By Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] A [/dropcap]bout 18 months ago, things were looking decidedly grim for Artlink – a unique arts program for people with disabilities – when it moved from the heart of Warrnambool to the hard-edged industrial estate.

In fact Bluestone predicted at the time that it would signal the end for Artlink and, in many ways, it did: the Artlink program that operated out of the historic Ellerslie College building in Koroit St is not the Artlink program that now operates out of a non-descript building in Albert St.

Out of this death, however, has come a new life and it is jumping.

Jack Melican, who is a business development manager with Western District Employment Agency (WDEA) that operates Artlink, has at different times managed both incarnations of Artlink: the original and the new, and he is keen to show us the new.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] J [/dropcap]ack, like everyone else, lamented the loss of the Ellerslie College space which boasted a beautiful gallery that not only hosted exhibitions by Artlink clients, but the new and very popular Warrnibald annual portrait prize.

Artlink was central, it was freely accessible to the public and it brought a local version of the “raw” art movement – quality art produced by people with disabilities – into the mainstream.

But the space was also expensive and, in the end, unsustainable.

“The financial decision had to be made, in order to keep the program going, that it be moved out of that particular building,” Jack says.

“The Artlink program is not the same as it was, and we no longer have artists employed to teach art, but it is still a valuable part of what we do.”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] W [/dropcap]e took up Jack’s invitation to visit the new version of Artlink that sits within the cluster of WDEA work industries off Albert St, a short walk downhill from the Midfield Meatworks, which is clearly not the most picturesque location.

But once inside the building, it is a very different – and uplifting – world.

The arts program is overseen by Paddy Kelly, an Irishman with an accent to match his name and the lithe physique of a jockey, who moves around a workroom that is packed with people at work on their creative projects.

Some, like Martin Juchtzer are painting on canvas –  he is working on a view of the Tower Hill visitor centre – using techniques he learnt at Ellerslie College with artist and teacher Jenny Altmann.

Others, like Linda Kelly, are working with watercolours or colour pencils, while client Kelly Walters has produced so many works in acrylics that she has an entire space of her own to display them.  A team of three staff, plus volunteers, keep the paint – and banter – flowing.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] W [/dropcap]hen Jack says there is “a really great vibe in here”, he is not talking it up: you can feel it.

“Our Artlink people really love coming here and very few miss a day,” he says.

Between 16-18 people use the Artlink program, including people with disabilities who are involved in other WDEA work programs on site.

Some of these clients, as Jack explains, may never have tried art before, or had an opportunity to develop their creativity, but can now do so because of the co-location.

“It is a comfortable space, an inclusive space and a place that offers enormous social interactions. In fact I reckon we are the happiest workplace in Warrnambool,” Jack says, laughing.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] W [/dropcap]hile the focus of Artlink is now undeniably different – it is more about social contact than developing artistic technique – Warrnambool has discovered it has room for both.

Following the closure of Artlink in Koroit St, Jenny Altmann started her own business (Studio 4@Factory Arts) offering painting classes to people of all abilities, based at the former Fletcher Jones factory.

Studio 4 is now part of the wider revival of the Fletcher Jones site, with a gallery space to open soon.

And the Warrnibald portrait prize has also survived, following a year’s absence, with the Warrnambool Art Gallery to host this year’s event from July 18 to August 16.

Artlink may have splintered, but what it stood for, and aspired to, remains intact around the city. How wonderful.

[box]Artlink is at 11 Albert St, Warrnambool, and can be found on Facebook here. People are welcome to visit Artlink in action. For inquiries, contact (03) 5561 2579 [/box]

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[box] This column is normally reserved for comment on local issues, but occasionally it will also be used for short thoughts about every day life. This is one of those occasions. [/box]

SHORT THOUGHTS – Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #ABCCAB;”] T [/dropcap]he sudden passing of Warrnambool watch repairer Peter Hogg was a shock, not because I knew Peter well, but because I didn’t.

Instead, Peter represented to me all that we love about living in a small city like Warrnambool – and I am sure it is the same for Portland, Camperdown, Terang, Koroit and all of the other towns that make up south-west Victoria – where certain names and certain families have been a part of the community for so long that you feel like you know them all.

The Hogg family was like that. For more than 40 years they ran one of several jewellery stores in the main street of Liebig St and, for the past 15 years, Peter was responsible for maintaining the iconic T&G clock on the corner of Liebig and Lava streets.

When the clock stopped, for whatever reason, it would be Peter who would be called to climb up the stairs, across the rooftop and into the clocktower to check the mechanism.

