s
position on a yearly basis and as well as allocating
some of the ‘jobs’ among fellow members tea/coffee lady, accommodation, venue, PR,
transport, etc., organise the get-togethers with the rep.
handling the correspondence and the money and the
beginners. It seems to be working well, a new rep
means new ideas - many hands make light work as
they say.
It will also mean that if a rep is unavailable on
seminar day, there will eventually be a number of
people who know the ropes and avoid the situation
where AFAS gets known in town as so and so’s
group.
41
APPENDIX IV
AUSTRALIAN FLYING ARTS SCHOOL TUTORS
A number of 1980s tutors were employed by KGCAE
1971 - school named Eastaus until 1974
Mervyn Moriarty Painting
Left in 1982
Sole tutor until 1974 - with AFAS for 12 years.
Known guest tutors:
Clifton Pugh
Painting 1974
Keith Looby
“
Piers Bateman
“
Colin Lanceley
“
1974 Name change to
Australian Flying Arts School
Mervyn Moriarty Painting
Bela Ivanyi
“
4 years.
Left AFAS 1978
Known Guest Tutors
Guy Warren
Mitch Johnson
Vic Greenway
Potter
1975
Mervyn Moriarty
Bela Ivanyi
Painting
“
1976
Mervyn Moriarty Painting
Bela Ivanyi
“
Ivan Englund
Pottery
Rex Coleman
“
also with KGCAE
Jean Jacques Vaschalde “
Guest Tutor
Phillip McConnell Pottery
2 years
2 years
2 years
2 years 1976-78.
1977
Mervyn Moriarty Painting
Bela Ivanyi
“
Ivan Englund
Pottery
Jean Jacques Vaschalde “
Warren Moorfoot “
1978 - Australian Flying Art School Kelvin
Grove
Robert Hinwood Pottery 4 years
Teaching at KGCAE.
Kevin Grealy
“
4 years
Teaching at KGCAE.
Mervyn Moriarty Painting 5 years KGCAE
Jim Aitkenhead
Painting/pottery KGCAE
H. Gibson
L. Cottrell
C. Silcocok
G. Rogers
L. Warr
R. Wharton
C. Morgan
B. Moss
Painting
“
3rd year student
“
“
Painting 3rd year student
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
1979
Roy Churcher
Painting
5 years.
Mervyn Moriarty “
Rob Hinwood
Pottery
Kevin Grealy
“
Known Guest tutors
Paul Thomas
Painting (travelled with
Moriarty and Grealy on the northern tour)
Jill Cadden
Dance one western tour
Rhyl Shepherd
Spinning and Weaving
Two western Darling Downs tours
Sally L’Estrange Painting
assisted Moriarty on a northern tour
Peter Rushford
East Sydney Tech. Potter
1980
Mervyn Moriarty Painting
Roy Churcher
“
Rob Hinwood
Pottery
Rex Coleman
“
Ian Currie
“
with KGCAE
travelled 4 years with AFAS
Joan Webster
“
Roy Oorloff
Painting Guest tutor
Ian Smith
“
“
“
1981
Mervyn Moriarty
Roy Churcher
Kevin Grealy
Lyndal Moor
Ian Currie
Painting
“
Pottery
“
2 years
“
1982
Mervyn Moriarty
Roy Churcher
Pat Hoffie
Kevin Grealy
Lyndal Moor
Lynne McDowall
Ian Currie
Painting
“
“
travelled 2 years.
Pottery
“
“
“
Guest tutor
1982 Correspondence School begins - tutors
based in Brisbane, no country trips required.
Thel Merry
Batik
9 years
Don Braben
Screenprinting
9 years
Betty Crombie Stoneware Glazes
8 years
Ian Currie
Author “Stoneware Glazes
Correspondence Courses
Betty Crombie
Stoneware Glazes
Ray Frost
“
Thel Merry
Batik
Don Braben
Screenprinting
Janet De Boer
Spinning and Weaving
1983
Moriarty leaves December 1982.
Kevin Grealy and Lynne McDowall resign.
Coastal tour (Bundaberg, Gladstone, Rockhampton,
Mackay, Innisfail, Townsville, Cairns) dropped.
Tutors for the year are:
Roy Churcher
Painting
Pat Hoffie
“
Beverley Budgen “
4 years.
Betty Crombie
Pottery
Correspondence course teacher from KG.
Ian Currie
“
Rob Hinwood
“
Guest Tutors:
Gareth Morse, head of Dept. of Art Education W.A.
Cheo Chai-Hiang. Born in Singapore, studied at the
Royal College of Art U.K.,later in Italy in printmaking.
Artist-in-residence at KGCAE during 1983.
1986
Wendy Allen
Painting
Beverley Budgen “
Irene Amos
“
Jani Laurence
“
Allin Dwyer
“
Carole Walters
“
Joanne De Hage “
Mary Walduck
“
Gwyn Piggott
Pottery
Mitsuo Shoji
“
Guest tutor
Judy Hancock
“
Helen Charles
“
4 years
Gillian Grigg
“
3 years
Johanna de Maine “
Stephanie Outridge Field “
Janet de Boer
Spinning and Weaving
Sue Street
Dance
Sharon Boughen “
Correspondence Courses
Betty Crombie
Stoneware Glazes
Ray Frost
“
Thel Merry
Batik
Don Braben
Screenprinting
Janet de Boer
Spinning and Weaving
Denise Johnson
Painting/Drawing - 2 years
1984
Roy Churcher
Painting
Beverley Budgen “
Brian Dean
“
KGCAE teacher.
Joe Furlonger
“
Guest teacher
Ian Smith
“
Guest teacher
Betty Crombie
Pottery
Gwyn Piggott
“
3 years
Ron Hurley
“ recruited for Cape York tour
Jeff Shaw
“ assisted on Cape York tour.
Correspondence Courses
Betty Crombie
Glazes
Beryl Taylor
“
Ray Frost
Batik
4 years
Thel Merry
“
Don Braben
Screenprinting
Janet De Boer
Spinning 7 years
1985
Brian Dean
Painting
Beverley Budgen “
Jani Laurence
“
Wendy Allen
“
Allin Dwyer
“
Irene Amos
“
Helen Charles
Pottery
Stephanie Outridge Field “
Betty Crombie
Pottery
2 years
4 years
3 years
4 years
2 years
2 years
4 years
2 years
1987
Wendy Allen
Painter
Adam Rish
“
2 years
Chai Cheo-Hiang “
Guest tutor
Jeanne Macaskill “
Jani Laurence
“
Ron Hurley
“ Cape York pottery 1984
Barbara Zerbini
“
Helen Charles
Potter
Gillian Grigg
“
Judy Hancock
“
Gwyn Piggott
“
Pam Maegdefrau “
3 years
Jane Harthoorn
“
3 years
Correspondence Courses
Betty Crombie
Stoneware Glazes I
Ray Frost
Stoneware Glazes II
Thel Merry
Batik
Don Braben
Screenprinting
Janet De Boer
Spinning, Weaving I, II
Denise Johnson
Painting and Drawing
2
1988
Wendy Allen
Painter
Beverley Budgen “
Adam Rish
“
Rod Milgate
“
Vivienne Binns
Painter
Wendy Mills
“
Helen Charles
Potter
Gillian Grigg
“
Pam Maegdefrau “
Jane Harthoorn
“
Correspondence Courses 1988
Betty Crombie
Stoneware Glazes I
Gillian Grigg
Stoneware Glazes II
Thel Merry
Batik
Don Braben
Screenprinting
Janet De Boer
Spinning, Weaving I, II
Mary Fooks
Painting and Drawing.
1991
Bonney Bombach Painting
Shelagh Morgan “
Lani Weedon
“
Edith-Ann Murray Ceramics
Virginia Jones
“ (Demand workshops)
Wim de Vos
Painting “
“
Guest artists
John Fitzwalter,
Potter
Julie Whitney
“
Sue Leeway
(artist/photographer)
Annette van Ham Dutch potter at QAG.
Correspondence Courses
Gillian Grigg
Stoneware I and II
Thel Merry
Batik
Don Braben
Screenprinting
Janet De Boer
Spinning,Weaving, I and II
Karen Warnock
Painting & Drawing
1989
Shelah Morgan
Painter travelled 3 years
Ruth Propsting
“
David Burnett
“
Neville Matthews “
Guest Tutor
Pam Maegdefrau Potter
Jane Harthoorn
“
Johanna De Maine “
Correspondence Courses 1989
Betty Crombie
Stoneware Glazes I
Gillian Grigg
Stoneware Glazes II
Thel Merry
Batik
Don Braben
Screenprinting
Janet De Boer
Spinning, Weaving I, II
Shelagh Morgan Painting and Drawing.
1992
Kim Mahood
Lucinda Elliott
1990
Shelagh Morgan Painting/Printmaking
Lani Weedon
“
2 years
Bonney Bombach “
2 years
Edith-Ann Murray Ceramics 2 years
Jeff Shaw
Pottery NSW tour with reduced
income when funding from NSW stopped.
Correspondence Courses
Betty Crombie
Stoneware Glazes I
Gillian Grigg
Stoneware Glazes II
Thel Merry
Batik
Don Braben
Screenprinting
Janet De Boer
Spinning, Weaving I, II
Shelagh Morgan Painting and Drawing.
Guest Tutor
Antjepia Gotschalk from Germany who has
recently finished her Masters Degree in
Visual Arts in Adelaide.
When Flying Arts went to USQ December 1990
tutors were asked if they could teach for 2 years
Mixed Media, Sydney
Painter/Printmaker
trained UK and QCA.
Jenny McDuff
Mixed Media
Mike Spoor
Ceramics UK trained
working Kent Institute Art & Design.
Correspondence/Distance Training
Gillian Grigg
Stoneware Glazes I and II
Janet De Boer
Spinning,Weaving I and II
Karen Warnock
Painting and Drawing
1993
Kim Mahood
Lucinda Elliott
Judy Watson
Fiona Fell
Distance Training
Janet De Boer
Glenda Nalder
Karen Warnock
Guest artist:
1994
Anneke Silver
Colin Reaney
Jennifer McDuff
Rowley Drysdale
Mary-Lou Hogarth
Ann Whitsed
Jan Urquhart
Guest artists:
Marion Gaemers
Tekeshi Yasuda
Paul Brown
Painting, Mixed Media.
“
Painter Boulia Project
Ceramics Boulia Project
Textiles
Visual Arts
Painting and Drawing
Lyndall Milani.
Mixed Media
“
“
Ceramics
“
Textiles
“ (Quilting)
Basket-maker
Japanese-born
British potter
Computer Artist, writer.
3
1995
Anne-Marie Reaney
Mixed Media
Colin Reaney
“
Anne Lord
“
Zannette Kahler
“
Sam di Mauro
Ceramics
Mary-Lou Hogarth
“
Susan Flight
Textiles
Rosemary Lakerink
“
Guest artist:
Lynnette Griffiths conducted a pottery
workshop on Darnley Island Torres Strait.
Patsy Hely
Ceramist
1996
Steven Royster
Mixed Media
Special workshops at
Kuranda, Richmond Thursday Is.
James Guppy
“
Andrew MacDonald
“
Sam di Mauro
Ceramics
Steve Davies
“
Marion Gaemers
Textiles
Ken Smith
“
Guest artists
Wim de Vos
Intaglio Printing Workshop
at Maleny. Brisbane in June.
Jill Kinnear
Textiles Innisfail Masterclass
Sue Guilfoyle
Computer Imaging for
Visual Artists
Ken Smith
Textiles Workshop at
Rolleston.
Yvonne Bouwman
Ceramics workshop
Emu Park for Flying Arts.
