Out from under a Bushel
Artists living regionally reap the benefits of working in places they love, often more cheaply than their city colleagues and sometimes closer to family. Communities with artists residing within them are richer places to live for everyone – centres of art creation in their own right. But the most oft-reported disadvantage is the infrequency of collegiate interaction and access to professional learning.
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Installation view - She Collects The Beautiful Things, Chris De Rosa at Light Square Gallery, 2017 -
New Land Gallery – Opening of From the Winds & Faces of the Smelter (2003) -
Layers of the Land, an exhibition celebrating artists from the Limestone Coast was launched in the New Land Gallery at Port Adelaide in 2003 before touring statewide. -
Curated by Polly Dance as part of Adelaide City Council’s 2014/15 Emerging Curator Program, Craft Anonymous brought together South Australian regional and metropolitan textile, glass, metal and ceramic artists for an exhibition in the iconic Adelaide Town Hall in 2015. Tour of regional South Australia throughout 2016-17. Photo: Lara Merrington -
Ripples in the Sand workshop participant Dawn Matthews during print making workshop with Chris de Rosa 2008. Ripples in the Sand was a series of workshops, a mentorship and mixed media exhibition by Port Augusta Aboriginal artists produced as part of Port Augusta Re-imagines in 2008 which toured the state. Curated by Lavene Ngatokorua mentored by Felicity Wright. -
Di Antara dua Pedalaman/Between Remote Regions, A collaboration between Country Arts SA and the National Art Gallery of Malaysia acknowledging the importance of regional arts practice and the value of cultural exchange. Opened at the National Art Gallery of Malaysia in 2001 before touring regional Malaysia following the opening at New Land Gallery in 2000 and a tour of regional South Australia. Funded through the Regional Arts Fund, Arts SA, the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, Asialink, and Malaysia Airlines. Image: Papangaurpa Tjuta/many geckos/banyak cicak 1999, river red gum with burnt wire design/pokok gum merah sungai dengan corak wayar bakar. Photo Stephen Gray -
“To be selected for tough(er) love ... is a chance for me to show my work alongside other leading artists from this area in one of Adelaide's top exhibiting galleries. A diverse range of viewers will see what my world on the west coast is like, what a beautiful and remote place it is, and the things that have meaning to me and are close to my heart.” Cindy Durant, glass and jewellery artist -
Little Boxes was a collaboration with Adelaide City Council and brought together the work of regional and metropolitan artists to further exchange between regional and metropolitan artists and audiences. Image: Jessica Clark -
Ten Kangaroo Island based visual artists are bringing ‘mainlanders’ a glimpse of the isolation and inspiration of island life in Island to Inland: contemporary art from Kangaroo Island, which opened at Flinders University City Gallery during SALA Festival 2017 and is touring regional South Australia in 2018. -
Yvonne East, Stratum, installation view Artspace Gallery, 2012
Whilst funding had long been available for artists to support their own development, the formation of Country Arts SA saw specific programs cultivated to bring artists working remotely to wider attention. The absorption of the South Australian Touring Exhibitions Program not only added exhibition touring to our portfolio but also the expertise to stage city exhibitions. At that time unique in a national context, the New Land Gallery opened in 1994 and was a dedicated space in Adelaide (and later in Port Adelaide) for people to see, buy and talk about the works of artists living regionally and for artists to find that much-desired interaction with their city colleagues and alternative audiences for their work.
As the New Land Gallery and its various offshoots outgrew the space, partnerships evolved with Flinders Art Museum, National Wine Centre, SALA Festival, Adelaide City Council, Adelaide Festival Centre and the Art Gallery of SA to broaden the reach much further. For one artist every two years, Breaking Ground brings a high profile and the freedom to test the boundaries with a mentor guiding a new body of work. In 2018 that artist is Chris de Rosa, whose new work will be hosted by the Signal Point Gallery in Goolwa.