Even in these days of digital and mobile devices, everyone knows when the T&G clock is “off” and feels a strange sense of unease until it is working again, as if the timepiece is the quietly beating heart of the city: as long as it’s still going, we’re doing okay.

As the keeper of the clock, Peter was an important part of all of our lives, even if we didn’t know it.

It was for this reason that I contacted Peter in early 2013 to ask if he would be photographed inside the T&G clocktower for a small book of 30 Warrnambool icons – the known and the less well-known – and he readily agreed.

The photo shoot for Warrnambool: This is Home gave me a casual connection to Peter where we later felt comfortable having a conversation if we bumped into each other “down the street”, which is where Warrnambool does a large portion of its casual socialising.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #ABCCAB;”] S [/dropcap]trangely enough, one of our last – if not our last – such conversations was about how we were starting to lose people from our generation: the one’s who passed through school together in the late 70s and early 80s at either CBC, St Anne’s, Warrnambool High School, North Tech and Caramut Road, as they were then known.

We were entering an age, we lamented, where health problems did not always “get better” and we really needed to remember that old cliche about pursuing your dreams and grabbing hold of life.

Many of the people we profile for Bluestone Magazine are doing just that, which is why their stories resonate with so many.

And I may have even told Peter, but then again, I may not have, that I was going to do just that by flying 13,000km to see Bette Midler in concert in Los Angeles to celebrate my 50th birthday.

I felt embarrassed telling people that I was going to spend my savings travelling across the world to see a concert, but such has been my life-long admiration of Bette Midler, that the first thing my old high school teacher Allan Scarfe asked me after not seeing each other for more than 25 years was: “Do you still love Bette?”

I had to do it, and I did and it was worth it, really worth it.

And now Peter, the time-keeper, the person who sustained Warrnambool’s quietly beating heart, is gone and I am acutely aware of just how important that journey was.

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Words and photos Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] B [/dropcap]luestone took a short winter’s break recently and when we returned, we found not one, but two fabulous and funky new cafes had sprung up in Warrnambool.

Both – Graze, and Rough Diamond – have slotted in to what is fast becoming the most vibrant and interesting part of the CBD, around Kepler, Koroit and Fairy streets, where the historic shopfronts are being restored, long-empty buildings are slowly filling and, perhaps most importantly for small businesses, the rents are much cheaper than in the city centre.

This combination was irresistible to Henry Bird, a familiar face around the Warrnambool cafe scene since his early involvement in Brightbird Espresso (which also serves some of the best coffee in town), who together with his wife, Katherine, is behind Rough Diamond.

Henry and Katherine have gutted and refitted what was surely one of the most uninspiring buildings in Koroit St; a dark, 1970s, low-profile brick place opposite the former Warrnambool Standard building that has had many incarnations, most recently as a Coca Cola office.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] T [/dropcap]he Birds have give the building an entirely new look and feel with recycled timber furnishings (made by Port Fairy craftsman Jordan Small using timber salvaged from renovations on Henry and Katherine’s home), plenty of natural light pouring in, and a cute patio area with fake grass and milk crate tables.

“That’s where the name of the cafe from, actually, because this place was such a rough diamond,” Henry explains.

“It was perfect for us, though, because we wanted to be off Liebig St, not only because it is more affordable, but because of what is happening around Fairy St and Kepler St.

“There are a lot of people putting themselves out there and giving things a go, which is creating a whole new feel to this area.”

Such is Henry’s reputation for knowing what “works” with a cafe, Rough Diamond featured in The Age Good Food section just three days after opening, (you can read the review here),  all of which adds to the sense that Warrnambool’s cafe culture is gathering cred.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] J [/dropcap]ust an espresso shot away from Rough Diamond is Graze, a combination cafe and gourmet deli that replaced the long-standing Lozzar’s in Kepler St.

“This is something we have wanted to do for a long time, to have our own business and to run our own cafe,” says owner Moira Aberline, who recently returned to Warrnambool after 10 years in the UK, where she met partner Paul Riley.

Both Moira and Paul worked in hospitality, with Paul a former chef’s consultant in several fine dining restaurants that were known for their “rosettes” as opposed to the “chef’s hat” system used in Australia.

Like so many other ex-pats of her generation, Moira felt the time was right to return home and the pair wasted no time in applying what they had learnt overseas to Warrnambool. The completely remodelled cafe is both cosy and modern and, even on a mid-Winter’s day, busy.

