WAA News & Coming Events 2020

Coronavirus (COVID-19) & WAA information from our Facebook Page

Whitehorse Arts Association

Published by Karina Grift

***COVID-19 UPDATE***
To all our members, the committee made the difficult decision tonight to suspend all classes, workshops and demonstrations at our Silver Grove club rooms effective immediately in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This decision has been made to safeguard the health and well-being of all our members as much as possible.

We are a long-standing art community, we know this will be difficult for so many members who enjoy the social interaction that our activities offer.

We encourage members to keep active with their art at home until we are back and please keep in touch online, especially if any members require support and assistance.

We will continue to update you with any developments as they unfold.

Stay well.

Please be mindful of the current advice in regard to personal hygiene and social distancing. More information about COVID-19 can be found here:

https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus

WAA Public Art: Our Artists in the Community

Jane Taylor

Can art add value to community life? I thought so, when I was recently asked to volunteer my contribution to a new café in a local nursing home. The Staff and residents at a Donvale Aged Care Facility wanted a café in their midst. With no extra space available, the staff decided to reconstitute a dining room, and to make it “different” they called it the “Flamingo Café”. They then wanted a large wall hanging on the flamingo theme and asked me to volunteer an illustration to identify their space with a suitable painting.

Flamingo Café triptych with staff members Nella (on left) and Ruth (on right)
Painting Flamingo Café by Jane Taylor

In consultation with staff, I produced a large clear graphic style triptych of three flamingos which residents now love. In my class with Alan Close, he contributed another light hearted suggestion: two comic smiling fish jumping at the flamingo’s feet. The new “Flamingo Café” has proved a huge success. One with real barista coffee. Residents see it as a highlight of their week. Not only do they chat more with each other than when they are sitting in their usual lounges, but families can join them for coffee and hot chocolate. The “Flamingo Café” normalises their outing with art enhancing the space to make it appealing and above all “different”.

Deborah Amon-Cotter

WAA ceramics and mosaics tutor, Deborah Amon-Cotter is also a painter with a vibrant style full of colour, joy and whimsy.

She was commissioned to help brighten up the City of Whitehorse, using this traffic light control box as her canvas - part of a public art project in our locality. This work is in Mitcham, on the corner of Whitehorse Road and Station Street, opposite the Post Office.

Here are some more images and close-up views of this work (all photos by WAA's Rosemary Price)

Click on images to view

For more information about any of our events please contact us, or visit us on Facebook