Artists from Asia Pacific Triennial:
Nalini Malani (India)
Mixed Media Southern
Francesca (Keka) Enriquez (Philippines).Central
Tom Deko (New Guinea) Mixed Media. North
1997
Wim de Vos
Peter Dwyer
Steven Royster
Simon Suckling
Peter Thompson
Jill Kinnear
Ken Smith
Guest Artists:
David White
Painting
Painting and Drawing
“
Ceramics
“
Textiles
“
wood, sandstone, concrete,
clay and metal
Di Ball
Computer Technology
Artists available for Masterclasses
Barbara Cheshire
Painting and Drawing
Karen Laird
Painting, Drawing, Ceramics
Gary Andrews
Painting and Drawing
Shirley Wilkins
Ceramics
1998
Peter Dwyer
Garry Andrews
Barbara Cheshire
Karen Laird
Shirley Wilkins
Wim. de Vos
Jill Kinnear
Ken Smith
1999
Rachel Apelt
Barbara Cheshire
Louise Taylor
Karen Laird
Shirley Wilkins
Jill Kinnear
Wendy Wright
Demand Workshops
Seanne McArthur
Bonney Bombach
Katrina Odgers
Guest Artists
N.S. Harsha
Nguyen Minh Thanh
2000
Rachel Apelt
Majena Mafe
Donna Confetti
Melanie Forbes
Wendy Wright
Special Workshops
Cathryn Lloyd,
Tom Justice
Adele Outteridge
Helen Broadhurst
Pippin Drysdale
Lucja Ray
4
Painting & Drawing
“
“
Ceramics
“
Printmaker & Painting
Textiles
“
Painting /Drawing
“
Printmaking
Ceramics
“
Textiles
“
Jewellery
Mixed media
Glass making
Painting India
Ceramics Vietnam
Painting /Drawing
“
“
Ceramics
Textiles
Silk Painting /Batik
Paper clay
Creative bookmaking
Clay Sculpture/Mosaic
Ceramics masterclass
Painting
2001
Lucja Ray
Painting
Majena Mafe
Mixed Media, Painting
Heather Winter
Photography
Bonney Bombach
Installation, Painting
Melanie Forbes
Ceramics, Sculpture
Jenny Mulcahy
Paper Clay
Glenys Mann
Textiles
Pamela Croft
Mixed Media, Monoprinting
Chamay Bauer
“
International Textiles Artists
Marian Boontjes
Feltmaking (Holland)
Jeanette Appleton
England
B.J. Adams
Embroidery (USA)
Bina Rao & Keshav Rao Textiles (India)
Special Guest
Ian Smith
Painting
Comments from APT Guest Artists on
Flying Arts
Tom Deko, New Guinea - Northern Tour 1996
After the official opening of the 1996 Asia Pacific
Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane on the
27th September and after attending some of the
programs related to the Triennial, the artist’s
conference and camp-outs, I flew out of Brisbane for
Cairns to begin my travels with the Flying Arts’ team.
During these tours, I was to observe workshops, give
artists talks on request, experience different cultures
and, if possible, demonstrate on site.
I want to tell you how much I enjoyed and
appreciated the tour. I certainly learnt and
achieved a lot. It will remain with me as the most
unforgettable experiences of my life for a long,
long time. I am also very grateful that I have seen
places that I would never have seen otherwise.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 86, October 2001.
Nalini Malani, India 1996 (as told by Andrew
MacDonald).
In the strangest of cultural mix-ups, Nalini equated
the Flying Arts set-up with the Royal Flying
Doctor Service! Australian soapies enjoy airplay
in India! Her presence in the classes was a great
catalyst to discussion and practice. As a full time
practicing artist she has a wonderful eye for
arranging elements within a frame, and although
mixed media is not Nalini’s forte, that ability was
understood by the painters in the various groups.
Most notable in the classes was talk: swapping
experiences and stories, opinions and news. The
majority of participants are women, and Nalini
was keen to find out the expectations of women in
the bush, especially as artists. She was quick to
appreciate the importance of Flying Arts in
regional communities, and the different needs of
individuals within the groups.
As we headed back to Brisbane, with Nalini
itching to get into her own work at the APT, we
agreed that all that input would take time to filter
through. Probably back home in Bombay,
watching the Flying Doctors!
Flying Arts Gazette No. 86, October 2001.
Francesca (Keka) Enriquez (Philippines)
travelled with Flying Arts on their Central tour
in 1996.
Francesca’s current interest involves examining the
physical structures and spaces of the Philippine
home. For the 1996 Triennial she will juxtapost
hundreds of piled plaster casts of domestic fitments
with images in oil paint laid directly on the surface
of the casts. She is also interested in the
seductions of architecture and design and as part of
her installation will include an entirely repainted
interior design magazine, both as a form of loving
tribute and obsessive study.
Francesca’s comments
5
Let me start out by saying how much I enjoyed
myself, although initially I wanted to back out.
Especially upon seeing how small the aircraft was.
It was a smooth flight after all - thanks to the
pilot, Adrian Barlow – in spite of them teasing me
about how turbulent it was going to be.
Upon arrival in Bundaberg we were met by centre
representatives who drove us directly to the
workshop place. Since I was primarily a painter
and taught painting at a university in Manila, I
enjoyed assisting James Guppy when it came to
‘trouble shooting’ and giving critiques and advice.
From one town to another our group settled into a
sort of ‘comfortable work routine’ which somehow
resembled our experience in the Bundaberg
workshop. Usually I would help James with the
tutorials and do a slide presentation of my works
as well. I got along with the students because
most of them were conscientious and eager for
knowledge. Though it was difficult for me to
summarise in two days what I had learnt in my ten
years as a practising artist. So, here I am back in
Manila. I’m still missing Australia and the Flying
Arts team, but I have work to do here. Thank you
again for inviting me and best wishes.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 72, December 1996.
N.S. Harsha, India, 1999
When I met artists from those areas, most of the
time I was overwhelmed with the poetry in their
thoughts about the landscape. I was surprised to
see the tensions in the artwork made in ‘remote’
places of India. I feel there is a common linearity
in artists from remote areas in India and
Australia, maybe because of the artists’ exposure
to modernist language and later working with that
language to subscribe to local thoughts. The
success of Flying Arts in creating a bridge for me
to share my thought with artists from regional
Australia – not just an intellectual exchange but
also thoughts about farming, agriculture and
peripheral politics.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 86, October 2001.
Nguyend Minh Thanh, Vietnam, 1999
I grew up in a ceramic village where I learnt
traditional techniques. The experience of Dysart
was a reminder of my childhood ... This
experience enabled me to make a collaborative
ceramic work. I was overwhelmed by the isolation
... it is so different to Vietnam and I am very
grateful for the experience of visiting the caves
with aboriginal paintings near Auda Maclean’s
property (Baralaba). Never did I think that I
would be in a small plane flying about the
Australian countryside. It was a fantastic
experience.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 86, October 2001.
APPENDIX IV
FLYING ARTS TUTOR BIOGRAPHIES
B.J. ADAMS - EMBROIDERY
B.J. Adams, a machine embroiderer from the
USA, lives and works in Washington, D.C., USA.
She is a textile artist whose amazing embroidered
pictorial quilts and wall works have been
exhibited worldwide over her 30-year career in
contemporary embroidery, where an initial
fascination with texture has given way to curiosity
about line, movement and colour, as she strives to
create a mirror of her world.
Her work has been published in many magazines
and books, and has been displayed in prestigious
exhibitions in the USA, Canada, and New Zealand.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 84, September 2000.
1
Is represented in the Queensland Art Gallery and
Regional Galleries at Toowoomba, Grafton,
Armidale, and Stanthorpe. In the USA her work is in
the Sam Pees Collection at the Allegheny University,
Pennsylvania.
Has work in Artbank and many institutional and
private collections in Australia and overseas.
1987-90 Graduated First Doctor of Creative Arts
Degree Course - University of Wollongong.
Honours: Australia Council for the Arts 1991-4.
Fellow of Royal Society of Arts (London 1989-2000.
Medal of the Order of Australia June 1991.
Queensland Art Gallery Society - Life Member.
Foundation Fellow of RQAS 1992. Life Member 1989
Vice Patron - Half Dozen Group of Artists 1992-2000.
IRENE AMOS - PAINTING
Griffith Uni. Alumni Assn. QCA Chapter 1995-2000.
Born in Queensland, Irene is an abstract painter in oil, Queensland Uni. of Technology Alumnus 1998-2000.
acrylic, watercolour, collage, 3D works.
Artists & Galleries Australia, Max Germaine, 1984.
She studied part-time at the Central Technical
Interview Marilyn England 2003.
College in Brisbane gaining her Diploma Certificates.
Attended summer school at the University of
RACHEL APELT - PAINTING
Graduated from Queensland College of Art mid 1980s.
Queensland and the University of New England.
She has had 11 solo exhibitions. She has been included
Private tuition with Jon Molvig, John Aland,
in numerous curated exhibitions in Australia and abroad.
Bronwyn Thomas.
She has worked with fine art, conceptual art and
Attended overseas study tours from 1970 to 1985 to
community based projects. Has undertaken
Asia, Europe, Africa, Britain, Bali, USA, Italy,
several residencies locally and regionally which
France, Pais, London, Florence, Tokyo, colony
include Asialink residency in Manilla and RGAQ
Bussana Vecchia - San Remo as well as the Red
residency in Townsville/Thuringowa. Other
Centre, Ayers Rocks, deserts etc. Queensland, South
international collaborations have included a
Australia and the Northern Territory.
research project with four other artists/writers
Irene has managed the Kennigo Street Gallery,
from various countries in South-East Asia, an
Brisbane and is a member and Executive Member of
installation with Indonesian artist Moelyono at
the Royal Queensland Art Societ; Contemporary Art
Society (Qld. Branch) until it folded in 1973; Brisbane Noosa Regional Gallery and the conceptual
Institute of Modern Art, and was an Executive Member development of work with artists and writers in
Mexico. Recent projects have extended Rachel’s
of the Warana Festival Visual Arts Committee.
repetoire and have included visual theatre with
As a teacher she has lectured to many summer
schools and workshops (including AFAS) since 1970. primary school students, costume design for Ihos
Opera. Rachel has taught life drawing at
Lectured at the New England Summer Vacation
Queensland College of Art for the past five years.
Schools until the termination of the school in 1984.
Flying Arts Gazettes January 1999 & 82, Feb. 2000.
1984-5 Enrolled in Master of Creative Arts
Degree Course - University of Wollongong NSW.
VIVIENNE BINNS - PAINTING
Graduated with First Master of Creative Arts
Vivienne’s art practice, over more than 20 years,
Degree (Australia).
Has held over 30 solo shows since 1969 including Tia has covered a range of approaches, media and
processes. She began as a painter, then because
Galleries, Toowoomba; Verlie Just Town Galleries,
Brisbane; Armidale City Gallery; Solander and Macquarie she developed processes in vitreous enamel and
silk screening, became known as a craftsperson.
Galleries, ACT. City Gallery Brisbane in 1987.
Since 1972 she has worked in community
Has participated in many group shows and
contexts, first at the University of NSW, then at
competitions.
Blacktown, an outer western suburb of Sydney.
Won over 40 awards between 1961 and 1984.
Vivienne Binns (Contd.)
She then travelled to the Central Western Region
of NSW in a caravan working with people in a
number of towns throughout the area. In 1988 her
time was divided between part time work teaching
and as an Artist in Community in North Sydney,
painting from her studio in the Blue Mountains.
Her work is represented in major galleries and
private collections including MOCA and the
Queensland University gallery. In 1987 she
exhibited a series of miniature paintings at
Watters Gallery Sydney.
BONNEY BOMBACH - PAINTING (1990 CV)
Born in Melbourne in 1945 of European parents
Bonney grew up in a culturally rich environment
which included music and dance in which she
participated actively, and exposure to the visual
arts as an onlooker. After training as a social
worker at Melbourne University and entering the
workforce Bonney went to live in Europe for a
number of years where she lived in Rome,
London, and Israel. During this time she travelled
extensively within Europe as well as in Africa and
in south-east Asia and undertook extensive
investigation of major European museums with
particular interest in Early Christian and
Renaissance art. Toward the latter part of her
years based in Europe, in her late twenties she
enrolled in an adult education class in sculpture at
the Camden Institute in London.
On returning to Australia Bonney moved into
part-time work as a tertiary student counsellor
making more time available for her artwork. In
1977 she completed a Diploma of Art at Preston
Institute of Technology, Melbourne, in drawing
and painting.
In 1980 she had her third solo exhibition in a
Melbourne gallery.
Moving with her husband to a property in the
Tweed Valley in northern NSW she continued her
work, exhibiting regularly in local and regional
galleries including the Lismore Regional Art
Gallery, Centre Gallery Gold Coast, and Tweed
River Regional Art Gallery, Sydney and
Melbourne with nine solo exhibitions. She has also
been involved in a large number of group,
invitational and travelling exhibitions including the
prestigious Gold Coast City Art Prize. She has won
awards in NSW and Queensland and is represented
in the collections of six regional galleries and shire
councils in NSW and Queensland.
In 1988 she was the recipient of a Visual Arts
Board grant from the Australia Council to mount
a major solo exhibition in Melbourne.
