[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] I [/dropcap]t is a little known, but fascinating fact about South-West Victoria that one of Australia’s most inspiring early women artists, Clarice Beckett, was born in the town of Casterton.

The picturesque sheep-and-wool town, west of Hamilton, includes a small, but robust art collective called Artists of the Valley who each year celebrate the town’s most famous artist with an art prize.

The Clarice Beckett Award, with a main prize of $500, will be announced during the Queen’s Birthday long weekend (June 7-8) when the entries for this year’s competition will go on display at the Casterton Bowling Club.

Artists of the Valley promotions officer Jenn White said the group “stumbled across” the connection between Clarice and Casterton several years ago and, in 2012, decided to honour her legacy through its annual art prize.

 

[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] C [/dropcap]larice was born in the town on 21 March, 1887, to a bank manager, Joseph Beckett, and his wife, Elizabeth, both of whom Clarice would spend most of her adult life caring for after they retired to Melbourne.

It appears Clarice spent only her earliest years in Casterton, having been sent to boarding school in Ballarat and, later, moving to Melbourne where she took drawing lessons at the Melbourne Gallery School under the guidance of Frederick McCubbin and Max Meldrum.

Despite the indifference to women artists at the time, Clarice was determined and prolific and, according to biographers, used every opportunity she could to paint. She worked mostly outdoors, in all kinds of weather, and this is reflected in her misty, shadowy renderings of every day scenes such as a bend in a road, or a house in the distance.

While Clarice held exhibitions with her fellow students at the Melbourne Gallery School, very few of her works sold during her lifetime and it was only many years after her death, at the age of 48, that her work was “rediscovered” and celebrated for its excellence.

“I actually feel very sad when I think about Clarice,” Jenn said, “because most of her work ended up in a shed and she really didn’t get much of a go.”

 

[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] J [/dropcap]enn, who is a printmaker and one of a growing number of artists based in the tiny town of Sandford, said the Clarice Beckett Award was an opportunity to celebrate South-West talent.

“Last year, the overall winner was one of our (Artists of the Valley) members – Collin Tenney – which was wonderful,” she said.

The competition is open to anyone, using any medium, with prizes for each of the categories that include works on paper, oils, watercolour and 3D.

The exhibition also co-oincides with the annual Casterton kelpie muster, so Artists of the Valley are hoping for great weather and a bumper crowd.

Postscript: This year’s major prize for the exhibition was awarded to Vida Pearson for her hand-coloured, lino cut titled “Large Fruited Mallee”. Vida, from Haddon, near Ballarat, also won first prize in the Works on Paper section, for a hand-coloured lino cut called “Waratah”. You can find out more about Vida on her website here.

 

 

[box type=”bio”] The Clarice Beckett Art Award exhibition will be held on Saturday June 7 and Sunday June 8 at the Casterton Bowling Club, Murray St, Casterton. You can read more about Clarice on the Artists of the Valley website here. [/box]

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By Carol Altmann

On first appearances, Don Stewart looks more like the artist that he is and much less like the robust activist he has become.

Yet the slightly-built, soft-spoken, always-smiling sculptor from Port Fairy has been a central figure in one of the longest-running planning sagas to hit the town and which has only just been resolved.

In a battle which stretches back 14 years, Don – and a small group of determined, like-minded souls – has fought to protect the habitat of a migratory bird called Latham’s Snipe that arrives between August and April each year from its breeding sites in Japan to rest up at the Powling St wetlands.

The wetlands are just a short walk from Don’s home and studio near Port Fairy’s South Beach, where Don is usually immersed in creating his wonderful fibreglass sculptures that capture a sense of character and fun.

There has been less fun, however, around the tug-o-war that developed when a large portion of Moyne Shire council-owned land adjacent to the wetlands was sold in 1998 to a former council engineer, since retired, John Bock.

“Mr Bock”, as Don always calls him, had hopes of converting the 3.5ha space into 43 building blocks but this would, Don explains, have spelt disaster for the snipe which relies on the protection of tall grass and the sustenance of the nutrient-rich wetlands.

Powling St is one of the few sites in Australia where the snipe still congregates in large numbers.

“In my view, nothing should be built there, because there are only about 36,000 of these birds left in the world and we have one of the largest habitats right here,” Don says.

Indeed, a congregation of 18 migratory birds is considered to be of national significance and 360 birds is of international significance: the Powling St wetlands has recorded up to 430 Latham’s Snipes.

Don, his wife Sherril, who is a retired art teacher, and their neighbour, author Jodie Honan, were founders of the South Beach Wetlands and Landcare Group that was set up in 1999 in response to the Moyne Shire Council’s decision to sell-off part of the site and they began to actively monitor and care for the wetlands area.

Using their first-hand knowledge, backed by expert opinion about bird habitats, the group mounted not one, but two challenges through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) against Mr Bock’s proposals.

