Kim's 'Celebrating Love and Unity'

Kim Schoeberger has been busy cutting, painting and preparing hundreds of leaves ready for her workshop and installation today titled 'Celebrating Love and Unity'.

The lagoon in Russell Family Park was once a watering hole for members of the indigenous Gubbi Gubbi people as they made their way to Baroon Pocket for their annual gathering. At these gatherings stories were told, tools and ornaments exchanged, conflicts resolved and marriages arranged.

Such gatherings speak of love and unity, and by trailing hand-written messages of love and family on a sea of heart shaped leaves, Kim celebrated how Russell Family Park is still a place for gathering and for families to spend time together.

She invited people to write messages of hope, peace, love and unity on the leaves, then they were floated in rubber tubes on the pond  in Montville. Kim interacted with at least 100 people and had hundreds of leaves arranged within 10 floating rings which looked very much like hot pink, black rimmed lily pads.

The installation created a sense of serenity and meditation as it drifted across the lagoon, creating differing designs and patterns as the wind took it in different directions.



Creatures of the Obi Obi

Local ceramic artist Cathy Lawley had the first of her Creative Spaces 2012 Creatures of the Obi Obi activity workshops with children at the local Maleny Library yesterday (24 September).

She had two groups of about 17 children for two two-hour workshops. So many children wanted to be in the workshops - Cathy and the Maleny Library staff had a waiting list  but in the end just could not accommodate everyone.

Cathy and the children at work

Creative Spaces 2012 has been strongly supported by the Sunshine Coast Council and the Maleny Library

These first workshops were to create clay water dragons or platypus. And you can see from the photos some amazing forms the children have created.

Cathy will fire these forms and the two groups will glaze them on Wednesday 26 September. Cathy will then raku fire them; and the children will photograph the finished products and install them in the display cabinets in the Library on Saturday 29 September.  What an extraordinary placemaking art achievement this is.

I will try to do updates after each stage. Photos of the children  used in this post were taken with parental consent.

'Sailing Inland' - Noela Mills

Yesterday was a beautiful day for my installation of 9 sails at Gerrard's Lookout on the Maleny-Montville Rd.

'This installation tells stories of the past and of the present, connecting the coast to the hinterland.
The white sails echo the arrival of many of our forebears by sailing ship, along the coast that stretches out below the escarpment.

The colourful sails reflect the hang gliders that regularly float and thread themselves across the skies above, taking off from the escarpment and drifting down below, bringing the mountains to the sea'.

Quite a few artist friends and family arrived throughout the day to keep me company and ply me with coffees and snacks
About 110 cars stopped at the lookout, about 350 people. Not all took notice of the art installation, maybe one third read the information at the base of the steps - maybe a subliminal message for the others.
I thoroughly enjoyed the day, watching the way the wind billowed the sails around, and the play of light and shade as the sun moved across the sky.

I enjoy the way people who interact with me and the installation have brought their own thoughts and feelings to the display -

eg. imagining the Gubbi Gubbi people staring from the escarpment, wondering [in fear] at the strange huge ships with their huge white sails.

I will repeat the installation next Sunday, 30th September. All welcome to join me on the picnic rug [especially if you arrive with a coffee - half strength, no sugar] !!!

The next Creative Spaces event is Kim's 'Love and Unity' workshop and Installation at Russell Family Park, Montville, from 11am until 2pm on Wednesday, 26th Sept.



'Creative Sparks'

Kirsten Cash held a 'drop in' workshop today at the Witta Grower's market as part of our 'Creative Spaces' Project. Participants made a satay stick former [with battery operated lights installed], then covered the lantern shape with tissue paper soaked in PVA. Most had added embellichments in colored tissue or organic grasses and leaves. Great results from kids and adults alike.

... many happy market goers went home with their own personal lantern.

Signs of Creative Spaces

The first of the six Creative Spaces 2012 placemaking activities is to take place in less than a week on the morning of Saturday 15 September in the grounds of the Old Witta School.

Kirsten Cash invites children and other community members to join her in a temporary placemaking activity called Creative Sparks - creating paper lanterns that will reflect and celebrate 'community and cooperation' that are at the heart of the community's use of the Old Witta School.

It is time to roll out the Creative Spaces 2012  signs to let visitors and the local community know what and where the activities are taking place.

Over the weekend the finishing touches were put to the Creative Spaces signs and story boards for each of the six activities.

©2012 Barry Smith - Six unique placemaking activities - six unique signs

©2012 Barry Smith - Every placemaking activity has a story

©2012 Barry Smith - Every placemaking activity has a story

Creative Spaces 2012 is an artist driven and executed event - so each of the six artists will be putting their unique signs and story boards out to showcase their activity. art4place has been fortunate to attract sponsorship from the Hinterland Business Centre and N-Carta Group for promotional material such as the the signs and story boards.

An international development company, Coffey International, has provided 4 metre high art4place flags to attract the public's attention to Creative Spaces activities.

©2012 Barry Smith - Flags - symbols of placemaking in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland

The flags are the symbol of the location of the six Creative Spaces activities across the Hinterland.