2
Further travels have taken Bonney to the USA and
India where she studied contemporary artworks
and local architecture, documenting this with
drawings and photogrphs. In 1990 she travelled
to Mexico to observe contemporary painters as
well as the sculpture and archaelogy of the Aztec,
Mayan and Toltec cultures.
CHAMAY BAUER - MIXED MEDIA,
MONOPRINT
Chamay graduated from QUT in 1998, majoring
in printmaking. She is presently working at
Frenchville Primary School where she has created
and is teaching an art program of practices and
methodologies to young students. Chamay’s
works involve experimental monoprints.
YVONNE BOUWMAN - CERAMICS
My intention from the beginning of my career as a
clayworker was to reflect an Australian imagery
both in the use of texture and colour. Several
milestones along the way have encouraged me. An
invitation in the mail to send a piece to the second
World Triennial Exhibition of Small Ceramics in
Zagreb, of necessity, made me think of a smaller
scale of work. Polished porcelain on a Raku base
combined delicacy with roughness. I loved making
those pieces, a real challenge!
Expo ‘88 came to town and with it the opportunity
to sell at the Craft Pavilion, so packaging and
presentation, bearing in mind the tourist buyer, sent
me to the printers and the cardboard box factory. It
was the best move I ever made as that line is still
selling well and has gone to just about every
country in the world.
This indirectly led to a commission to make large
Raku dishes for the Hyatt Regency at Coolum and,
later, the Park Hyatt in Sydney.
Then there was another invitation in the mail ... this
time to be a part of an Exhibition in Grottaglie, Italy
... the 3rd International Biennial of Contemporary
Ceramics. This started me on my present
fascination with the use of stains to produce richer
and more vibrant colours, and from this motivation
I sent a group of landscape pieces.
In some strange way, my work seems to be selfpropelling, I have this feeling at times of not having
much control over what I will be working towards
next, but I do know I am having a great deal of
enjoyment each step of the way.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 70, June 1996.
(reproduced from Pottery in Australia, Vol. 30,
No. 4.)
BEVERLEY BUDGEN - PAINTING
Beverley was born in Brisbane in 1937. She is a
contemporary painter in oil, acrylic and mixed media.
Studied part-time at Brisbane Technical College
1963-65 but is mostly self-taught. She did a study
tour of Europe in 1982 and England in 1987.
From 1976 she taught at St. Columban’s College
Brisbane; from 1977 was a part-time lecturer in
painting at the Qld. College of Art; 1978 a tutor at
Arts Council workshops; from 1983 tutored at
Australian Flying Art School workshops, In 1991
she was artist-in-residence at the Queensland Art
Gallery from mid January to mid March.
Solo exhibitions in Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns,
Toowoomba, Gold Coast, Qld. College of Art.
Participated in Twelve Queensland Artists in Adelaide
in 1974, also Exhibitions at Queensland University,
Institute of Modern Art which toured Queensland,
and Trustees Art Prize at the Qld. Art Gallery,
She has won a number of art prizes in Brisbane
and Regional competitons.
Her work is represented at the James Cook
University, Townsville; Lansborough and
Redlands Shire collections and private collections
in Australia, UK and the USA.
Artists & Galleries Australia, Max Germaine, 1984.
BARBARA CHESHIRE - PAINTING
Born in Atherton in 1946.
She completed a Diploma of Art at Townsville
TAFE 1987
Majoring in painting and drawing.
Completed Graduate Diploma of Education
Monash University, Gippsland in 1991.
Awarded Master of Creative Arts at James Cook
University in 1994
Regular winner in Townsville and North
Queensland since 1985. Selected for inclusion in
Suncorp Art Awards regional and finalist
exhibitions (1989, 1992) and Jacaranda Drawing
Exhibition in 1994. Work included Graphite
Crucible (1994) and Aspects of Reality Perc Tucker
Regional Gallery (1994).
She has exhibited at Soapbox Gallery Brisbane,
Umbrella Studio, Townsville.
Barbara teaches Visual Art & Design full time
Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE.
Flying Arts Gazette, January 1999.
ROY CHURCHER - PAINTING
Born in South London in 1933 and studied at the
Slade School of Fine Art. Since arriving in
Australian in 1957 he has taught extensively
including as a tutor for the Australian Flying Arts
School. Awards include an Australian/Italian
3
cultural scholarship to Rome in 1972. Exhibits at
the Ray Hughes gallery in Brisbane and Sydney
and the Christine Abrahams Gallery in Melbourne.
REX COLEMAN - POTTERY
Rex began his own ceramics career in 1958 in the
Harry Memmott Pottery studio in Brisbane, later
he worked with Merv. Feeney.
He studied in Japan, India and the United States
before setting up his own studio in Brisbane. A
quiet man, more able to show than to tell his
students about pottery, Rex recalls his first days
with the Flying Arts School as total pioneering, it
was really a matter of picking up a lump of clay
and putting it on a bare table. There was
absolutely nothing to work with and no-one knew
anything. It’s a very different story now. Some big
centres like Mt. Isa have facilities that could be in
colleges.
Report by April Hersey on Flying Arts School 1979.
DONNA CONFETTI - PAINTING AND
DRAWING
Donna has found diversity in media is essential to
her arts aspirations, in a practice which spans
performance, installation, fibre arts, drawing,
photography and video. Her work as an artist and
curator has taken her to many parts of Australia and
overseas. She has recently returned from The
Netherlands where she spent a two year arts
residence in Maastricht exploring the cultural
traditions of Carnival. Donna lectured in
contemporary arts at Griffith University while
completing her PhD. at QUT.
PAMELA CROFT - MIXED MEDIA,
MONOPRINT
Pamela’s career as a practising artist began in the
mid-eighties. She has extensive international,
national and regional exhibiting experience in solo,
group and collaborative art exhibitions. She is an
active member and representative for indigenous
and community art groups. She has been awarded
artist-in-residencies overseas and has curated
exhibitions both as an educator and as an artist.
She has also worked as an academic at TAFE Qld.,
QUT, Batchelor College and The Institute for
Aboriginal Development in the Northern Territory.
Pamela’s artwork is held in public and private
collections in Australia, Germany, Japan, France,
USA, England, Philippine Islands and Holland.
JANET DE BOER - TEXTILES
Janet trained in hand-weaving and spinning the
USA before coming to Australia in 1976 and since
then has been active teaching, practising, writing
about and researching craft skills. “Textile arts which includes spinning, weaving, embroidery,
lace making and surface design - have gone from
strength to strength in Australia. The revival of
these skills is something that is happening across
the western world. People have lots of theories on
this, one thought is that people have more money
and leisure time.”
Comments by Janet on flying with AFAS.
The flight to Cairns was bumpy, through thick
cloud. Another lesson in touring by single engine
aircraft. I’ll admit it was a relief to be on the
ground - until we began winding our way up that
crazy road to Atherton and the Tablelands. By the
time they poured me out of the car for a meeting of
the Tablelands Textile Group, I felt like I’d been on
tour thirty days insted of three. But the enthusiasm
of that group (they’d been spending the weekend
sharing skills and producing a room full of
exciting colour and pattern), not to mention their
great food, brought me back to life.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 29 August 1986.
JOANNE DE HAGE - PAINTING
Born in Rockhampton in 1959. Received a
scholarship for her formal study in art as a student
at the QCA where she completed a Diploma in
Fine Art, followed by a Diploma of Teaching (Art)
at Kelvin Grove College and a Master of Art,
University of New Mexico USA. She has
travelled extensively throughout Europe, UK, and
America, visiting major galleries and museums.
She has won the Melville Haysom Memorial Art
Scholarship and has taught in both secondary and
tertiary institutions.
JOHANNA De MAINE - POTTERY
Johanna is a full time potter who, with her
husband, operates De Maine Pottery in
Landsborough (1986) at the foot of Blackall Range
producing tableware that is sold in galleries from
Sydney to Rockhampton. Born in Rotterdam,
Holland, Johanna started potting in 1971. After
travelling extensively in Asia she studied Art &
Design, majoring in Ceramics at Nelson & Colne,
CFE, UK1974-5. Returning to Australia she
initially set up a workshop at Calliope where she
worked until 1981. Her work has been featured in
numerous group exhibitions in Sydney, travelling
to Asia with one exhibition. Another exhibition
travelled to Japan with the Queensland Trade
4
Commission. She has exhibited in Melbourne, at
the Queensland Art Gallery, and at Southport. She
has won several awards and has had a number of
One Man Exhibitions. She is represented in
several State galleries in Australia and at a number
of regional galleries in Queensland.
WIM DE VOS - PAINTING &
PRINTMAKING
Wim was born in The Hague, Netherlands, in 1947
and migrated to Australia with his family in 1959,
settling in Brisbane. He has a Diploma in Fine Art
with Honours in Printmaking from the Queensland
College of Art and he has undertaken post-graduate
study in printmaking at the Jan van Eyck
Academie, Maastricht, The Netherlands. He has
been represented regularly in solo and group
exhibitions since 1979. Recent exhibitions
include: ‘Mark, Remark, Now and Then’, a one
man show at Dalby Regional Gallery, 1994; ‘Waste
Not, postpacked reduced, reused, recycled’, a
touring group exhibition, 1995. ‘Book Artists
Booked In’, Toowoomba Regional Gallery, 1995.
Wim teaches drawing, design, printmaking,
papermaking, sculpture and painting at the
Toowoomba College of TAFE, the Brisbane
Institute of TAFE (1998) and at the Brisbane
Institute of Art.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 72, December 1996.
PIPPIN DRYSDALE - PAINTING/CERAMICS
Pippin’s resume lists a formidable number of
residencies, awards, inclusion in books and
exhibitions. Her work is in the public collections
of the Art Galleries of WA, Queensland, NT,
Tasmania’s Queen Victoria Museum in
Launceston, Museum of Applied Arts and
Sciences, New Zealand Art Gallery in Auckland,
Tomsk and Novosirbirsk State Galleries in Siberia,
Russia and numerous regional, corporate and
private collections internationally. The major
omission is the national collection. Significantly,
from her 1998 exhibition at Quadrivium Gallery in
Sydney, the majority of the pieces were sold to
German and American collectors.
Her work speaks to nationals of other countries as
well as touching a chord with those to whom it
belongs. Drysdale, nee Carew-Reid, is an artist
imbued with a love of the landscape instilled from
time spent on family properties in both the south
and the north of Western Australia. In 1982 she
studied with Danial Rhodes and Toshiko Takaesku.
A latecomer to art as a career, Drysdale graduated
Pippin Drysdale (Contd.)
from Curtin University in 1986 following a
grounding in the excellent “Advanced Ceramics”
course at Perth Technical School under David
Hunt. Early work focused on the south-west
forests and environmental degradation. The
painterly surfaces were covered with the graphic
and gestural marks of an abstract expressionist.
The work was often dark and sombre, reflecting
not only the deep shadows of the forest, but also
the imminent destruction of the pristine
wildernesses. As a former forest dweller and “the
Comfrey Herb Lady”, Drysdale was passionate
about the loss and, as she considered it an
important duty of artists to assist good causes,
attempted to change attitudes through her work.
Since 1991 she has maintained an international
profile with lecture tours and residencies. An
inveterate traveller, bon vivant, raconteur and
generous friend, her contacts from her past as well
as the present have introduced her to interesting
and educative experiences. One such as the
opportunity to become a decorative artist-inresidence at the Grazia Deruta factory, Italy for
three months in 1991. This was followed by time
at Swansea in Wales and a further three-month
artistic exchange with Tomsk and Novosirbirsk in
Siberia, Russia the same year.
Since 1994 her work has drawn on her love of the
Australian outback.
A significant year for Drysdale was 1995, when
she really came to prominence by winning the
Perth Craft Award, the Newcastle Ceramic
Purchase Award and was represented in the major
Australian exhibition Delinquent Angel: Australian
Historical, Aboriginal and Contemporary
Ceramics at the prestigious Museo Internationale
delle Ceramiche in Faenza, Italy - the holy grail for
ceramic artists.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 80, September 1999.
Excerpts from story by Dorothy Erikson - an artist,
writer and historian based in Perth W.A.
