Cheryl Anne Brown - Alexandrina Council - SA.Gov.au

alexarts
February 2010
ALEXANDRINA arts and cultural development Vol II — Issue 5
• Ph: (08) 8555 7289 • Fax: (08) 8555 3603 • Web: www.alexandrina.sa.gov.au
This month’s featured artist
Cheryl Anne Brown
… dancing in the earth
also …
Salt on the Tongue
Goolwa Poetry Festival
The Book of Feathers
Heysen Trail Exhibtion

from Leah …
alexarts February 2010
Happy New Year and welcome
to the first edition of ALEXARTS
for 2010.With the advent of
the new year/decade and
farewelling 2009 please indulge
some reflection on my part, I
am very excited about some
marvellous projects occurring in
the region this year and equally
pleased with some outcomes
achieved in collaboration
with the diverse and creative
community of Alexandrina over
the past few years.
The Alexandrina Arts and Cultural
Advisory Committee comprise a
number of people with a wealth of
collective experience across a broad
range of arts and cultural practise and
portfolios. This wonderful committee
advises Council on a broad range of
arts and cultural issues and their time
is given voluntarily. The South Coast
Regional Arts Centre in the Old
Goolwa Police Station building receives
continued support from council to
showcase work from emerging and
professional artists from the region
and has gathered an enviable stable of
loyal visual artists who exhibit and also
share their skills by running workshops
through out the year at the SCRAC.
The amount of activity at this excellent
facility has increased enormously and
Studio
spaces
for hire
in the Old Goolwa Police
Station
Artists and collectives
who may be interested in
hiring studio space in the
Old Goolwa Police Station
complex are invited to apply
for leases.
For more information please
phone 8555 7289 or
leah.grace@alexandrina.
sa.gov.au
will do so further in 2010 with the
leasing of more permanent studio
spaces to local artists and the creation
of the Coach House gallery for use
by community groups.
Two applications by residents of our
district to Country Arts SA yielded
very fruitful results and will see the
Inaugural Alexandrina Farm Gate
Festival launched on March 27 - This
project encourages collaborations
between professional Artists and
Farmers to create public art on
farm gates in the rural heartland
in Alexandrina. The festival aims
to increase cultural activity in the
region.
Also funded by Country Arts SA
The Book of Feathers – an original
production by Michelle Murray plays
the Centenary Hall at Goolwa as
part of the Adelaide Fringe Festival
program in March, more details
overleaf. It gets better…. April 23 sees
the arrival of the poetry festival ‘Salt
on the Tongue’ bringing national and
internationally renowned poets to
Goolwa from April 23-26.See more
about this fabulous festival overleaf.
If you have any queries about these
events please drop in to the art centre
to learn more.
Best wishes
Leah Grace
Alexandrina Council Arts and
Cultural Development Officer
Email: leah.grace@alexandrina.sa.gov.au
Chalk and Cheese
February sees a joint exhibition by
local artists Carol Coventry and
Graham Pankhurst.
Carol is well known and regarded for her
pastel works and Grahams favourite genre
is abstract painting, chalk and cheese
stylistically this show promises to stimulate.
Carol and Grahams exhibition will be
opened by ABC radio identity Peter Goers
on February 7 at 2pm.
2
Red Eye Creative — 0432 372 287
Salt on the Tongue
Goolwa Poetry Festival
April 23 - 26 2010
You are invited to attend the
Australian Poetry Centre’s signature
event in 2010.
The Australian Poetry Centre is
holding its next major poetry festival
in Goolwa, South Australia, 23 - 26
April 2010, which will include a
startling line-up of poets renowned
nationally and internationally.