“It has been fabulous: we have been really overwhelmed by the support we have received and to be part of the buzz that is happening around here,” Moira said.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] A [/dropcap] lot of that buzz can be traced to Day Kitty, right next door to Graze, which about 18 months ago moved into the tired shop once occupied by Flaherty’s chocolates and turned it into a gorgeous space of marine ply and white tile.

The purely organic focus of the cafe became its very appealing point of difference and owner Victoria Carey is in the process of taking that one step further by offering organic groceries and fresh food.

With the pioneering Wyton’s across the road and Bohemia, another early arrival, a little further along toward the highway, Kepler St is barely recognisable from the days when pretty much the only cafe on offer was the quaint Kepler Kettle.

“Oh, I used to love the Kepler Kettle! It was just gorgeous,” Moira says with a laugh.

Now, however, it’s the espresso machines that are giving Kepler St and its surrounds a full head of steam.

[box]You can find Rough Diamond (M-F, 7-2) on Facebook here. Find Graze Urban Cafe and Deli, (M-F, 7-5; Sat 7-3) on the web here. Day Kitty is on Facebook here and Bohemia Cafe and Bar here.[/box]

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Words and photos by Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] B[/dropcap]rendan Polak is no musician, in fact he admits he couldn’t play a note until he began to make instruments that are both simple and fascinating – cigar box guitars.

Cigar box and biscuit box guitars belong to a genre of instruments borne of poverty and portability – right up there with spoons and the harmonica – and are rooted in the blues music of America’s deep south. Some recordings of the cigar box guitar date back to the 1840s.

It was through this music that Brendan, of Warrnambool, became captivated by the unique guitars.

“I listen to a bit of blues and have always wanted to learn to play something, so I ended up buying a cigar box guitar online from the US,” he explains.

That was about three years ago and, in the time since, Brendan has not only got a fair handle on how to play a cigar box, but how to make one.

The guitar begins, of course, with an old cigar box and Brendan has found himself a ready supplier via Gumtree: a Melbourne cigar stockist who is happy to offload the empty boxes to somebody who can use them.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] T[/dropcap]he boxes are beautiful objects in themselves, with sweet-smelling wood or thick cardboard, tiny gold clasps and usually an intriguing decoration on the top and sides to make the recipient feel like they are enjoying a small luxury (if an ultimately unhealthy one!)

Brendan then adds his own touches – the acoustic guitar strings, the tuner pegs, and the neck, made from bits of recycled wood that could be anything from a broom handle to an off-cut from old wooden pallet. Some even have volume buttons.

“I really love the simplicity of them, yet each one is different,” Brendan says.

“The fact it has only one, two or three strings also makes it appealing to people who think they can’t play an instrument…like me,” he laughs.

Another intriguing element is the “pick up” – a small piece of electronic work that sits inside the guitar for use with an amplifier. Brendan shows me a pick-up hidden inside a vintage ‘Log Cabin‘ tobacco tin and I am beginning to think that these instruments are the ultimate in up-cycling.

There is one more surprise yet to come.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] B[/dropcap]rendan offers to play a few bars on his cigars – (that was a line just waiting to be written) – and slips something like a metal socket over one finger.

His hand slides up and down the neck of the guitar as he picks out a tune and suddenly his man cave, and it is a sensational man cave, is alive with the sound of the blues.

“That sounds okay, but then you can do this,” Brendan says, as he plugs an amp into the side of the cigar box and boom – the sound is phenomenal: loud and phenomenal.

Who would have thought that an old box, or biscuit tin, with some guitar strings, recycled wood and a ‘pick up’ could make such music? But it does.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] A[/dropcap]s it turns out, the multi-stringed cigar box guitars are actually the more complex members of the family.

“This one,” Brendan explains as he points to a single-string stretched on a piece of timber, “is called a diddley bow. They come from the days when people would stretch string along a verandah post, or down a broom handle, and use it to make music”.

Now that’s simplicity.

(Click on video below to see a cigar box guitar in blues action.)

[box]Brendan’s custom made guitars are available directly through him (darky99.bp@gmail.com or 0423 696 440) and now Dale Cleves Music, Warrnambool.[/box]

[button link=”http://the-terrier.com.au/subscribe-2/” type=”icon” icon=”heart” newwindow=”yes”]Bluestone needs at least 500 subscribers in 2015. If you wish to read great stories like this one, please click here to become one.[/button]

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Analysis – Carol Altmann

Is the Warrnambool City Council in favour of same sex marriage?

I realised during a recent visit to California – one of 37 US states to have legal same sex marriage – that I didn’t know the answer and that it was time to find out.