PETER DWYER - PAINTING AND
DRAWING
Peter, a Brisbane born and based artist, originally
trained in painting and ceramics at The University of
Southern Queensland, Toowoomba and has had 35
group shows, 4 solo shows, 2 major grants to produce
new work. Peter has been commissioned by PCAP to
conduct workshops with students in Central West and
Far North Queensland. He has secured major grant
monies from the Australia Council and Arts
Queenland for projects involving sculpture and
performance art. He has designed sets and
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costumes for the Southern Ballet in New
Zealand and the Sydney Dance Company and has
assisted in costume production for Graham Murphy’s
Free Radicals. Being experienced with a variety of
different mediums, Peter can offer workshops in
drawing, life drawing, and painting with acrylics, oils,
watercolours, charcoal and pastels.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 72, December 1996.
LUCINDA ELLIOTT - PAINTING
Lucinda is a contemporary artist living and
working in Brisbane and is currently engaged in
the analysis of contemporary portraiture in the
media. Born in the UK, Lucinda is a graduate of
the Brighton Polytech College and the Queensland
College of Art. She has shown in Brisbane with
the Michael Milburn Gallery and has works in
public collections including University of Southern
Queensland, Griffiths Artworks and Ipswich City
Council Regional rt Gallery.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 53, January 1993.
MELANIE FORBES - CERAMICS
Melanie graduated from Southern Cross University
(Lismore) in 1994 and has participated in a number
of residencies including the Queensland Potters
Association and QUT. She has delivered a variety
of clay, handbuilding and sculpture workshops at
state primary schools, children’s holidays and a
youth detention centre, as well as teaching adult
classes at the Queensland Potters Association.
Currently Melanie’s work seeks to investigate the
personal and collective archetype. Her starting
point is the being, a symbol of the personal and
collective consciousness, a physical representation
of what we are. This leads her to investigate the
relationships between the environment, both
natural and manmade, and our being. Clay and the
deceptive simplicity of its processes is her first
material of choice with which she physically
renders these explorations.
JOE FURLONGER - PAINTING
Completed an Associate Diploma (painting major)
at the QCA in Brisbane in 1976.
1976. Participated in the IMA Show “Brisbane
Painters”.
1977-78 Extended the Associate into a full
Diploma (painting major) at the Alexander Mackie
College of Advanced Education in Sydney.
1977. Selected in two shows of the CAS of
Sydney. Selected in the Sydney Morning Herald’s
competition in the David Jones Gallery.
Joe Furlonger (Contd.)
1978-9. Represented in the Sydney Gallery,
participating in Group Shows.
1978. October. Received a Visual Arts Board
grant aiding painting for 1979.
1979. Returned to Brisbane and taught design and
painting part-time at the QCA. Included in NSW
Art Competition exhibition.
1980. Awarded Innisfail Art Prizes for painting
and drawing and also the Bundaberg watercolour
prize.
1980-81. Travelled to London, Paris and New
York, painting in London and Spain.
1982. Drawing selected at Gold Coast City
Council Art Prize.
1982. Group show at “Roar Studios” Fitzroy
Melbourne.
Firat one man show at Community Arts Gallery,
Edward Street, Brisbane.
1983. SGIO purchase.
1983. Group show “Behind the Banana Curtain” with
four other Queensland artists at the University of
Tasmania.
1984. Part-time lecturing at BCAE.
MARION GAEMERS - FIBRE ARTIST
A member of North Queensland Conservation
Council, Marion’s passion for nature has translated
into her basket weaving, combining plant material
from her back garden and coiling stitches,
transforming something into an art form.
KEVIN GREALY - CERAMIST
Born in Queensland, Kevin trained at the CTC
College in Brisbane, then at the Alberta College of
Art and the University of Calgary in Canada. He
has a BE in Fine Arts. His teaching positions have
been in Canada, the College of Art Brisbane,
BCAE Kelvin Grove and the Australian Flying
Arts School.
He began teaching with AFAS in 1978 when it
transferred to Kelvin Grove, he left in 1982 when
Mervyn Moriarty left the school. In 1978 he wrote
a 12 volume course in ceramics for AFAS.
Kevin has taught at High Schools in Queensland
and Canada, Kelvin Grove CAE, South Brisbane
TAFE, and for the Australian Potters Society,
Sydney and the Qld. Potters Society. In 1988 he
was working as a studio potter in the architectural
industry. He is a consultant in the heavy clay
industry. He was Head of Art at St. Pauls School,
Brisbane from 1992-2002. Has been a visiting
Lecturer at the Darwin Community College, the
Tasmanian Art School and at Bougainville, PNG.
In 2004 he was conducting workshops in
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China.
One reason why Kevin wanted to teach with AFAS
refers to his own experience as a young teacher in
Innisfail in 1962-64. He had experienced
isolation from other artworkers, colleagues and
from tuition or visits to practising artists in their
studios. This would not have happened if he had
remained in Brisbane. He was aware that there
was a thirst for these experiences beyond the gates
of Brisbane and that students would be
enthusiastic learners...always a bonus for
teachers...and they were. He believes his most
productive teaching and most memorable teaching
experiences were not in colleges, high schools and
universities, but in hot tin sheds, show grounds
and shearers quarters miles from Brisbane.
Interview Marilyn England 2003.
JANE HARTHOORN - CERAMICS (1989 CV)
Jane Harthoorn was born in Kampala, Uganda.
Her work is heavily inspired by African art and
culture. She lived in Kenya and then England
from the early 1970s, arriving in Australia in the
mid 1970s in time to do her last year of schooling
and go to the Queensland College of Art where
she did a Fine Arts Diploma, majoring in
ceramics. She then joined Edith-Ann Murray as a
trainee for two years.
ROBERT HINWOOD - POTTERY
Born in Melbourne in 1930 he trained as a
craftworker.
Studied for an Honours pass in the Studio
Ceramics Course at Kangaroo Point Technical
College, Brisbane with various tutors.
Has taught at many private and government
institutions and with the Australian Flying Arts School.
He is a foundation member and past president of
the Crafts Council of Australia. He attended the
World Crafts Conference at Kyoto Japan in 1978
and has studied and lectured in UK and Europe.
He is a foundation member of the Qld. Potters
Assn. and works mostly in clay wood and leather.
Has shown in many exhibitions and at Expo ‘81
Brisbane.
Commissions: Included in a long list are the coat of
arms at the new Law Courts, Brisbane; grotesque
portraits and column capitals at the University of Qld.,
the George Sreet Fountain in Brisbane, a Memorial at
Brisbane Boys College, a ceramic coat of arms at St.
Andrews College, University of Sydney.
Artists & Galleries Australia, Max Germaine,
1984. Interview Marilyn England 2001.
PAT HOFFIE - PAINTING (1990 CV)
Pat was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1953.
She has lived in Australia most of her life,
studying for a Diploma in Teaching (Art) in
Brisbane, a Diploma in Fine Arts at the Qld.
College of Art, and Literature studies at
Queensland University, a Masters at Wollongong
and a Phd. at the University of New South Wales.
She studied creative art with Roy Churcher and
Neville Matthews. At Kelvin Grove she was
taught by Betty Churcher and Bill Robinson.
She is now a lecturer in Painting at the
Queensland College of Art.
She toured with the Australian Flying Arts School
in 1982-3, wrote correspondence courses, spent 8
years selecting tutors for the school and made
TCN11 videos for the school in the late 1980s
when she joined the Board.
She has travelled extensively looking at overseas
art, and in the 1980s made contacts with the art of
the Asia-Pacific region, exhibiting at the Samaita
Gallery in Japan and at the QAG in Japanese
Ways, Western Means. At the Coventry Gallery in
Sydney in 1989 she displayed paintings which
inter-faced western and Asian icons.
Solo Exhibitions
1982
Baguette Gallery, Brisbane.
1988
Coventry Gallery, Sydney.
Work in Progress, Qld. Art Gallery, Brisbane.
Gender/Nature/Culture, CASCA, Adelaide.
Roz McAllan Gallery, Brisbane.
1989
Coventry Gallery, Sydney.
Art Fax Exchange, Collaboration with
MOMA, Saltama, Japan, Qld. Art Gallery.
Group Exhibitions in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney.
1988
Roz MacAllan Gallery, Brisbane.
Black and White Show, Sydney.
1989
Intimate Drawing, Coventry.
Australian Perspecta 1989, AGNSW.
Art Exchange, MOMA, Saltama, Japan.
Japanese Ways, Western Means, QAG, Brisbane
1990
Out of Asia, Heide Park and Art Gallery,
Melbourne.
Nolan Gallery, Canberra.
Penrith Regional Art Gallery, NSW.
Shifting Parameters, Qld. Art Gallery, Brisbane.
Impressions in Print, Toowoomba Regional
Gallery
Awards: QCA 1975, Qld. Teachers Credit Union
1976, Bribie Is. Art Prize 1977, Redcliffe Art Prize 1980,
Stanthorpe Purchase Prize 1980, Gold Coast Purchase
Prize 1980, Qld. Art Gallery Purchase Prize 1980.
Represented in gallery in Brisbane and regional
Queensland and in various private collections.
Pat made this comment: These women were so
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responsive in an immediate connected way and I can
remember thinking ‘this is as good as it gets’. You know
that art is touching people in heart and mind. I’m not
getting sentimental about it, they were not any better than
students are here, I don’t think that is true. But I do think
that the story of how these women survived in some
incredibly inhospitable regions, inhospitable
geographically, iconocly, and also culturally. I think it was
tough going for them, it was as tough going as anywhere.
Interview Marilyn England 2004.
RON HURLEY - PAINTING/POTTERY
Taught at KGCAE between 1981-84 and has also
worked at the Rockhampton CAE. Has assisted
with the visiting Japanese National Treasure Naka Zato Takahi at the QAG, Worked at the Carl
McDonnell workshop in Porcelain in 1982. Has
won the Ian Fairweather Memorial Purchase for a
sculptural piece based on a dilly bag design
featuring a Shino glaze. and the Gatton Art Prize
in 1982. His works are represented in the State
collection at the Cultural Centre in Brisbane and
some, purchased by the Chinese Government, are
displayed in Peking. A full-time potter and
printmaker he was brought to Rockhampton by
the CIAE and the Aboriginal Arts Board of the
Australian Arts Council. While at the Institute he
would paint a wall mural in the library. He also
tutored at the Bauhinia arts festival. He started
painting at the age of 14 and worked as a
commercial artist from 1961 after studying at the
Brisbane CAE. Later he opened his own studio.
When Hurley was appointed artist in residence at
the Capricornia Institute of Advanced Education
he had been commissioned by the Institute to do a
mural for the library. Based in Brisbane he works
on Aboriginal myths from his grandmother’s
tribe, the Koreng Goreng, from the Rockhampton
area (they extended from Bundaberg to Gladstone
and west to Monto). He uses skerricks and scraps
of the ancestry left in the area to decorate his
pots. The hardest part is translating the stories he
was told as a child into visual images. Much of
his work is Raku, a traditional Japanese method
of firing used more than 400 years ago in the
traditional tea ceremony. The method produces
‘instant ceramics’ which are not suitable for
functional uses but good for decorative pieces.
BELA IVANYI - PAINTING
Born in Byor, Hungary, Bela came to Australia in 1957
as a refugee from the Russian invasion of his country.
Trained at the National Art School, East Sydney,
where he received a Diploma in Painting.
1969-72 he taught Painting and Printmaking at the
Workshop Art Centre Willoughby.
In 1972 he moved from Sydney to Cairns.
In 1973 he joined the Australian Flying Arts School as
a second tutor assisting Mervyn Moriarty. Under the
heading “The Courage and Dedication of the AFAS”
(Jan 1985) Bela gives an account of his years with
Flying Arts. He left AFAS in 1978 and, at the
request of AFAS students, he conducted yearly 10day art workshops at Cooee Bay from 1980.
1979-93 he was a part-time lecturer in Painting,
Drawing and Design, Newcastle & Alexander Mackie
C.A.E.s, City Art Institute & TAFE Colleges.
1979-93 Part-time Lecturer in Painting, Drawing & Design,
College of Fine Arts, University of NSW.
He now lives on a 10 ha property at Ourimbah north
of Sydney and tours Central Queensland once a year
to paint the country he so admires.
One Man Exhibitions: he has had over 25 from
1969 in Sydney, Brisbane, Gosford, Katoomba, and
Canberra.
Group Exhibitions in Hobart, Sydney, Perth and
Brisbane.
Awards: Winner of the Readers’ Digest Drawing
prize in 1968 and has had a number of entries in
Wynne Prize Exhibitions.