The festival will be launched on Friday
night (23 April) by Stefano De Pieri
and include such big names in poetry
as Robert Minhinnick (Wales), Arianna
Pozzuoli (Canada via Singapore),
Emma Jones (Australia via England),
Glenn Colquhoun (NZ), Elizabeth
Smither (NZ) and in Australia: Louise
Oxley, Jordie Albiston, Brook Emery,
Jan Owen, Jeri Kroll, Jill Jones, Lucy
Dougan, Esther Ottaway, Jennifer
Mills, Grant Caldwell, Andrew
Lansdown, Ron Pretty, Steve Evans,
Kate Llewellyn, Harry Laing, Stephen
Edgar, Lisa Gorton, Emilie Zoe Baker,
Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Sarah Day,
Amelia Walker, Bronwyn Lea, Yvette
Holt, Mike Ladd, Bel Schenk, Paul
Hetherington, Lyn Hatherly, Sandra
Thibodeaux, Andrew Burke, Sand
Writer’s writers, Gawler Poets, Friendly
Street Poets, Poets Union people,
cafe poets, poets from all states and
territories, the list goes on. There
will be surprise appearances by
other guests and entertainers, hip
hop artists, comics, a publisher’s
market and a poetry slam, a teacher’s
professional development day,
workshops for children and adults,
masterclasses, poetry linked with film,
radio and stage, on the wharf, in the
park and by the river; book launches,
a Goolwa Cafe Poet launch, a
Festival club, dawn service, open mic
sessions and a series of panels and
forums — ‘Why Poetry Matters’ and
‘Can Poetry Save the Planet’
(full program available in February)
Registration forms are available from the
South Coast Regional Arts Centre and
Goolwa Visitor Information Centre.
For more information go to
www.australianpoetrycetre.org.au
Can you put up a poet
With so many delegates arriving in Goolwa the
organisers of the festival are seeking billeting
opportunities.
Are you able to offer a well respected poet a home
base for a few days if so contact
Paul Kooperman on 03 9094 7827 or
paul@australianpoetrycentre.org.au

Cheryl Anne Brown dancing in the earth
Cheryl Anne Brown used to get into trouble
for drawing all over her jeans as a kid,
fortunately she wasn’t deterred and
eventually moved on to canvasses,
large canvasses.
Many children during Cheryl’s
time at school benefitted from an
era when art in many forms was a
central part of the curriculum and
so was fortunate to have teachers
who spotted her creative ability
and was encouraged,
so much so that in year 11 she
was allowed to study only visual
art and science; two subjects in
which she excelled.
Still too constricted she abandoned
school in year 11 and returned at 21
to study year 12 at Murray Bridge
High School. Murray Bridge was the
surprising road that led to art school
at North Adelaide as a mentor from a
youth drop in centre helped Cheryl get
her portfolio together and apply.
Art school graduates take something
different from the formality of tertiary
education for Cheryl it was the
discipline required not to treat her art
like a hobby but something akin to a
job. It also gave a structure to her life
that was beneficial for that stage of
her life. Graduating from art school
Cheryl was chosen along with Pamela
Kouwenhaven from South Australia in
an exhibition showing two graduates
from each state at BMG Gallery in
North Adelaide.
Painting landscape, particularly the
Australian landscape is the mainstay
of her work though she returns to the
figure and still life at times. She has
always wanted to paint the landscape
but was steered away from it at art
school What is the attraction of this
subject for her The ancientness of the
land the cragginess, the way it makes
her earthed she says and the travel
involved is a plus.
Cheryl feels that one must have a feel
for the land to paint it and not come
so much from an intellectual starting
point. In this regard she feels we have a
lot to learn from Australian Aboriginal
painters and their ways of seeing. Her
feelings on this were consolidated after
spending time at Kintore 800 kilometres
North West of Alice Springs in the
Simpson Desert watching the painters
and learning a different approach to art
making that is more intuitive.
Cheryl became involved with a
community art project for the Piplatajrra
School. Forty large scale panels painted
in a record two weeks by 20 artists, 40
children and even more people from
the community to decorate the outside
of the school. Led by Jude Crabtree and
facilitated by Cheryl, Sue Jenkins and
Gilli Steel the idea was to keep some
of the indigenous painters work in the
community as it was always sent away
and sold. Apart from the community
spirit, young people sitting alongside
Elders, parents, aunties and uncles
the ‘all in’ atmosphere, the stamina
and dedication shown by the artists
remains a strong memory for Cheryl.”
