Works of creative Collective to launch Art Space

ARTWORKS by members of the Soldiers Hill Artist Collective will be the first pieces exhibited in the City’s new creative venue, Art Space Ballarat.

Set to open on Monday, 23 November the SHAC show will present the makings of at least 17 artists in the Lydiard Street shopfront beside the Mining Exchange, and run until Sunday, 20 December.

SHAC chair, Dr Rosey King said the opportunity has generated a “flurry of excitement” amongst the group of diverse creators who work with varying mediums, from watercolours to oil paints, printmaking to photography, fibre, textile and patchwork art.

“We feel pretty chuffed. The art space will be open for five days of the week, from 10am to 4pm on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and on Friday, from 1.30pm to 7.30pm to catch the evening traffic,” she said.

“There’s plenty of interest from artists, and there’ll be a great range of work because many of them have been quite busy in the COVID times.

“Iso has pushed some of us into more creativity, and that’s showing in the artists and work available to see.”

A felt-worker herself, Dr King said SHAC is grateful to the City for boosting their local arts scene.

“They’re opening up more public, community arts spaces which is good to see.

“We’ve been putting some work into shopfronts in Soldiers Hill, but this is exciting to have the fantastic Lydiard Street space,” she said.

“We are gathering momentum, a higher profile, and we’re quite dynamic at the moment, so this point in time is really quite exciting for SHAC.”

The Collective’s annual Art Walk was cancelled for 2020, but the group ensured locked-down residents wandering around their neighbourhood had creative work to spot, stop and enjoy.

Accountancy firm, James East & Associates on Lydiard and Seymour Streets, Tin Roof café on Lydiard and MacArthur Streets, and the old butcher’s shop on Neill and Seymour Streets have been SHAC’s latest exhibition spaces.

The curator of this initiative, Cliff Adeney said the group’s philosophy is for community and art to mesh.

“Artwork contributes enormously to community and to the city as a whole. We believe, by putting our art there, it might be a spark to boost the morale of the town in a way,” he said.