The first, in 2008, resulted in Mr Bock having to revise his plans, which he did, reducing the subdivision to 32 blocks, including one allotment that would be given back to the council and added to the wetlands. The revised plans were put to the council last year and approved.

Most people would have given up there, but Don Stewart and the South Beach Wetlands and Landcare Group are not like most people. Just as it takes time and enormous patience to create a life-size figure in fibreglass, Don knew it would take patience to protect the snipe.

Don and Jodie, this time represented by Environmental Justice Australia (formerly the Environmental Defenders Office), returned to VCAT this year and argued that 32 blocks was still too many. VCAT agreed and reduced the number to 23, with a number of conditions, including that a protective fence be built around the snipe’s habitat. It was a significant victory for the Landcare group.

“It is a good decision and probably the best decision we could hope for, but whether the birds actually stay around once the development goes ahead, we won’t know until it is built,” Don says.

Don suggests we wander out to see the wetlands and guides me through a wire fence and onto an invisible council “road” that cuts through the private land owned by Mr Bock. As long as we stay on the “road”, he explains, we are not trespassing.

As it happens, Mr Bock – who no longer lives in Port Fairy – is down for a few days to mow his land and he spots us in the distance. I wave (what else do you do?) and he takes the opportunity to glide over on his ride-on mower to say hello.

Suddenly, I am standing between the two antagonists in what has been a long and no-doubt often heated battle, and for the first few minutes neither looks at the other as they talk. (Gulp.)

But then, Mr Bock – who I remember from his days at Belfast Shire Council – says two extraordinary things. The first: “you can’t cry over spilt milk”. The second, this time looking directly at Don: “I saw one of your snipes today”.

Don, now looking directly at Mr Bock, replies: “Really? Wow, that is late (in the season). I will have to make a note of that.”

And in that single moment – after 14 years, two VCAT hearings, endless legal argument and a lot of anxiety and stress on both sides – it felt like something of a truce.

The South Beach Wetlands and Landcare Group holds regular stalls at the Port Fairy Farmers Market to raise funds to pay its legal bills from the VCAT battles. Don Stewart and Jodie Honan both contribute work for sale.

 

CLOSED: Winners Fiona Haywood and Pat McLaren

[dropcap style=”color:#8F9F59;”] T [/dropcap]he generosity of our supporters knows no bounds and this week we are offering one lucky paying subscriber the chance to win a limited edition, framed print by Warrnambool artist Ella Webb. (You can subscribe here).

Ella, who we profiled in our magazine shortly after we started last year (you can read our story here), has kindly donated a finely executed drawing of a Southern Crowned Pigeon and a runner-up prize of a pack of three gorgeous cards.

Ella has donated the prizes in the hope that they will encourage others to join her as a paying subscriber to Bluestone Magazine. We currently have 124 125 paying subscribers, but are aiming for 200 by September.

Paid subscribers just need to email editor@bluestonemagazine.com.au to enter the draw.

The first five new subscribers will be entered automatically.

We will draw the prize as soon as we have five new subscribers (update: we have 3 already, so only 2 to go!) so please, if you have been thinking about subscribing, do it now!

Thankyou so much Ella, for helping Bluestone to keep going and growing.

[box] Note: The winner will be announced here and on our Facebook page, plus we will contact you personally. Please note the main prize can be delivered to the Warrnambool area only, so if you are one of our wonderful subscribers from further afield, you will need to arrange collection.[/box]

 

[The promotional video above was made by the Warrnambool City Council in 2011. It reflects the type of work that Commerce Warrnambool now wants to be paid to do.]

 

OPINION

[dropcap style=”color:#A02F2F;”] S [/dropcap]hortly after we started Bluestone Magazine last year, I wrote a piece about the importance of transparency, accountability and a preparedness to ask the hard questions of those tasked with running our city.

At that time, I lamented the fact that people who were prepared to put their head above the sand dunes and ask the prickly questions were often howled down as being trouble makers, out-of-touch, or holding the city back.

Judging by the response to the Warrnambool traders who have stood up and challenged a proposal to hit them with a new levy, little has changed.

The men in suits have again rallied to remind the rest of us of who they think should run this city and that we best shut up and let them get on with it.

That has certainly been the tenor of the argument as to why Commerce Warrnambool, a volunteer body of around only 100 members, should be allowed, via the Warrnambool City Council, to whack every trader with a special fee to raise $600,000 for promotions and marketing.

The proposed fee, which is based on property values, would run for five years and increase by 5 per cent each year.

Traders have every right to ask questions – and lots of them – especially when the finer details about this levy have been so vague.

 

 

[dropcap style=”color:#A02F2F;”] A [/dropcap]s was revealed when we first wrote about this issue last week, numerous traders, including several high-profile business operators, said they knew nothing about the levy until it was presented to council as a virtual fait accompli.