Represented in Australian National Gallery, Canberra,
Artbank, Transfield Collection, Citicorp, Ansett
Airlines, Hilton International Hotel, Cairns, University
of Southern Queensland, Univesity of Wollongong,
Manly Regional Gallery, University of New South
Wales, ANA Hotel, Sydney, Franco Belgiorno-Nettis
C.B.E., Deutsche Bank.
Interview Marilyn England 2001.
JILL KINNEAR - DESIGNER, TEXTILES &
OTHER MANUFACTURED GOODS.
Jill lives and works in Brisbane. She holds a Masters
Degree from USQ. She has a degree in printed
textiles and has worked commercially producing
designs for fabrics and surfaces, as well as exhibiting
widely. She has designed furnishing and fashion
textiles, swimwear fabrics, terrazzo floors and
decorative ceramics. Has completed commissions
for an entrance foyer carpet and gobo light features
for a club in Brisbane. Has also completed over 100
drawings for a book of Australian drift seeds which
was published in December 1998.
Recently she won the Woven Images textile design
competition, Images of Queensland. She is the
textiles design representsative for the Qld. Chapter
of the Design Institute of Australia and has lobbied
strongly for the recognition of the profession.
Flying Arts Gazettes December 1996, January 1999.
KAREN LAIRD - MIXED MEDIA
Born in Shepparton, a fruit growing area of
Victoria.
She moved to Queensland 26 years ago and has
worked both commercially as a screen printer and
professionally as a painter/sculptor for most of
those years. She has recently completed five years
of study at QCA. She continues to exhibit her
artwork and is presently tutoring in art.
Flying Arts Gazette - No. 78 January 1999.
From her workshop for secondary school teachers:
Often Art curriculums are founded on traditional
disciplines of art such as painting, sculpture and
ceramics and teachers performing several roles at
school don’t always have the time or opportunity to
develop new units of work. Contemporary Art
movements since the sixties - the practice and
theory - make an ideal platform for the study of art
in schools. The Avant Garde, conceptual artists
recontextualised social and culural artefacts or
‘found objects’ to generate meaningful culural
discourse. This aligns with the themes and
expectations for secondary art outlined in the
Queensland senior syllabus.
This workshop will cover an overview of the avant
garde movements since the Sixties, hands on
experience of making artworks with ‘found
objects’, a critique session analysing the
cultural/social significance of the works and finally
a ‘brainstorming’ session to create unit outlines
that encompass historical, theoretical and practical
objectives for teaching post modern art in schools.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 76, Feb/March 1998.
SONJA LANDWEER - JEWELLERY
Sonja Landweer describes her jewellery as “body
adornment or body sculpture, depending on
materials used.” She has worked with slate, bone,
clay, handmade and other papers, and felt –
combining these materials with feathers, sisal,
leather and stone. Initially a ceramic artist,
Landweer became increasingly absorbed with
jewellery; ultimately she became instrumental in the
evolution of 20th century Irish design, through
looking at conventional materials in a completely
new way.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 84, September 2000.
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JANET LAURENCE - PAINTING
Janet was born in Sydney in 1947 and began her
formal studies at Sydney University. She continued
her studies overseas at Academia Belle St. TePenigea, Italy and Alexander Mackie College,
Sydney. Her postgraduate studies took her to New
York City USA - studying with the New York
Studio School, returning to Sydney to complete her
post graduate work at City Art Institute. Janet has
held the position of Artist in Residence in several
localities - Bennington College Summer program,
Vermond USA, 1980; “Paretaio” V.A.B. Studio,
Tuscany, Italy, with assistance of V.A.B. Australia
Council Council Travel Grant, 1982-83. In 1987
she was living in Balmain Sydney.
Brisbane River Festival Parade and Brisbane
Arcade. A highlight for Cathryn in 1997 was
to be invited to participate in an exhibition in the
United States entitled ‘3 Women’.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 77, Aug/Sept. 1998.
CATHRYN LLOYD - TEXTILES
Worked as a graphic designer for the Queensland
National Parks and Wildlife Service and done a stint
as a designer for a truck magazine, After studying
for a Bachelor of Arts (Graphic Design) at
Queensland College of Art (Griffth University),
since 1988 Cathryn decided it was time to launch
into the world of art and small business. Cathryn
has been running her own fabric design studio for
over ten years.
I am quite comfortable about the two areas being closely
associated. My first large order was a commission with
Expo to create a range of banners and flags which
featured around the Expo site. I consider the first couple
of years as my apprenticeship period, it was a huge
learning curve. Even now there are new things to learn
or certainly to consider, as my studio changes.
Much of Cathryn’s work is handpainted, mainly on silk.
Having spent some time screen printing, I find I enjoy
the more spontaneous nature of handprinting,
especially on silk because it is such a beautiful fabric.
I use a range of techniques to create the designs. One
of these techniques is a Japanese dyeing procedure
called Roketsu Zome, in which wax is used to build up
colour and design. I had the opportunity to learn this
process in Japan while I was there on a professional
development grant from the Arts Office. I spent some
time working in a traditional kimono design studio in
Kyoto, and found myself in a privileged position of
being able to make my own kimono. Also I recently
attended the Textile Fibre Conference in Mittagong,
which gave me a chance to revisit this particular
technique with a visiting Japanese master.
The studio creates a range of scarves, wallhangings,
ties and screens that is marketed to galleries, retail and
the corporate area. Commissioned pieces have
included banners and flags for Expo 88, the 1994
World Masters Games opening ceremony, The
PAM MAEGDEFRAU - CERAMICS (1989 CV).
Pam has been studying ceramics since 1972. In
1980 she commenced the ADVA course at Kelvin
Grove and completed it in 1984. During that time
she attended numerous workshops including Ivan
Englund, Peter Rushforth, Janet De Boer, Mitsuo
Shoji, Diogenes Farri and Vince McGrath. May
1988 appointed to Board of Crafts Council of
Queensland.
Has exhibited at Potters Gallery Brisbane,
Caloundra Arts Festival, Townsville Pacific
Festival, Warana Festival, Gold Coast Ceramic
Awards, Red Hill Gallery Brisbane, National
Ceramic Awards Darwin, Narrabri Arts Festival
NSW winning awards at Caloundra, Townsville,
and Narrabri.
Her work is represented in collections in
Townsville, Brisbane, Coolangatta, Montville,
Buderim and Sydney.
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JEANNE MACASKILL - PAINTING
Jeanne is from Wellington, New Zealand. She
spent a year in Australia as a visiting scholar for
AFAS after having taught in New Zealand and in
the UK. She has been involved in the development
and running of correspondence courses in art in
New Zealand. Jennifer was responsible for taking
a number of AFAS artworks on tour to New
Zealand.
MAJENA MAFE - PAINTING AND
DRAWING
Majena has twenty years experience as an artist and
teacher, which has enabled her to understand that
given the opportunity to be involved in art, people
find a deep sense of satisfaction and joy within
themselves. She has worked within the community
arts field on local and national projects as a
coordinator, artist, facilitator and therapist. This
has involved extensive work with people with
disabilities, children, young adults and the elderly.
Most recently she worked as a lecturer at
Queensland University of Technology where she
has just completed a Masters of Visual Arts.
Majena’s preferred medium is painting, but she is
also highly skilled in drawing, sculpture, printing
and photography.
KIM MAHOOD - PAINTING
Kim Mahood grew up on a cattle property in
central Australia, studying painting and sculpture in
Sydney before settling in Townsville, where she is
well known for her commitment to regional artists
through her association with Umbrella Studio.
Kim uses and combines a range of different media
and her work is represented in regional galleries
and private collections, including the Sir John
Flynn Collection (Cloncurry) and the Perc Tucker
Gallery. She has had her work on tour throughout
regional Queensland and has also exhibited in
contemporary art spaces in Queensland and New
South Wales.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 53, January 1993.
GLENYS MANN - TEXTILES
Glenys has used her married name to advantage,
having ‘MANN MAID ORIGINALS’ as the label
for her fibre work. Until the late ‘70s she was
entirely consumed with the raising and clothing of
her family in ‘MANN MAID ORIGINALS’. She
held her first ‘One Mann’ exhibition in 1982,
followed by many others, and now exhibits
nationally and internationally, with her work being
shown at the International Fashion Expo in Beijing
and Shanghai, and in 1999 at the ‘Goddess Ball’ in
Sacramento, USA. In 1998 and 1999 she was
awarded a scholarship to attend the Quilt and
Surface Design Symposium, Columbus, Ohio, USA
and was named Career Woman of the Year for the
northern region of the State of NSW, also in 1998.
NEVIL MATTHEWS - PAINTER (1989 CV)
Neville Matthews is a painter, printmaker and
sculptor. His professional appointments in the 1970s
and 1980s included the University of Queensland
(Dept. Architecture), Qld. College of Fine Art,
DDIAE Toowoomba (sculpture), DDIAE (Senior
Lecturer and Deputy Head, Dept. Visual Arts.
One Man Exhibitions:
1962 Hardy Bros. Gallery Brisbane.
1963, 65, 66, 69, 71, 72 Brian Johnstone Gallery.
1964 Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney.
1966-67 worked in London.
1968 Stern Galleries
1972, 74, 76 Bonython Galleries.
1973 Ray Hughes Gallery Brisbane
1980 Printmakers Gallery Brisbane
1982 De Gruchy Gallery, Brisbane.
1985 Michael Milburn Galleries, Brisbane.
Awards
1962 International Fine Arts, Saigon.
1965 Australian Fabric Design Award.
1966-67 worked in London, U.K.
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1969 International Young Artist, Tokyo, Japan.
1970 Australian-TAA National Art Award, Melbourne.
1970 Darnell-de Gruchy Prize, University of Qld.
1970 Victorian Museum and Art Gallery,
Launceston Purchase Prize.
1974 Australia Council Grant.
1976 Australia Council Grant
1976 London-Amsterdam.
Public Commissions
Design and construction of stained glass wall,
Mayne Hall, University of Qld. Brisbane.
External sculpture, Griffith University, Brisbane.
Wall sculpture, Qld. Cultural Centre, Brisbane.
Wall sculpture, Darling Downs Institute of
Advanced Education, Toowoomba.
Work represented in:
Townsville, Brisbane, 1963 Overseas Exhibition
Tate Gallery London, Tasmania, Newcastle, Mertz
Collection of Australian Art, USA, Qld.d Art
Gallery, Queensland University, Griffith University,
City of Gold Coast Collection, Australian National
and State Galleries.
SEANNE McARTHUR - JEWELLERY
Seanne McArthur spent her childhood in Papua New
Guinea and underpinning her designs is a powerful,
simple primitivism absorbed in those early years.
The Queensland Art Gallery’s Gift Store
commissioned jewellery and vessels from Seanne
to accompany the major exhibition Indonesian
Gold: Treasures from the National Museum in
Jakarta in Sydney. The Gift Store stocks examples
of her other work. Other places in Brisbane to see
her work have included the Art and Design Gallery
at Woolloongabba, and Indigo Cactus in Fortitude
Valley. She is represented in galleries throughout
the Tropical North Queensland.
She has made commissioned award trophies,
exhibited widely throughout Australia and her work
has been collected both privately and by institutions.
Seanne has an impressive presence, a body built for
and by working hard with metal. Her pieces are
wrought, twisted and beaten from sterling silver
and brass, covered with 18 or 24 carat gold and
inlaid with titanium or precious, rare and peculiar
stones - including gorgeously colourful Yowa Nuts,
an opal type found only in Central Queensland,
according to legend. Her pieces of wearable
jewellery and metal ornaments include
conventional designs for brooches, pendants, rings
and ear rings as well as more exotic items like the
ravishing concoction of titanium, rubber, silver,
gold and amethyst that is actually a chastity belt
with bejewelled bucklers fore and aft.
Seanne McArthur (Contd.)
She also makes vessels or hollow ware, candlesticks
and small ornamental animals in all the metals and
stones used in the jewellery. Her designs are
contemporary, but often with medieval undertones.
A tea strainer, sugar bowl and creamer in sterling
silver with 18 ct. gold are based on the shape of a
jester’s cap. Another influence is apparent in a set
of minimalist candlesticks, designed as small silver
bowls on brass patina silver plinths and named
Offerings to Suleviae, Mother Goddess of Water.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 80, September 1999.
Excerpts from article by Sandra Hodgson, writer,
editor and historian living at Boogan via Innisfail.