You had to force them to have lunch”
she said recalling the amazing lengths
of unbroken time spent painting the
panels. This rewarding project fostered
a strong sense of community pride and
was shortlisted for a Ruby award in
2008.
From the heartland of Australia to a
European adventure and meet in the
flesh works that she had been studying
in books most of her life helped Cheryl
ironically appreciate even more her own
roots and the beauty of her country
of birth. She felt the pilgrimage was
important in the life of a painter but
the works didn’t make the impact
that she expected. She saw the work
of Aboriginal friends in a museum in
Paris and said “I’ve danced in the earth
with some of those artists — showing
in Paris isn’t that big a deal to them”.
3
Continued on next page 4

She has two fates.
One will take her forward
And one will take her back.
But you know, its death to go back.
Adults.....................$20
Concession......$15
The Book of Feathers
80mins
Local writer Michelle Murray,
choreographer Sharon Lambert
and musician Deb Tapfield have
come together again for the 2010
Adelaide Fringe Festival with
The Book of Feathers a mythical
poetic journey on a train the desert.
Showing at:
Star Theatres:
Theatre One
145 Sir Donald Bradman Drive,
Hilton
11th March 6.30pm
Goolwa Centenary Hall
Cadell Street, Goolwa
12-14th March 7.30pm
Bookings …
Cheryl Ann Brown — continued from page 3
Her own work at this stage Her own
art work is becoming more abstract
than ever before with less of a desire
to represent but to find the essence and
minimalise. Examples of this are large
canvasses inspired by a month spent
on Great Keppell Island recently —
large minimal abstracts with a hint of
land form and great depths of ocean.
Some of these works will be on show
at the South Coast Regional Arts
Centre along with other local artists
throughout January 2010.
There is always that tension between
what the market place demands
when it has become accustomed to a
recognisable and marketable style and
your own desire to express and not be
concerned about what people think.
Self belief, bravery and no fear of the
canvass are qualities that Cheryl feels
artists need to work through times of
change in their arts practise.
Influences Early in her career Brett
Whitley was a strong influence though
not so many now as she says she just
wants to be comfortable with what
she’s doing herself. With hard won self
belief and her obvious enjoyment in
being who she is it is no surprise that
Goolwa proudly claims her as its own.
The Heysen Trail Exhibtion
More than 30 artists have taken
to The Heysen Trail for a huge
art exhibition scheduled for
February 2010 .
The brain child of Russell
Starke o a m, Director of
Greenhill Galleries Adelaide,
this exhibition will feature
simultaneously in 6 locations
along the Trail.
Like the spine of the state the Trail
runs from the coccyx at Cape Jervis to
the crown at Parachilna so the invited
artists have a plethora of choices in
subject matter.
Artist John Whitney gave Russell the
original idea after seeing a single
show in the UK based on an ancient
Roman Road.
In South Australia Peter Coad
has seized on the wildly dramatic
landscapes of the Northern Flinders
as does Waterhouse Prize winner
Coralie Armstrong; Tom O’Callaghan
the surging coast line of Waitpinga
for which he is so noted; Dieter
Engler shows desolate forgotten
settlements beyond the Goyder Line; 4
Mary Wagstaff recreates luscious
landscapes and juicy vineyards; Janet
Bridgland’s delicate watercolours
reveal the fascinating weekly walks to
Adelaide markets by the German girls
of Hahndorf; Nikolas De Masi stitches
multi layered fabric for the rich fields
around Balaklava; Trevor McNamara’s
glowing abstracts catch the fierce light
from rock faces and salt lakes whilst
Pamela Kouenhoven’s wondrously
decaying panels bring reminders of
early settlement.
Many other award winning and highly
regarded South Australian artists have
accepted the challenge to interpret
The Heysen Trail and the amazing
landscapes it threads through. This
landmark exhibition show cases the
internationally important Trail and the
creative talents flourishing around it.
Long term plans envisage a bi-ennial
series of exhibitions, not necessarily
at Festival of Arts time, incorporating
major artists in workshops along
the trail encouraging participating
interstate/over seas visitors.
February 22 on the upper level of the
Signal Point building on the Goolwa
Wharf till April 5.