![\"\"](\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/03\/natural-connections_53440.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTHE Surf Coast Shire is inviting creative solutions to help solve some of the community\u2019s most pressing issues.<\/p>\n
The Arts Development Seed Fund is a council-funded arts project which takes a creative approach to real issues within the region.<\/p>\n
This year the project will be encouraging local artists to use their artistic talents to express connection during the pandemic era under the theme \u2018Come Together: Sharing Space, Valuing Connection\u2019.<\/p>\n
From now until March 31, local artists can apply to the Surf Coast Shire for grants of up to $5,000 for projects that will provide positive outcomes for the community.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s theme, \u201cGoing, going, I am going to\u2026\u2019 created awareness for climate action and posed a challenge to the wider community to make proactive changes.<\/p>\n
As one of the three 2020 grant recipients, artist Caroline Hawkins said she would never have been able to take on such a large-scale project without the support of the Seed fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been practicing this type of art for quite a while but to take it to this level, it is a project I would never have considered without the seed fund,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt allows artists to think big and make a contribution to our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Hawkins ephemeral artwork utilises natural materials exclusively, with her current project tackling the complexity of \u201ceco-grief\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cEphemeral art is meditative and it is quite immediate, it really engages and appreciates nature,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cClimate change is very much a theme we are addressing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis time last year there was all the bushfires and certainly I felt heartbroken by what was happening with the loss of animals and habitat.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t do anything about it but feel at loss so what we are trying to do with this project is give people strategies to be able to manage the grief.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next part of Ms Hawkins\u2019 project is a public workshop with guided meditation, guest speakers discussing the psychology of eco-grief and an educational element from a traditional landowner on the Indigenous way of thinking and connecting with nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cEco grief never goes away; you see changes happening it is there permanently,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe workshop will give you a strategy to accept that things change, that there are some things beyond our control and strategies to appreciate nature for what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Hawkins\u2019 public workshop titled \u2018Natural Connections\u2019 will be held on March 13 and 14 at the gardens of the Drolkar Buddhist Centre in Paraparap.<\/p>\n
To secure your spot head to carolinehawkins.com.au<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE Surf Coast Shire is inviting creative solutions to help solve some of the community\u2019s most pressing issues. The Arts Development Seed Fund is a council-funded arts project which takes a creative approach to real issues within the region. This year the project will be encouraging local artists to use their artistic talents to express […]<\/p>\n