PHILLIP MCCONNELL - POTTERY
Phillip was born in Burbank California in 1947. He
began his studies as an apprentice to his father, Carl
McConnell 1964-7. Later he trained at the Brisbane
Technical College before becoming a full-time potter
with Pinjarra Pottery. His first one-man exhibition was
in Brisbane in 1970 followed by eight more in the next
three years. He spent six months working at Mashiko
in Japan 1973-4 at the invitation of Shimaoka Tatsuzo,
and a further six months working with the Fujiwara
family, returning to Queensland with a complete
exhibition of work produced in the two areas.
He joined the Flying Art School during 1976-78
for a period to take pottery to the outback areas.
Won first prize, Vailee Henderson Art Exhibition
and opened his own gallery, Pottri.
Exhibited in Melbourne (1982), Sydney (1983),
Launcestion (1983), Tasmania (1983).
Australian National Gallery purchased six major
pieces from his Canberra 1974 show.
Represented Australian Foreign Affairs Dept.;
Australian National Gallery, Canberra; Vic.
National Gallery; Qld. Art Gallery; Japanese
Embassy, Canberra; Brisbane City Council
Collection; Vic. Ceramic Group Collection;
University of Qld.; The College of Art, Brisbane;
Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education,
Brisbane; North Brisbane College of Advanced
Education; Stanthorpe Art Gallery; Australian
Council Collection; Crafts Victoria 78 Collection;
Bizen Institute for Ceramics, Nan zan gama Japan.
Artists & Galleries Australia, Max Germaine, 1984.
JENNY McDUFF- PAINTING
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Jennifer who is now teaching with the Australian
Flying Arts School has been a practising artist for
21 years. She states: Painting for me, is a little
like being a flying fox - either you hang in there
by your toes or it stands you on your head.
She is a veteran of 16 solo and numerous group
exhibitions, and is consistently an award winner
(including Suncorp, Martin Hansen, and Premier’s
Encouragement).
Jenny has had a long association with AFAS
which goes back to 1971 and the early days of
Mervyn Moriarty.
I feel the people I dealt with know all about
reality: the real drought, the life lived in and
around town, that whole concept of living on the
periphery. Much has been written about it and
we could contextualise until the rain comes, but
the truth is - they live it. So their art lives it, and
out of that comes, or is formed, the body of work
for the Flying Arts.
I felt on the whole when I viewed the “Off Site”
exhibition (1994) in Brisbane that Flying Arts
members had found metaphors for their time
spent carefully observing the mundane, yet
provoking profound statements for artists working in
relative isolation.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 64 November, 1994.
THEL MERRY - SPINNING AND WEAVING
Works from her studio in Montville (Qld.) and has
extensive teaching experience including lecturing
at the Queensland College of Art and the
Queensland Institute of Technology. She teaches
privately and has conducted a number of
workshops for the Queensland Arts Council,
McGregor College, Spinners and Weavers groups
and Fibre Forum. Exhibitions for the Batik Assn.
of Australia, Beaver Callery (Canberra) and the
Queensland Crafts Council.
WENDY MILLS - PAINTING
Wendy studied at the National Art School, Sydney,
then worked as a commercial artist. She travelled
overseas and became a student again at the QCA.
She has regularly exhibited in national exhibitions
and has had work commissioned and acquired by
state and regional galleries. In the 1980s her main
artworks were sculptured installations, large scale
works produced with polythene film, stainless steel,
water and light. In 1988 she was working and
living in Brisbane.
SHELAGH MORGAN - PAINTING (1989 CV)
Shelagh was born in Malawi Africa in 1955. She
was educated in England. In 1985-87 she received
a Bachelor of Arts (Printmaking) at Northern
Rivers CAE. In 1988 she received a Post Graduate
Diploma in Printmaking at the Queensland College
of Arts.
Solo Exhibitions
1984 Lismore Regional Art Gallery.
1986 Lismore Regional Art Gallery.
1989 Roz McCallum Gallery, Brisbane.
Group Exhibitions
1987 Genii Loci, Travelling Exhibition, funded by
the
VAB and Regional Galleries Assn.
1988 Lismore Regional Art Gallery, Warrnambool
Art Gallery, Gold Coast City Invited Art Award
Surfers Paradise, Mornington Peninsula Print Prize
Exhibition, Stanthorpe City Art Award, Jacaranda
Festival Art Award, Grafton City Regional Art
Gallery, Averdare Bicentennial Art Prize, Ipswich
City Art Gallery, Brisbane and Sydney.
Work represented in collections
Qld. State Library, James Hardie Special Collections,
Gold Coast City Art Collection, Stanthorpe City Art
Collection, Grafton City Art Collection, The Allied
Queensland Coalfields Art Collection.
MERVYN MORIARTY - PAINTING
Born in Brisbane in 1937 his work slowly moved
into abstraction. In the 1970s he returned to
figurative painting in oil, acrylic, pencil.
Studied at the Central Technical College, Brisbane
from 1952 and privately with Andrew Sibley and
Jon Molvig 1958-61. He taught as a visual arts
teacher at the CTC in Brisbane, the University of
Queensland Architectural Department, the Arts
Council Vacation schools and privately.
In 1971 he set up the Eastaus which became the
Australian Flying Arts School. He left the
organisation in 1982 to teach for the Victorian Arts
Council.
Exhibited Brisbane (1961, 1963, 1964, 1969,
1974, 1980, 1984, 1990-1994, 1995), Adelaide
(1963), Hobart Tasmania (1963), Sydney (1963,
1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1980-1994, 1998),
Melbourne (1964, 1969, 1980-1990, 1994), Gold
Coast (1986), and at Toowoomba and Mackay.
First solo exhibition at the Bonython Gallery
Adelaide, reviewed by Earle Hackett, ‘Masonic
Art,” Bulletin, 23 Feb. 1963; Catalogue, Seventh
Tasmanian Art Gallery Exhibition Hobart 1963; a
group exhibition at the Rudy Komon gallery
Sydney as part of Jon Molvig’s ‘Brisbane School’,
Sydney Morning Herald, 19 June, 1963, solo
exhibiton in Sydney at the Barry Stern Gallery, 12
Sydney Sun 11 April 1963 and the Hungry Horse
upstairs gallery (undated review); 1964 group
exhibition at South Yarra Gallery Melbourne with
John Aland and Neville Matthews.
Awards: Still Life Prize CTC in 1960, the
Johnsonian Club Prize, Sir Charles Lloyd Jones
RNA Brisbane prize, the Gold Coast Purchase
Prize (1969), Cairns, Stanthopre and Dalby Prizes.
The Cook Bi-Centenary Prize (1970).
Designed label for the Ballandean Estates through
Qld. Premier’s Dept. 1989.
Selected for exhibition in the Blake Prize for
Religious Art in Sydney 1994 and Sulman Art Prize,
Sydney 1997.
Represented: The Australian National Gallery,
Canberra; Art Gallery of NSW; New England
University; Queensland Art Gallery; Brisbane City
Art Galler;, Queensland University Collection;
Gold Coast Collection; Art Bank Australia, Sam
Pees Collection and in many public and private
collections in Australia and overseas.
Interview Marilyn England 2001.
JENNY MULCAHY - PAPERCLAY
Jenny is based at Magnetic Island where she has a
pottery studio and gallery. She has worked as a
ceramics lecturer at James Cook University and
has considerable experience with primary and
secondary schools. In the past few years she has
incorporated found objects into her work and has
experimented with different mediums such as
ferro-cement. Last year, Jenny was commissioned
by Townsville City Council to produce a series of
large ferro-cement sculptural forms for a city park
and her exhibition Beneath Our Feet was exhibited
at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery and more recently
the Craft Queensland Gallery in Brisbane.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 84, September 2000.
EDITH ANN MURRAY - POTTERY (1990 CV)
Edith Ann Murray grew up on outback stations and
has a strong affinity with the bush and Aboriginal
traditions. She gained a Diploma of Fine Arts at
the QCA but broke up her study to train as a potter
in Victoria.
1975 Began working with clay in England.
1979-1981 Traineeship with Vic Greenaway,
Broomhill Pottery, Victoria.
1982 Completed Diploma in Fine Art, Queensland
College of Art. Established a workshop at
Clay St. New Farm.
1989 BA Ceramics Advanced Sranding.
Edith Ann Murray (Contd.)
Selected Exhibitions
1982 Solo Gallery of Contempory Art Gold Coast
1983 Solo
The Potters’ Gallery, Brisbane.
1984 Joint
Queensland Crafts Council, Brisbane.
1985 Joint
Australian Porcelain Society Show
of Contemporary work.
Group The Potters’ Gallery Darlinghurst.
1986 Group The Potters’ Gallery, Brisbane.
1988 Joint.
The Potters’ Gallery, Brisbane.
Teaching
1979-86 Taught ceramics at TAFE classes, YMCA
classes, Qld. Potters’ Assn. (Advanced Throwing).
1984-86 Tours (Assistant/Demonstrator) Ceramics
Dept. Queensland College of Art.
1985-87 Conducting workshops in Ceramics with
Qld. Arts Council Touring Artist program.
1989 Taught part-time School of Design at QCA.
Taught part-time in Ceramics at Kelvin Grove.
KATRINA ODGERS - GLASSWORKER
Over the past few years, working with glass has
become second nature to me. I love what I am
doing, and the techniques and knowledge I have
gained mean I do not have to work with expensive
equipment or materials. I have set up a business
selling recycled glass tableware, and in March this
year my work will be displayed in Munich, when
Craft Australia takes a group of Australian artists’
work to the International Craft Fair. This is quite
an exciting opportunity for my recycled glass to
reach an international market.
It took much perseverance and experimentation to
bring me to this point. In 1993 I commenced
studying a Bachelor of Arts at Queensland College of
Art, majoring in Ceramics in second year. The first
few weeks of my major involved experimentation with
all sorts of fascinating techniques and procedures of
working with kilns and clay, and it was playing with
the kilns that led me astray. We were instructed to
put anything in the kiln and see what happened when
it was subjected to high temperatures. This was my
first experience with glass.
I then spent a lot of time outside of the ceramics
studio seeking a knowledge of casting, and
searching out glass artists in South East Queensland
and Northern NSW to ask for their help. Working
with glass was what I wanted to do, and I was going
to keep persevering until I had the skills I needed to
successfully cast forms out of glass.
In May 1994 I decided to go on exchange to
Canada to study glass at the Alberta College of Art
for one semester. This was a fabulous experience.
I learnt so much about casting, as well as glass
13
blowing, and it was amazing how my skill level
rose when I had someone to show me how to cast
glass the easy way. My casting skills became quite
refined and it was great to have readily available cold
working (cutting and grinding) equipment. For the
specific work I was doing, it made life so much easier.
While in Canada I decided it would be futile to go
back to QCA. There were good teaching staff in
the Ceramics degree, but I could not get any
assistance with the technical side of my glasswork.
So a month before I left Canada I applied to
transfer to the Canberra School of Art Glass
Workshop, and on arriving back in Australia flew
down for an interview and was accepted into the
second year of the glass program. This was the
best thing I could have ever done for my art. Not
only do the teaching staff have an excellent
knowledge of glass, but also the facilities are
considered the best in the world.
Because of its reputation, Canberra School of Art
Glass Workshop has a strong international focus,
and since I have been there my work has been in
two major international exhibitions. In 1997 I was
one of 60 glass artists under 35 to be selected for
‘Young Glass ‘97’, held at the Glass Museum in
Denmark. After attending the opening of this
exhibition, I travelled to Leerdam, south of
Amsterdam, to work as a glass blower at the
International Glass Manifestatie for three weeks.
Then in late 1998, a Glass Workshop was invited to
participate in the Venice Biennalie. The exhibition
consisted of past and present alumni and a selection
of current students. Another excellent opportunity
to have my work displayed overseas.
The tuition I offer as part of Flying Arts’ Demand
Workshops program would look at different forms of
kiln work, using recycled glass. Glass is wonderful
and easy to work with once you are taught how.
Excerpts Flying Arts Gazette No. 79, April, 1999.
BRITT KNUDSEN OWENS - TEXTILES
Britt graduated from Queensland University of
Technology with a Bachelor of Arts/Education in
1994. She has exhibited her work in both solo and
group exhibitions at Soapbox Gallery, Craft
Queensland and Cooloolah Regional Gallery. Most
recently she was artist-in-residence at Noosa
Regional Gallery. A founding member of the Red
Hot Fibre Collective in Brisbane, Britt has
extensive experience in teaching textiles to both
primary and high school students, as well as adults.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 84, September 2000.