While some people may argue that taking a stand on marriage equality is not a local council issue, it most certainly is, because it reflects what sort of community we are and what sort of community we wish to live in.

In just the same way that many councils are now declaring their positions on family violence, racism, asylum seekers and climate change – all, big-ticket, federal issues with local implications – so too are they choosing to stand up in support of same-sex marriage as part of social justice and equality.

It is all about sending a message, a clear and unequivocal message, that we are tolerant, open-hearted and accepting of a diverse community and in a highly masculine, regional city like Warrnambool, this is even more important, because growing up gay in such an environment can be tough – even in 2015.

Byron Shire Mayor Simon Richardson last year sent a marriage equality proclamation to every council around Australia and has since been watching the results flow in.

I was surprised to learn that, perhaps prompted by Mayor Richardson, more than a dozen councils around Australia have since declared their support for marriage equality, including the unanimous vote by Hobart City Council in April.

Other councils to express their support thus far include Albury, Glen Eira, Greater Geelong- Surf Coast, Tenterfield, Byron Shire, Sydney, Leichardt and Port Douglas, while Launceston has embarrassed itself by going in the other direction and voting 8-3 against.

I say embarrassed itself because there is no doubt the wave of support for marriage equality among the majority of Australians (72% in a 2014 poll) will soon see Australia go where so many countries have gone before (21 at the most recent count) by legalising marriage between same sex partners.

Unfortunately our local politicians are embarrassing themselves too, with Wannon MP Dan Tehan, South-West coast MP Dr Denis Napthine and Victorian Upper House MP James Purcell all opposed to marriage equality.

Indeed some of the statements by our political representatives have been nothing short of extraordinary.

Take this example from Mr Tehan in 2010: “This isn’t a matter of discrimination of same-sex couples, this is about the union of marriage which is traditionally between a man and a woman and I believe it should stay like that into the future.”

Boy, that certainly sounds like discrimination to me.

And this from Mr Purcell, also in 2010: “I think same-sex relationships are quite legitimate – what people want to do is their business – but marriage is an institution that’s been around for thousands of years and I don’t think we need to change it.”

Quite legitimate? What people want to do is their business? Surely this is not a discussion on whether it is okay to be gay – god forbid we have to roll back the debate that far – but about equality and human rights.

Most of our Warrnambool City councillors, I am delighted to say, completely agree.

Bluestone contacted each of the councillors to ask the simple question: “Do you support gay marriage?” and five out of the seven chose to respond. Those that didn’t, disappointingly, were Cr Peter Hulin and Cr Rob Askew.

The remaining five, however, were all happy to express their support and here are their written responses:

Mayor Michael Neoh:  “I do not have any issue with consensual marriage between any two adults. This is my personal opinion.”

Cr Brian Kelson: “I don’t believe this should be a issue for local council, personally I believe in equality, but it will be a Federal decision that will make it a reality.”

Cr Jacinta Ermacora: “I’m sure you know already, but just confirming I support marriage equality. No government regulated institution should discriminate against any one in our society. What the religions believe is their business and will not be impacted by Bill (Shorten) and Tanya’s (Plibersek’s) legislation.”

Cr Peter Sycopoulis: “I have always tried to live a life where I treat others with equality, fairness and respect, irrespective of race, religion or even sexual orientation. I see no reason why I should treat the subject of gay marriage any differently. I support the concept of an individual’s right to choose.

“In particular, I find it quite unfair that same sex couples are not afforded the same legal rights and protection as others. The legal recognition of same-sex marriage would not only give all couples the same legal rights and protection but also the same legal responsibilities to their partner and family.”

Cr Kylie Gaston: “I have been a supporter of same sex marriage for years. I have many gay friends and have never been able to understand the logic that I had the right to marry and they did not. This is about ending discrimination.  So as a nation I believe we should remove discrimination against same sex de facto couples in federal legislation as an absolute priority so that all citizens of Australia will have equal rights on this matter.

“I find it frustrating and sad that we are now lagging behind many other countries over this matter especially when polling is indicating a clear majority of Australians support SSM. I’m looking forward to a couple of weddings of some very close friends in the not too far distant future!”

The question now is which councillor will take the next step and table a motion – or even Mayor Richardson’s proclamation – that the Warrnambool City Council declares its support for marriage equality?

This is as an opportunity for the council to not only add its voice to an important national discussion, but to remind every citizen of Warrnambool – regardless of gender, race or sexuality – that they are all equal.

[box]You can visit The Australian Marriage Equality website here.[/box]

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