We are delighted to announce that two major project grants have been awarded to Australia Design Centre for projects commencing in 2018.
With the generous support of the Federal Government’s Visions of Australia program ($39,000), we are excited to announce the next chapter in our series of exhibitions showcasing new work by established craftspeople, Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft. The next Living Treasure will be ceramicist Prue Venables.
A panel of sector experts from across Australia including Brian Parkes (SA) Kevin Murray (VIC) Claire Sourgnes (QLD), Lynda Dorrington (WA) and Lisa Cahill (NSW) considered a range of fine candidates in the selection process.
Prue Venables was selected not only for her prolific output over many decades and the beauty of her work, but also for her rigor, skill and technical innovation. She will develop a major body of new work for this exhibition that reflects her complex and unusual approaches to working with porcelain, challenges the significance of daily objects and highlights the richness that they bring to our lives.
We are privileged to be working with Prue, Design by Toko and UK writer Alison Britton to develop this exhibition for tour from 2019.
The Australia Council for the Arts has awarded a $100,000 project grant towards infrastructure support for our national touring program ADC on Tour. This grant funding also enables us to put new touring projects into development. This is fantastic news for artists and our touring partners across Australia. Particular thanks to our Touring Advisory Committee - Kingsley Mundey, Brian Parkes, Debbie Abraham and Andrew Glassop - for their invaluable advice throughout the year.
This is an excellent start to 2018 and we thank everyone who has worked with us and supported us to make a difference for craft and design. Particular thanks to the Australia Council for the Arts, the Commonwealth Department of Communications and the Arts and Senator Mitch Fifield, Federal Minister for the Arts.
In other news, ADC will tour five exhibitions to 12 regional galleries around Australia in 2018. Next month in Sydney, NSW Minister for the Arts Don Harwin will launch our new national touring exhibition Obsessed: Compelled to make featuring the work of 14 Australian artists. Obsessed showcases the awe-inspiring creativity and innovation of makers from across Australia and examines the fundamental human need to make. It will tour to 12 venues from 2018 to 2021.
On a final note, this funding is for projects but it does not contribute to our main infrastructure costs. We need your support to help sustain the foundations of our organisation so that we can continue to do this work providing opportunities for artists and for audiences to engage with their creativity.
Please consider making a donation, talking with us about a bequest or join our ADC Friends program. All donations big and small make a difference.
Happy New Year and look forward to bringing you lots of craft and design experiences in 2018.
Lisa Cahill
CEO and Artistic Director
Image: Prue Venables, Pair of white tea strainers with wooden handles, 2017. Photo: Christopher Sanders.