GWYN PIGOTT - POTTERY
An Australian by birth, Gwyn’s first training was
with Ivan McMeekin at Sturt Pottery. This was
followed by a working career in England which
included workshop time with Ray Finch, Bernard
Leach and Michael Cardew. A period of woodfired
stoneware and porcelain production in France
rounded off the European work experience.
RUTH PROPSTING- PAINTING
Born 1951, Ruth grew up on a sheep property
north of Richmond in Queensland. She did a
correspondence course and from age 12 attended a
girls’ boarding school. After leaving school she
became a pre-school teacher for one year and then
began a three-year diploma course at the
Queensland College of Art. On completion she
spent two years in Asia and Europe and another
year teaching in Richmond before moving back to
Brisbane to start painting. From 1982 she rented
studio space at Redcomb House with seven others
and had solo exhibitions at One Flat Gallery, the
IMA and Bellas Gallery. In 1985 she did a postgraduate year in painting at Gippsland in Victoria
followed by the two-year Masters in Fine Art
Course at the University of Tasmania in Hobart
where she was living in 1989. She has exhibited
with group exhibitions in Brisbane, Morwell, and
Hobart.
Her work is represented at the Griffith University,
Brisbane, the University of Tasmania and the
Tasmanian State Institute of Technology.
BINA & KESHAV RAO - TEXTILES
Bina Rao has a Masters degree in Fine Arts
(Graphics) and studied A.E.P. Textile Design at the
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India.
She has extensive knowledge and experience in
hand woven and hand printed textile techniques.
As well as being associated with the National
Institute of Fashion Technology as Senior Guest
Lecturer, Bina works as an advisor to government
showrooms and export houses. In India she runs a
design studio Creative Bee, which is known for its
high fashion textiles using traditional techniques.
Keshav Rao has a Post-Graduate Diploma in
Graphics and has been researching in the area of
natural dyes. He is a practising painter, printmaker
and a master artist in natural dyes, operating and
dyeing and handblock printing unit exclusively for
natural dyes on natural fibres and fabrics.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 84, September 2000.
LUCJA RAY - PAINTING
14
Born in New South Wales Lucja has been a
tutor with Flying Arts since 2000 when she moved
to the Gold Coast. She was taught art at the
Seaforth College of Fine Arts in Sydney where she
received Art Certificates and Post Graduate
Certificates in painting.
in 1980. She has held successful exhibitions in
Sydney and south east Queensland. She has taught
at Summer Schools in Bathhurst and at McGregor
Summer Schools in Toowoomba. Also at
workshops for the Watercolour Society of Qld.,
seminars for RQAS on the Gold Coast and adult
and children’s classes at the Science Art Festival
2000. She has been conducting seminars in
various mediums in both New South Wales and
Queensland for over ten years and her focus has
been expanding individual creativity. Her own
works have won many awards and have been sold
around Australia, USA and Europe.
Lucja believes Flying Arts gives a good focus to a
group. It allows the group to gather, exchange ideas
and set up further meetings. Each different tutor
offers an alternative slant, she feels it works well.
Interview with Marilyn England, 2004.
COLIN REANEY - SCULPTOR
Colin is an artist and lecturer in Sculpture at the
University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba
(1994).
The intensity and impact of the Flying Arts workshops
have been a very enjoyable experience for me and
hopefully also for the members of the various groups in
the Southern tour. We were going to places we had
never been to sell ideas to people we did not know
which really did require a good deal of blind faith on
the part of the flock!
At the time we were never too sure if it was going to work
but as we fled town after each event there was a feeling of
elation/satisfaction, not because we thought we had done
well; it was more to do with the generosity and
willingness on the part of the groups to accept that what
we thought would be of interest and beneficial in a two
day only workshop.
What we saw at 111 George Street (1994 FA Exhibition)
was not just a collection of art works but possibly of more
interest was that it showed the healthy state of visual arts
practice in the state. Working with Flying Arts has given
me a wider understanding of the valuable contribution it
makes to Arts Culture in Queensland and further
demonstrates the health and visual wealth of its members.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 64. November, 1994.
ADAM RISH - PAINTING
From Tasmania Adam Rish has travelled
extensively and sold works in France, England,
New Guinea and Australia.
He studied at the University of Tasmania Medical
School (1972-78), East Sydney Tech. (1979 and
1983) and the Fine Arts Department of Sydney
University (1985-87) with intermittent field trips to
the upper reaches of the Sepik River in search of
tribal art, the lower depths of the Himalayas for
Eastern culture and most of the major galleries in
the world.
He exhibits regularly in Hobart, Melbourne,
Canberra and Sydney; is represented in most of the
major stsate and national collections; and has held
artist-in-residencies in France and Italy.
STEVEN ROYSTER - PAINTING, DRAWING,
PRINTMAKING
Steven has been drawing and painting since his
early childhood and has been teaching and
practising as a professional artist since 1988.
He has taught art in India and held workshops
throughout the States as a visiting artist at the
Indiana University and at community colleges
equivalent to TAFE in Ohio. He has also worked
in Africa.
He is a resident of Cairns in recent years, teaching
at the Cairns TAFE College, and has extensive
teaching experience in painting, printmaking,
sculpture and life drawing, and has exhibited his
work widely.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 72, December 1996.
ANNEKE SILVER - PAINTER
Born in Holland in 1937 Anneke Silver (nee
Strik) recalls that her first fragments of memory
related to her domestic surroundings: sunlight
filtering through thin curtains, patterns on floor
lino and tiny bright flowers in the garden.
Brought up in a secure middle-class home in The
Hague, her early childhood was disturbed only by
the first sounds of impending war. Although her
early school years were under German
occupation, her worst memories from this time
are of the last year of the war when the scarcity of
food, lack of electricity and the terrible cold
brought her to a sharp realisation that an urban
society cut off from Nature was essentially futile.
After the war she experienced a profound sense of
liberation. The natural world that had been
closed off by barbed wire and tank trenches was
suddenly accessible.
It was in Amsterdam that she was first
15
introduced to the work of the CoBrA group, which
stirred an interest in expressionist idioms. Her
training as an art teacher was strongly influenced
by the Bauhaus philosophy of functionalism and
the language of form.
Brisbane of the late 1950s seemed quaint and
conservative in its social customs and intellectual
climate compared to Silver’s experiences in
Amsterdam. She attended life classes and still-life
painting with Melville Haysom and Arthur Evan
Read at the Central Technical College in George
Street and it was Haysom who taught her the craft
of painting.
A vacation school ran by Mervyn Moriarty was
important in engendering an awareness of the
relationships between the most diverse elements
in the landscape.
Anneke Silver was a FA tutor in 1994 when she
stated: When I was commissioned to design a
mosaic for the centre of the city in Townsville I
decided to address the idea of Seasons and
subsequently followed it through with the Flying
Arts workshops. In many centres apologetic
comments were typically offered when discussing
seasons: “It’s different here”, Seasons here are
not proper”, and the high school students in
Mount Isa informed me that they only had two
seasons: ‘a warm dry, during which everything
died and a cold dry, during which everything
died’. I asked them where the living things came
from, upon which they conceded to a third season
of vital importance, however small.
Flying Arts Gazette Nos. 64 and 66. 1994/1995.
KEN SMITH - TEXTILES
Arthur and tutor, Ken Smith, has lived and
worked in England for twenty years, during which
time he developed his interest in textile art and
design. Originally from Cairns, Ken has taught
extensively in Far North Queensland and
throughout the state. He specialised in silk
painting and freehand machine embroidery, while
‘Aussie Shibori’ (his own interpretation) is
another area of expertise. His painted silks aim
for rich colour and a complex, richly textured but usually informal - patterning, while his
machine embroidery, based on the painted silk,
currently explores possibilities of layering, optical
colour mixing, and textural effects.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 72, December 1996.
MICHAEL SPOOR - CERAMIST
Michael has been making, exhibiting and
lecturing in ceramics in the UK for the past 18
years, working alongside many of Britain’s
leading potters at the Kent Institute of Art and
Design. His work is primarily a response to the
qualities shared by landscapes, particular methods
of handling clay and the music of certain
composers. He is a new resident of Australia and
intends to establish a ceramics studio here and
continue his illustration work.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 53, January 1993.
SIMON SUCKLING - CERAMICS
Simon is from the Darling Downs region of
Queensland where he studied Visual Arts at The
University of Southern Queensland. He has a
masters degree in Craft from the Faculty of Art
and Design, Monash University and has exhibited
in both Melbourne and Brisbane. He has recently
been an Artist in Residence at USQ and now
works as a resident artist at the Queensland
Potters Association. Simon continues a
professional studio practice producing decorative
tableware, interior design pieces and ceramic tiles.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 72, December 1996.
LOUISE TAYLOR - PRINTMAKER
Louise was born in Brisbane and holds a degree in
printmaking from QCA. She has been active as an
artist for over ten years.
She has taught printmaking in various institutions in
Brisbane and Toowoomba.
She has worked at QUT as a technician and
demonstrator in the printmaking department, and also
at the Grahame Galleries in Milton, Brisbane.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 78 December 1998.
PETER THOMPSON - CERAMICS
In 1975 Peter began a studio practice in Kuranda.
He has completed formal study at several
institutions: Monash University, Victoria; National
Art School, Sydney; and Nanjing University,
China; with study tours to provincial ceramic
centres in China and Japan. In 1985 he was
awarded a VACB grant, Australia Council, to work
at Tuscarora Pottery, Nevada, USA. His studio
practice concentrates on simple abstractions of
classic vessels which have evolved from a
functional base into a purely aesthetic dimension.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 72, December 1996.
CAROLE WALTERS - PAINTING
16
She has an Associate Diploma of Fine Art
from the Brisbane College of Art, majoring in
painting.
She studied painting with Robert Barnes, Betty
Quelhurst, Ian Smith and John Rigby; drawing with
Robert Barnes, David Paulson, Ian Smith and Anne
Thompson; design with Ian Duncanson, Lyle
Tweedale; printmaking (serigraph, etching,
lithography, wood block) with Keith Howard and
Norah Anson; ceramics with Robert Forster, Modern
art and Philosophy of Art with Bonny English.
In 1979 she received a Post Graduate Diploma in
Fine Art at the Leeds Polytechnic in U.K. She
specialised in painting and montage. She has
exhibited in Perth, New Guinea, Brisbane, Leeds
UK, and the Gold Coast.
JUDY WATSON - PAINTING (1996 CV)
Judy Watson is an Aboriginal artist who tutored
with Flying Arts and whose work went on tour
with FAI. She has been artist-in-residence in Italy,
Bhopal-India, Norway, Canada and Western
Australia. She has worked at an artists’ camp in
the Maradalen Glacial Valley in Norway.
She won Australia’s most prestigious art prize - the
Moet & Chandon Fellowship. She was selected to
represent Australia in the Venice Biennale in 1997.
While Watson’s work is rarely didactic, it is almost
always political, whether in terms of Aboriginal land
rights, indigenous identity, environment issues or
feminism. Beauty, in the paintings, prints and
installations of Judy Watson, is not antithetical to
“message”, the political; it is its exact mode of address.
Very little contemporary non-Aboriginal Australian
art is political. In contrast, some could say that all
Aboriginal art is innately political, as Aboriginality
itself is intrinsically about country - and for a people
dispossessed of their land, about land rights.
Judy is a descendant of the Waanyi people in NorthWest Queensland. Her grandmother was one of the
many people separated from their families as
children as an indirect consequence of the
assimilation policy of the Australian government of
the time. In 1990 Judy travelled with members of
her family to the birthplace of her grandmother and
her great-grandmother, a profound experience which
has become the touchstone of her work. Of this
experience of country Judy says, “It was learning
from the ground up”.
Flying Arts Gazette, No. 73 Autumn 1997.
(Excerpt only - full story courtesy Judy Watson
and Hannah Fink (Australian writer and editor of
Art Asia Pacific Magazine, Sydney.)
SANDY WEBSTER - BASKETRY
Sandy Webster is currently working in mixed
media. She studied at Western Carolina
University and Vermont College in the United
States. Her works have been exhibited throughout
the US and published in Fiberarts Design Books
IV, V and VI, several Lark Publications as well as
Handwoven, Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot, and
Textile Fibre Forum. Sandy has taught, lectured
and selected for art exhibitions and awards
throughout the US, Canada and Australia.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 84, September 2000.
LANI WEEDON - PAINTING (1990 CV)
Born in 1948 Lani grew up in Stanthorpe, leaving when
17 to live, study and work in Toowoomba, Hobart,
Darwin, Gippsland, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane.