Instead of questions being asked of Commerce Warrnambool as to why its communications strategy had obviously fallen short, the guns were turned on the traders.

In its editorial on Friday, the local newspaper spoke of the perils of conservatism, of traders ‘tying themselves in knots’ and failing to embrace change, and that, as a city, Warrnambool really needed to grow up. (As an aside, the paper has failed, thus far, to mention that its General Manager, Tim Lewis, is a general board member of Commerce Warrnambool. Update: a new board has since been elected and no longer includes Mr Lewis. He does, however, remain a member of the organisation.)

These traders are the same people who have busted their guts renovating the often rundown CBD properties that they are forced to rent at prices which can be on par with those charged in suburban Melbourne. (Indeed I know of one hairdressing salon that floods each time it rains, but the property owner refuses to upgrade the plumbing.)

These traders have stripped back floors, painted walls, installed tearooms, hired staff, filled out myriad paperwork for everything from an A-frame to window signage and now, for their sins, they work long and exhausting hours in the belief that they have something to offer Warrnambool: and they do.

But apparently they could do being doing even better, if only they each paid another tax.

 

 

[dropcap style=”color: #A02F2F;”] S [/dropcap]o let’s look at how this $600,000 would be used and how many innovative ideas it might fund.

According to Commerce Warrnambool documents, it is broken down into something like this:

•  $150,000 for an executive officer and associated costs
• $110,000 for “branding” of Commerce Warrnambool and a website
•  $70,000 for professional development
• $10,000 to attend the Regional Living Expo (currently attended by WCC)
•  $25-30,000 for the annual business awards (currently run by WCC and sponsored by Powercorp)
•  $130,000 for local promotional events – from speedway, to whales, to Christmas decorations
• $100,000 for an annual infrastructure project of some description.
• (plus, although it is not specifically mentioned, an extra $15,000 for WCC to handle the levy)

Using these figures, just over a third of the levy – $230,000 – will be spent each year on local promotions and physical works. So far, I can see little difference from what is already being done via the WCC, the Great South Coast Group and the Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism Board.

No wonder traders want to ask a lot more questions and three that come to the top of my mind immediately, are:

i. who will decide how the money is spent?

ii. what are their qualifications or experience to do so?

iii. how will the success of the projects be measured and by whom?

Commerce Warrnambool (and some councillors) have pointed to Swan Hill as a shining example of how the levy can work, so let’s have a closer look at that.

 

 

[dropcap style=”color: #A02F2F;”] P [/dropcap]eter McNabb and Associates, who were paid a large chunk of the $35,000 in public funds that Commerce Warrnambool received last year, developed the Swan Hill levy model, so it mirrors what is planned for Warrnambool.

The levy has been in place in Swan Hill since 2002 to support a group called Swan Hill Inc, but that doesn’t mean it is popular.

In fact it was described by the Swan Hill local paper just two months ago as “controversial“, with the Swan Hill Rural City Council holding a Special Meeting on April 1 to discuss if the levy should continue for another five years.

The council received more than 380 written submissions, including 318 from people directly affected by the impost. Of the 318, 177 people (24%) supported it, and 141 (19%) didn’t – hardly an overwhelming endorsement.

The council went ahead with the levy, but not without its internal critics, such as Cr Gary Norton who was quoted by the local paper as saying:

“Swan Hill Inc has been operating for 10 or 12 years and what have they achieved? Lots of shops and businesses? Lots of empty shops?”

Cr Norton said Swan Hill Inc had not been effective enough in what he believed was a difficult financial climate for local business in Swan Hill.

“If we’re going to attract new businesses we need to reduce our overheads,” he said.

“High rates are killing the region. I urge council to squash this.”

You could swap the words Swan Hill for Warrnambool and the sentiment, for some, would be the same as Cr Norton’s.

So here’s an idea: why not tax the property owners, rather than traders who are being charged a levy based on a property value for a building that – in most cases – they don’t even own?

Then we might get a sense of how popular this idea really is among those with power.

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[dropcap style=”color: #ddce8d;”] A [/dropcap]n exhibition of whimsical sculptures by artist and illustrator Jenny Laidlaw is in its final days at Blarney Books and Art, Port Fairy, with a talk by the artist herself this weekend (May 25).

Jenny, who lives in Jan Juc, on the Great Ocean Road, creates beautiful, eye-catching works by manipulating the pages of a humble book and then adding Prosculpt human figures to each piece.

As Jenny says in her promotional material for the work, “the figures sit atop their literary throne, creating a vessel for emotion, message and imagination”.

The “Pages, Pen and Paint” exhibition also features Jenny’s highly detailed and colourful illustrations that, once again, capture the world of fantasy and imagination through pen, ink and watercolours.

Jenny will speak about her work at a free event next Sunday (May 25) at 3pm at Blarney Books and Art, 37 James St, Port Fairy. You can also find out more about Jenny’s work on her website here.

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