SHAC to display ondarkest day

MEMBERS of the Soldiers Hill Artist Collective, or SHAC, will soon see out the shortest day of the year with a solstice event of visual art offerings.

Running from June 21 to June 23 from the group’s home at the Ballarat North Bowling Club, SHAC’s solstice will entail an exhibition, workshops, and a pop-up shop throughout weekend.

SHAC chair Cliff Adeney said the program will offer something different to the group’s annual Art Walk, which was absent from this year’s Heritage Festival.

“The feeling from last year was to not to do Art Walk in the form we had done for years,”

he said.

“We’ve hit pause on that and asked, what else could we do instead? Winter Solstice is coming up so we’ve decided to do something around that event instead.

“The format is something new to us.”

The event will see 18 of SHAC’s 26 members exhibiting works throughout the club space.

Adeney will present one of four masterclasses, focusing on watercolour painting, while

Ian Kemp will host an introduction to photography, Rosey King will teach attendees how to felt a 3D wool vessel, and Judith Bryce will go over stitch-weaving.

Artistic range: Ian Kemp and Neale Thompson are two of 18 SHAC members who’ll be exhibiting in the group’s solstice event, with the former also hosting a workshop on the basics of creative photography. Photos: FILE

“Members of the public can come in and learn about the sorts of works we do,” Adeney said.

“With the pop-up shop, there will be a variety of works from all our other artists for sale. If people don’t fancy buying anything from the exhibition, they’ll have that option.

“It’s a wide variety. I think this will be the largest number of workshops we’ve held at once.”

The event will be launched on June 21 at 6pm by local writer, Words Out Loud co-founder, and SHAC collaborator Kirstyn McDermott.

“The solstice theme is wrapped right up in Kirstyn’s works,” Adeney said. “They’re dark, a bit gothic.

“The solstice theme hasn’t been a required feature for the exhibition but I know some of the artists are doing that and creating works that reflect it.”

The exhibition and pop-up space will be open from 10am to 4pm on June 22 and June 23.

For all masterclass times and prices, head to SHAC’s website.