Jubilee year: to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this flagship local event, the 2011 Prize will be inclusive of all visual arts categories/media. This selected exhibition showcases the breadth of creative practice the South East Arts region of NSW. Proudly sponsored by Bega Cheese and the BVSC.

Officially opened on Friday, December 9; guest speaker and judge of the event Wendy Teakel, Head of the Sculpture Workshop, ANU School of Art.

Image:
Winner: Margaret Dimoff, Turbulence, mixed media on canvas
Mailroom Prize: Ann Brosnan, Echo Point Yowaka, oil on canvas

Opens Friday, February 3 at 6pm. All welcome

Genesis profiles the longevity of the Bega Valley Arts and Craft Society which, formed in 1946, has the distinction of being the first society of its kind founded outside Sydney. BVACS set a precedence of proactive appreciation of the visual arts through the introduction of a regular public exhibition program and the establishment of a community art collection. This, in essence, was the prelude to the eventual establishment of the Bega Valley Regional Gallery.

The exhibition features selected work from current members of the Bega Valley Art and Craft Society, hung alongside a ‘curator’s choice’ of work from the BVACS collection (which is stored and ministered by the BVRG.) While the collection isn’t extensive it does include some notable works including a number by Hilda Rix Nicholas (whose painting Bringing in the Sheep was loaned to the Bendigo Art Gallery for their Hilda Rix Nicholas: the man for the job exhibition in 2010) The BVRG regretfully does not have the gallery capacity to show the collection perpetually; indeed it has not been publically hung for some years. Genesis therefore, is a particularly important inclusion in the 2012 program. It is a timely reminder of both the provenance of art practice in the region and the abiding, dedicated aspiration of the community into the future.

New work by Matthew Jones
Opens Friday, March 9 at 6pm. All welcome

The Far South Coast Living Artist Project is a visual arts professional development scholarship fund set up (by a group of private individuals, raising money from within the community) to provide 12 months mentorship and financial support to an outstanding emerging visual artist living in the Bega Valley Region. The object of the scholarship is to afford the successful applicant a period of dedicated studio time to develop a body of work culminating in a curated exhibition. The FSC Living Artist Project works in partnership with local community groups as part of a broader goal to raise the regional profile of art and artists on the Far South Coast. The 2011 recipient Matthew Jones’s presents an intriguing exploration of portraiture.