1978 studied for Diploma of Fine Art DDIAE
Toowoomba.
1980 Bachelor of Fine Art, Tasmanian School of
Art Hobart.
1981-82 Art Theory, Flinders University, Adelaide,
South Australia.
Exhibitions
1982 Contemporary Art Centre Adelaide SA.
1983 Experimental Art Foundation
1984 Adelaide Festival of Arts.
1985 Contemporary Art Centrre, Adelaide, SA.
1986 Anima Gallery, Adelaide, SA.
Australian National Gallery.
Contemporary Art Centre, Adelaide, SA.
1987 Watters Gallery, Sydney, NSW
1988 Bi-Centenary Touring Show.
1988 Australian National Gallery
Darwin Institute of Technology, Darwin
South Australian Art Gallery
MOCA, Brisbane.
1990 Savode at St. Johns, Brisbane.
Collections
Australian National Gallery, Phillip Morris
Collection, Canberra, South Australian Art
Gallery, Darwin Institute of Technology, Art Bank
Sydney, and private collections in SA, NSW and
Victoria.
Grants
1983 Visual Arts Board, Australia Council.
1985 Visual Arts Board, Australia Council, Studio
Overseas France, South Australian Dept. Arts.
1986 South Australian Dept. of Arts.
1987 Visual Arts Board, Artist-in-residence.
Theatre Commissions
1983 Adelaide
1985 Adelaide
1989 Sydney.
Tertiary Positions
17
1983 Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education,
Churchill, Victoria.
1987 Darwin Institute of Technology, Artist in
residence.
NORMANA WIGHT - PRINTMAKING
Normana Wight has thirty years experience as an artist
spanning collage, printmaking and digital print. She
has qualifications in both painting and printmaking
from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and is
currently completing a Master of Arts at Southern
Cross University, Lismore.
Normana was involved in pioneering work with
screenprint as a fine art medium during the sixties and
was a lecturer in printmaking at the University of
Southern Queensland from the early eighties until
1998. While there, she also taught drawing with an
emphasis on inventive, conceptual processes and
collage. Her current work is in digital print. Normana
has exhibited extensively and her work is represented
in major public collections throughout Australia.
SHIRLEY WILKINS - CERAMIST
Shirley is from the Darling Downs region of
Queensland and works from her home studio in
Cecil Plains. She is a self-taught potter, spent her
formative years with the Dalby Potters Group and
has attended various overseas potters’ classes at
McGregor Summer School. She has exhibited
both in Australia and overseas and is experienced
in running a successful business in domestic ware
and the supply of pottery to regional Queensland
outlets.
She is known for the surface decoration of her work,
specifically sheep and tree motifs.
Her work is highly creative, she is committed to
developing new ideas and new ways of working with clay.
Flying Arts Gazette - No. 78, January 1999.
HEATHER WINTER - PHOTOGRAPHY
Heather has been exhibiting since 1988 in both
solo and group exhibitions. She lived and worked
in the Kimberley for two years with the Ngarinyin
Aboriginal people learning about culture and
language, and has co-produced radio
documentaries giving indigenous women a voice.
Heather has a Masters of Visual Arts from the
Victorian College of Art and currently lectures at
Griffith University. She has received awards from
the Australian Arts Council and recently received a
commission from Arts Queensland.
WENDY WRIGHT - TEXTILES.
Wendy works from her studio in Ipswich,
Queensland. She has tutored and exhibited
throughout Australia and New Zealand for the past
14 years. She was initially trained as a teacher by
two major sewing machine companies, then she
completed an Associate Diploma of Visual
Arts/Textiles at QUT Kelvin Grove Campus, along
with a TAFE certificate of Teaching. Wendy has
won many awards for her “wearable Art” and art
pieces and enjoys creating her own fabrics and
textures which are inspired by the Australian
landscape.
Recent highlights include a major award in the
fantasy section of the Wearable Wool Awards in
Armidale and selection for the Wool Parade at the
RNA Brisbane exhibition.
Flying Arts Gazette - No. 78 January 1999.
Wendy Wright’s unique combinations of innovative
sewing techniques, glorious colours and elegant
designs have won her numerous prizes for her
garments in many prestigious textile and fashion
competitions. Much of her inspiration comes from
fleeting glimpses of the colours and textures of the
landscape she travels through to workshops around
Australia and New Zealand. Wendy describes her
work as somewhat surrealist, and titles such as
Pacific Princess, Neptune’s Bride and Peacock of
the Sea speak eloquently of her love of the richness
of colours in the ocean.
Careful arrangement of the studio area at Wendy’s
home in Ipswich, Queensland, has created a multipurpose room suitable for the many different
techniques she loves to use. Originally a garage,
the space now works well, with good ventilation
and lighting. The whole studio area can be washed
out, if I get bit too exuberant with my dyeing
processes, says Wendy, practical as always. A green
tree frog has shared the studio for the last five years,
returning every spring to his favourite place behind
the reels of blue rayon embroidery thread.
Excerpts from Kristen Dibbs Machine Embroidery:
Inspirations from Australian Artists. This is a new
publication introducing eleven of Australia’s
foremost textile artists and teachers of machine
embroidery. Artists profiled include Flying Arts
tutors Ken Smith and Wendy Wright.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 79, April 1999.
KAREN WOODS - TEXTILES
18
Karen lives in Derbyshire, UK, and has
usccessfully combined selling and exhibiting her
innovative textiles work with teaching and
lecturing. Since winning The Art of the Stitch in
1997 Karen has continued to raise the profile of
textile work in combining textiles with unusual
media such as rubber and metal. She is particularly
keen to promote the tactile and three-dimensional
qualities of textiles along with their expressive
potential.
Flying Arts Gazette No. 84, September 2000.
APPENDIX V
FLYING ARTS
1994 STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION PROPOSALS
1.
Flying Arts’ Future Directions paper foreshadowed significant changes in
the organisation, in particular, there will be a shift to:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
2.
Flying Arts has carried out surveys of existing members, has held
discussions with artists and craftspeople, and has participated in a number
of recent Arts policy and program development workshops and seminars.
In addition, dialogue concerning possible future joint-initiatives has been
held with Public, Industry, Corporate, Arts Education and Training Sectors
(including VETEC, DEVETIR, DEET, TAFE, Arts Training Queensland and
Tertiary Visual Arts Education Institutions – James Cook University,
Griffith University, The University of New England and the remote Primary,
Secondary and Community Sector). Consultations have occurred with
arts service providers, including the Queensland Artworkers Alliance, the
Crafts Council of Queensland, the Queensland Indigenous Committee for
Visual Arts, The Regional Galleries Association of Queensland and
Regional Gallery Directors, The Institute of Modern Art, Queensland Arts
Council, Arts West, and CHARTS; and discussions held with regionallybased artist co-operatives, including Kick Arts, Umbrella Studio, and
Jump-up Arts. The sponsorship arrangement with the University of
Southern Queensland has been renegotiated for a further period of three
years. During 1994 FA will continue these and similar discussions with a
view to further:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
3.
a broader client base, defined in terms of limited current access to
professional development in the arts rather than in terms of
geographical isolation;
a project based planning and budgeting structure, driven by client
need;
a more market-oriented approach to staffing and administration.
identifying new clients and market opportunities;
enhancing its product base; and
diversifying its range of financial and other options.
Current plans for 1994, based upon market research to date, have
identified the following projects:
(i)
FA will conduct two tours of each of four regions of Queensland
and northern NSW, thereby providing professional development
activities for geographically remote artists, its traditional client base.
It is anticipated that these tours will make up about half of FA’s
program of activities for 1994.
NB Equity initiatives allow for an option for QICVA to replace our
previous third tour with regional tours designed by ATSI clients to
meet ATSI needs. There will also be options for tours designed to
meet combined organisational initiatives.
The four regions and tours have been identified as:
Far North (a new region for FA which will operate in conjunction
with QICVA’s programs and artists) tours involving an Aboriginal
visiting artist (possibly Fiona Foley) and focussing on issues of
Aboriginality in mixed two-dimensional media; the relationship
between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal content and style in current
Art practice; and the promotion and marketing of Art products.
North and North-West* tours involving a prominent regional artist
(probably Anneke Silver) and focussing on issues of regional
practice and identity in various two-dimensional media; with
additional touring personnel/initiatives developed in conjunction
with Cairns and Townsville Regional Galleries.
Central-West* tours (extended more South-westerly to operate in
conjunction with QICVA’S programs and artists) involving a
practicing commercial textile artist (possibly Janet de Boer) and a
photographer (possibly Ian Golding) and focussing on creative
development and publicity and promotion.
*North and North-West/Central–West tours will also involve a practicing
commercial ceramist (probably David Usher) to focus on issues of ceramic
production, decoration and distribution; and on small industry
development.
Southern (driving) tours involving a well-known three-dimensional
and installation artist (possibly Colin Reaney) and focussing on
issues of three-dimensional spaces, materials and structures;
public art; the community and the installation artist; with additional
touring by aboriginal artist/curator (Joyce Watson) in collaboration
with QICVA and Ipswich Regional Gallery, with an emphasis on
Aboriginal Women’s Arts Groups.
(ii)
It is further planned that each of these regions will produce a
regionally mounted and curated exhibition with exchanging of
exhibitions between regions to occur; that professional curatorial
services will be provided both through the projects themselves as
well as through collaborations with Regional Gallery Directors and
USQ’s Curator, Ms. Suzi Muddiman. The major aim of these
exhibitions will be to facilitate the development of professional
approaches to the making, selection, presentation, documentation
and promotion of art products in the context of the artist and the
community.
(iii)
Flying Arts will continue to publish its quarterly journal and will
enhance the FA Gazette’s focus on issues of contemporary Arts
theory and practice. The journal will also further its concern with
regionalism and access. A professional Art writer will be retained
as editor. An enlarged circulation will be sought through
cooperation with other journals (e.g. Periphery).
(iv)
Residential and/or weekend workshops involving artists, Art
commentators and curators of national and international renown will
be offered in major regional centres. These workshops will be
facilitated by FA’s links with visiting artist programs developed by
the University of Southern Queensland, the University of New
England, Griffith University, The Institute of Modern Art, local
government and commercial galleries. They will build upon the
very successful regional workshops conducted by AFAS with Mike
Parr in 1992. It is intended that regional centre workshops will deal
with specific issues of professional practice or concern and will be
offered in collaboration with other Arts organisations/initiates
including RADF, Regional Galleries and the Crafts Council of
Queensland. A particular focus for some workshops will be
computerized Art and the emerging role of other multi-media
technologies. Another focus will be Art practice in various Asian
countries. Centres at which these workshops may be offered
include: Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Goondiwindi,
Warwick, Lismore, Buderim, Noosa, (Group A) and Mackay,
Townsville and Cairns (Group B). Cultural tourism would be the
focus for Barcaldine, Tambo, Alpha, Emerald, Rubyvale, Sapphire,
Clermont (Group C).
(v)
Weekend workshops in a range of crafts will also be offered in
regional centres in southern and central Queensland. These
workshops will again employ top national practitioners and will
have a product development and technical enhancement focus.
Areas which may be covered include quilting, jewellery making,
textiles, woodworking and forging/metalwork. Collaboration with
other Arts organisations will also be sought in order to facilitate
these activities.
(v)
FA will also seek to provide consultative and other services to other
organisations. A current proposal relates to the development of
continuing education modules in a range of Visual Arts to be
offered by the University of Southern Queensland in the distance
learning mode. These products are seen as having a national
market. Similarly, FA has begun negotiations with Arts Training
Queensland concerning the development of links between already
existing services. FA can be a facilitator or broker in ensuring the
wider distribution of particular products (eg. TAFE programs) than
would other wise be the case. FA’s participation in projects such as
these would be on a full cost recovery basis.
4
FA’s Future Directions paper points to enhanced accountabilities and
more efficient management. The proposed organizational structure for
1994 indicates how these goals are reflected in the staffing and
relationships of the organisation.
5
FA will continue to consult, seek advice and monitor the environment in
order to identify new clients and products. All existing and new products
will be evaluated by clients and FA itself in terms of Arts Queensland’s
performance indicators, with special emphasis on issues of:
access
professional development
equity
financial viability
artistic/cultural merit.
6
Planned quarterly meetings with AQ during 1994 will provide regular
opportunities for the provision of further information and for on-going
dialogue.